July 21-27 2013 Tarotscopes

Here is this week’s Tarotscopes. You bless me when you share them. Thank you.

    • AQUARIUS SEVEN OF PENTACLES Golden goose hunting? Do the work. Ethically. Relentlessly. Daily. Hard work pays off big! Stop hunting. Start doing.
    • PISCES THREE OF PENTACLES Do your own work. Build with others as long as they do their work. Carefully preparation now is key. Lay each brick solidly.
    • ARIES SEVEN OF WANDS Sneaky win? Okay. Sometimes it takes a plot twist to make a great story. Finish your current situation if you want to be free.
    • TAURUS TWO OF CUPS Sweet friendship blossoms. Explore personal relationships. Offer what you have. Share who you are. They are open to meeting.
    • GEMINI TWO OF PENTACLES Balance between what is best for you vs what is best for us challenges this wk. Give you some but save some for the family.
    • CANCER MAGICIAN Go on! Open up. You’ve got tools, will + need. Make things happen by focusing on what you can do. This is about willpower.

FairyTale_3002

  • LEO EIGHT OF PENTACLES Believe in your ability. Don’t let anyone stop you from success. Learn from others’ mistakes. Success comes from trying!
  • VIRGO ACE OF PENTACLES Someone offers help. Part-time job, apprenticeship, intern. Keep your ears open. Accept aid when given. Growth promised.
  • LIBRA TWO OF WANDS Unusual partnership opens your mind to new ways of thinking. Allow others to share. Choices should be made in favor of both.
  • SCORPIO Sorceress(HPS) Listen to Higher Spirit. Whispers from self show you the way to lost joy. Intuitive journey only needs inner GPS.
  • SAGITTARIUS Chariot Magical journeys start with unusual gifts. By staying alert/in charge, you can guide spirit self into a higher realm. Go!
  • CAPRICORN SEVEN OF SWORDS Sometimes? You are your own troll. Stop teasing/baiting your self. Let go of need to win against yourself. Just be at peace.

Last year, in June, I signed up for an run by Leonie G Dawson. I had no questions about renewing this year. And? Everyone who signed up for it last year? Signed up again this year! I think that says something right there about this group. The courses alone are worth the membership. There’s a Raw Food one, a Creative Goddess one and the Business Goddess just to name a few. Some I didn’t take were focused on being Mama Goddesses. When I say it changed my life, I mean that. It took my ??seek joy? focus and amped it up. It’s for any woman who wants to explore her own amazing life. You don’t have to be a business owner (although that IS why I joined it.) The online networking and forums are fabulous even if I don’t take as much advantage of those. 😀 . See if it is a good fit for you.

Here’s Leonie in her own words about how she deals with fear. If you do nothing else today, take seven minutes to watch this video.  This is just ONE of the many videos she freely shares on Youtube.

The truth always lights you up.

Today’s deck is the lovely, and sadly out-of-print, Fairy Tale Tarot by Lisa Hunt.

Who Is Your Enemy?

Arwen_mirror_319x413Today’s card reminds me that the enemy is not in my mirror. The enemy is not in my head. The enemy is not in my heart.

The enemy is not me.

How often do we hear some version of “Oh don’t think that. The enemy is in your head.”

Well, here’s a thought. How about if we don’t call those negative thoughts “the enemy” or “bad things” or any version of that?

How about we agree that it’s just a difficult pattern we are working on?

or

A challenge we are in the process of reframing?

or

any other more positive way of saying, “Yeah I get it. I’m negative sometimes but you know what? I’m working on it so stop telling me I’m bad even when you are trying to build me up.”

Grin. It’s a process, darling dears. Once you realize you’ve made it, you too can say you were an overnight success–it only took me HOW MANY years? 😀

Yeah. Overnight.

Thousands of them. Literally.

Don’t worry if you slide. Please don’t measure yourself against anyone but yourself.

And even then measure the way they cut fabric.

GIVE YOURSELF ROOM FOR MISTAKES.

You know that’s why they are generous when they cut fabric right?

Yeah.

So aren’t you worth a few extra yards?

I think so!

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Oh, that picture? Yeah. That’s just one of the beautiful Lisa Hunt drawings in my Fairy Tale Spreads eBook.

What Do You Seek In The Mirror?

Today’s card is not a card. It’s a drawing by Lisa Hunt. Lisa drew this as part of her illustrations for my Fairy Tale Tarot Spreads book. The spread is my Mirror, Mirror spread which uses the theme of the self-identity. Read more…

Arwen_mirror_319x413Today’s card is not a card. It’s a drawing by Lisa Hunt. Lisa drew this as part of her illustrations for my Fairy Tale Tarot Spreads book. The spread is my Mirror, Mirror spread which uses the theme of the self-identity.

In Snow White the mirror, to me, represents many things. Reflecting on ourselves. Looking at others through the mirror. Mirrors are popular divination tools as well as ways to scare ourselves (anyone ever play “Bloody Mary”?). And what about the ways our society tells us we should appear? If we are to believe the fashion industry, women need to be six feet tall, 110 pounds, and blonde. Men must be muscular and dark. But is this what you would spend your life fighting to be? What a fashion mogul sees? I didn’t think so.

So I decided to apply this lesson of the fairy tale to a Tarot spread. I wanted to find out how we look at ourselves. What reflection do we see? What do others see in our mirror of ourselves? And how can we break our obstacles that we set up for ourselves? I decided that the magical mirror of the stepmother would be the vehicle for this tarot spread.

This illustration really captures the energy of this spread for me. Lisa shows how we sometimes don’t see our real selves in the looking glass. And we have a choice to do that. We can set our intentions to see the beautiful soul or we can see what our old tapes insist we see. Fat. Ugly. Unkempt.

I know which I’d rather see, don’t you? I saw a quote today by Viktor E. Frankl that really spoke to me. It seems to capture this energy as well.

Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

So for your 180 seconds today, will you commit to making sure you pay attention to the spaces? Before you react, pause. Think. Reflect. Let your choice be the positive one.

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Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on!

How Do You Talk To That Person?

mirror2Today’s card is not a card but an illustration by Lisa Hunt that she did for my Fairy Tale Tarot Spreads eBook. It’s almost ready. This is one of my goals that has already happened because of working with Leonie Dawson. (NOTE: I no longer work with her but she’s a cool chick!)

This image is for the Mirror, Mirror spread which is about how we see ourselves. A lot of times when we gaze into a mirror we don’t see who we really are.

It’s hard to not be self-critical. It’s a challenge for me not to grind myself up piece by incorrect piece as I look in the mirror.

When I am stuck in negative mode, here is what I see. Ugly teeth, sagging huge boobs, frizzy hair, fat belly, gray hair. A woman who is so physically repulsive no one would want to be near me.

I can hear you now. WOW. Really?

Yes, I really am that harsh on myself WHEN I am STUCK in negative mode.

But I’m not there very often any more. It’s a dead-end situation.

Now I focus on being kind to my self. I see my hazel green eyes, my great smile, the kindness in my face. I see my hair attempting to take over the world by wild curls. I see a body Rubens would have loved to paint. I love myself because I am a system of flaws, perfections and everything in between.

We are generally our own worst enemies. We rarely let someone get a negative word in that we haven’t already applied to ourselves.

Why?

Maybe it’s self-defense. Maybe we want to take the sting out of the criticism we fear is coming.

What if…

What if you committed to 180 seconds of being nice to yourself. I mean setting a timer and facing yourself in the mirror. Then rattling off as many compliments as you can think of.

I look great in jewel tones.
My skin is fabulous today.
My hair is shiny.
I am nice to puppies.
I am a great cook.
I let that other driver cut in front of me.

Can you do that? Can you face your mirror self and tell her or him how much you love that person?

180 seconds is all I’m asking.

Mirror, Mirror, Lisa Hunt, 2013 (c) All Rights Reserved

Seek Joy, Y’all. Pass it on.

P.to the S. I love you because of everything you are–not because of anything you aren’t.

P.P. To The S. Do you want to be the first to know when this book is ready? And my other books as well? Sign up here.

Tarotscopes for 2/3-29/2013

Arwen Lynch, professional joy seeker, shares this week’s horoscopes as seen through tarot cards.

5-teacherHere are this week’s Tarotscopes. Enjoy! Feel free to share them with your friends and family.

And, the February in-depth Podcast is available. iTunes users click here. Don’t use iTunes? Go here to listen to this free podcast for your monthly Tarotscopes.

  • AQ ExAir How high will U have to climb? How thin will the branches be? Don’t worry. Explore to yr heart’s content this wk. Wander!
  • PIC HPS Mysteries reveal themselves when U ask the right questions. Go w/i to find lost personal meaning. Seek the truth of yr heart.
  • ARI Justice Stand for what is right. Protect those that need protecting. Don’t waste energy on those who can take care of themselves.
  • TAU Lightning Hold on tight. Inspiration striking soon. May shake U to foundation. Have plan B ready. Leave the drama for yr mama.
  • GEM 1Air Opening up in sweet surrender is the key to flying free. Escape yr self-imposed limits. Permission to fly not needed.
  • CAN 10Air Yearning? Searching? Find others of a like mind to travel w. All travel is not physical. Spiritual self needs nurturing.
  • LEO Teacher Learn to laugh at yrslf. Trick yrslf into having more fun this wk. Establish yr boundaries to include fun, please.
  • VIR 10Wtr Returning to yr source necessary to fill emotional well. Not failure if U understand how things cycle. It’s all a circle.
  • LIB Temperance Moderation in all things–including moderation? Changing yr energy/mindset necessary if U want to transform yr life.
  • SCO 9Wtr Open up. Fill up. Joy available. Heart’s desire here. What will U welcome into yr life this wk? Make it big, darlings.
  • SAG 1Fire Tango? Peaches? Sacred Sexuality? All means to a juicy, joy-filled life. Pick two and celebrate breathing this wk.
  • CAP 5Air Competition isn’t necessary. U are already above that fracas. Let go of those who live by bickering. They drag U down.

Want to take a peek at the illustrations for my Fairy Tale Tarot Spreads eBook? . So excited!

What Will You Dream Today?

One of the things I have done with this (and I’m still working on it and will be because that’s how it works) it to write down goals. Then steps to those goals. And these goals are actually HUGE dreams.

GhostsSpirits_6PentaclesToday’s card was intentionally picked. I wanted to share some of Lisa Hunt’s recent deck with you. This card really jumped out at me as I went through the deck. There are a couple of reasons for this.

First is the man’s face. He looks wise to me but also wary. There is a sense of wildness in him. The polar bear next to him seems to emerge from his fur hood. I instantly thought of the native peoples of the north–what many of us call Eskimos even though that’s not truly the tribal name. That’s like labeling all aboriginal Americans Indians. We know there are many tribes.

But I’m not here to lecture on names. I want to talk about generosity and community. When I first began reading Tarot, I was drawn to those who wrote books about it and those who created art with it. I wanted to do the former and was just blown away by the latter.

One of my lifelong goals has been to write a book about Tarot. I’m three spreads away from completing my Tarot for Writers book which thrills me. But there’s another smaller book that will be released very soon.

And it will be professionally illustrated by Lisa Hunt. I’m here to tell you I would have never thought to even ask her (or another much-loved artist) about working on my book even a year ago. But the workbook+planner I got changed that.

One of the things I have done with this (and I’m still working on it and will be because that’s how it works) it to write down goals. Then steps to those goals. And these goals are actually HUGE dreams.

Step one of “get my book illustrated by a well known Tarot artist” was “ask.”

Simple, right? But so scary! Really. What if they laughed at me?

Now I am friendly with more than a few Tarot artists online. But I only asked two about this project. I have another project that I’ve asked someone else about–that’s on the back burner just now due to my writing projects. Grin. It’s going to be an incredible year!

Back to this dream though. This card is about community and generosity. Now this is a paid job but Lisa has been so generous with her work. I wanted pencil for this book because I love the look of it. So there’s no color like in this card.

I’m rambling, aren’t I? Forgive me. 😀 I just wanted to ask you about your dreams. What do you dream about when you see your prosperous life and generous community surrounding you? Take your three minutes today, those precious 180 seconds, and let your mind create that dream.

Then write it down. What would it take to get there? I believe you can do it. I see you living in abundance and joy.

Want to get a free copy of my Fairy Tale Tarot Spreads eBook? It’s yours when you .

The catch is that you have to get the workbook+planner by midnight tonight (1/31/2013) PST. Then contact me. I’ll send you the link.

6 of Pentacles, Ghosts And Spirits Tarot, US Games, 2011

Seek Joy, Y’all. Pass it on.

Image used with permission by U.S. Games Systems Inc

P. to the S. A little Lisa Hunt-shaped bird tells me that she may be featuring some of the work she’s been doing for my book on her blog today. Keep your eyes peeled.

Dreaming, Growing & Dichotomies

What do you snip off too soon? What do you not give enough growth time to? For many of us, myself included, it’s time to dream. I think I must be doing something in order to grow.

FairyTale_18MoonToday’s card reminds me of the growth that dreaming can inspire. Here lies Sleeping Beauty with her little cat on her legs. A beautiful picture of a castle hangs above her. The moon shines in casting glittering light on her face. Through the window a vine creeps.

It’s that vine that caught my eye. So often we trim things back. We don’t just let them grow, do we? I know someone who has allowed an outside vine into her house. It’s always a bit startling to walk through that front door to see green growth following me.

What do you snip off too soon? What do you not give enough growth time to? For many of us, myself included, it’s time to dream. I think I must be doing something in order to grow.

But really? Do I? If I don’t give myself time to dream…time to creep into other realities…time to stretch myself, how can I grow? It’s a dichotomy.

It’s a dichotomy that works, y’all. Do what needs to be done to achieve your goals. Yesterday I finalized an agreement with am artist that I admire. This person will be illustrating my Fairy Tales Tarot Spread eBook. By the way? The unillustrated version is free and if you get the , you get the unillustrated version for free AND the illustrated version once it is ready. Can’t beat that with a stick, right?

So I spent some time with that dreaming. I “wasted” time by lolling about with a pen and paper scribbling down things I wanted in my life. One of those things was to have an artist illustrate my spreads book.

Then I did something about that dream. I actually asked two people who were at the very top of my dream list and one said yes.

**THUD**

Yes? OMG! So not only did a dream come true, I checked a goal off of my 2013 goals on January 2. SECOND! I’m still pinching myself over that one.

So what are your dreams? What are your goals? What are you doing to achieve them? Are you spending time dreaming and creeping into other realities? Are you spending time actually writing down the goals and the steps?

Well why not? Let’s get to it, y’all! There are 362 days left in 2013. .

The Moon, The Fairy Tale Tarot, Lisa Hunt, Llewellyn Publishing, 2009

Seek Joy, Y’all. Pass it on.

30 Minutes, Carpe & Riddles

The Wheel of Fortune is chance. It’s opportunity. It’s the ability to Carpe Diem (or Noctum if that’s your diurnal preference). You make the most of what comes your way.

Today’s card reminds me of my first thought this morning. 30 more minutes. Just 30 more minutes. I only wanted 30 more minutes to snuggle in bed with my 12 year old cat curled up against me.

Then my mind started. I picked up my phone to check my mail, catch up on my WwF games, answer texts from my sister. Instead of actually taking that 30 minutes, I lolled in bed (I adore the sound of the word “loll”) but got some things done.

In a way, I grabbed that opportunity I had to snooze another 30 but turned it into relaxing in a different way. When I actually rolled out of bed, I didn’t have to face a ton of email. I had deleted most of it or marked “unread” what I needed to come back to.

The Wheel of Fortune is chance. It’s opportunity. It’s the ability to Carpe Diem (or Noctum if that’s your diurnal preference). You make the most of what comes your way.

I could have spent that 30 worrying that I was wasting time or that I needed to get up. I always have something that could be done. But I wanted to loll and my cat wanted to snuggle. He said so by piercing my arm with his nails as he played starfish paws. Owie!

Lisa Hunt’s Fantastical Creatures Tarot (reprinted in 2012 by US Games, thank you thank you thank you) depicts the Sphinx for the Wheel. An unusual choice if you consider the solid, unmovable nature of the Sphinx. But! Consider the riddles that the Sphinx was said to propose to the seeker. If you answered right, there was another riddle or maybe you got the treasure/knowledge you were seeking.

If you had an extra 30 minutes, what would you do with it?

Seek joy, y’all! Pass it on!

P. to the S., I pulled three cards from this deck last night while working on my and got this as one of my answers. I’ll be chatting about this on a private Facebook group that’s for everyone who gets this fabulous planner.

Already have yours? Let me know. I’ll add you to the group.

The Wheel Of Fortune,Fantastical Creatures, US Games 2012, Lisa Hunt/DJ Conway, US Games 2012

Fairies, Ghosts & Victims

Today’s is with Lisa Hunt when she participated in my interview by drawing cards from her then new Fairy Tale Tarot. She now has the gorgeous Ghosts & Spirits Tarot out so I suppose I need to get her to do that one as well. Hmmm, wonder if she will!

For the first of these interviews on my blog, Lisa Hunt has offered herself up as a willing vic…errr, participant. I wanted to share a bit of what she said about this process.

Lisa Hunt on the process of doing this interview-by-deck: Lisa_grin

Read the interview.

Ghosts, Community & Pimps

Today’s card reminds me that community must be built, yes, but it must also be maintained. We all have responsibility to one another. We really are a global village. If you fall down, I will help you up. If I fall down, I will hold out my hand for your aid.

It’s what community does. A vibrant, growing community supports one another. I’m blessed to be a member of the professional Tarot community. Part of my goal as the president of the American Tarot Association is to promote this community. Sadly, not all are capable of being productive members.

But this is about those who are. Here we have the Three of Pentacles which comes from the amazing Ghosts & Spirits Tarot by Lisa Hunt. I can’t recommend this deck highly enough. It’s more of the same from Lisa Hunt. You know…gorgeous, lyrical, moving. I swear. Can that woman do anything else? I’ve never seen anything come out of her that is anything less than stunning.

But I digress! Look at these spirits. They are representatives of the Roman pantheon’s Manes who were guardians/ghosts of tombs. Even when you die, your community remembers you and supports you.

Each disk, to me, represents the work the spirit honors. They are slightly playful to me which seems to say that they have learned how to balance work with play.

Let’s honor community today. Who has taught you how to be a better person? A better business owner? A better parent? How do you honor your community members today? Feel free to leave a note for someone else below. You can pimp them out (but not yourself, grin.) Make this about raising up someone else.

My pimp is going to the creatrix of this deck. I know Lisa only through Facebook and her work. She and her husband designed my alter ego, Marilu Mann, logo. Working with Kort and Lisa was one of the smartest moves I ever made. They made it super easy to get exactly what my writing partner and I wanted.

Your turn!

Seek joy, y’all! Pass it on.

3 of Pentacles, Ghosts & Spirits Tarot, US Games, 2012

Seriously, you need this deck! 😀