Purpose of Life? It’s Simple

Make things happen. You have the tools you need. Gather up your will and do things.

Gaian Tarot Magician
Gaian Tarot

Today’s thought is brought to us by one of my clients who asked, “What is the purpose of being here? What’s the end game?”

We had just had a rather mundane session about work, relationships and the like. I was quite taken aback by the question. This is a regular client of mine so I felt like I knew what to expect from our Tarot conversation.

The Universe gave me a wake up call. We pulled the Magician as the answer to the question.

[Tweet “Make things happen. You have the tools you need. Gather up your will and do things.”]

That was the message we both received. The purpose of being here? To get things done by using the tools we have.

Seems pretty simple, but is it? There’s a book I love by Mike Dooley aka TUT. It’s about manifesting change. Do you have this one? What do you think of it if you do own it?

Also, I’d like to know what are your thoughts about this answer to the question of “what is the purpose of being here?”

Ready to map out your road trip to joy for 2015? I am too! If you want to kickstart 2015 the right way, . Limited openings, y’all!

Today’s affirmation:
I will. I am. I have. I am willing to have all the goodness I deserve. I am willing to have all the joy life brings. I am willing to be open to the beauty that surrounds me. I have. I am. I will.

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on!

The Magician, Gaian Tarot, Joanna Powell Colbert

Moths, Skulls + Selfies

Check out the cool interpretation of the Magician card by @gardenskull. New selfie #tarot deck.

[Tweet “Check out the cool interpretation of the Magician card by @gardenskull. New selfie #tarot deck.”]

The Wooden Tarot Magician
The Wooden Tarot

So today’s card is from a brand new selfie deck. Selfie as in self-published–I amuse myself.

A.L. Swartz, aka @gardenskull, has created an intriguing deck. There are a few things that are holding me off from adoring it, but I’m working through them. I’ll do a full video review in a month or so.

One thing that I love? Moths.

It’s true. I am a fan of moths. The Luna moth, in particular, holds a very special place in my heart. I’ve seen one once when I was young. I was made to think that it was a very rare thing. Since I’ve only seen one other, I’ll have to hold on to that thought.

Swartz has chosen to use the Luna moth as his magician. With feathery antennae pointing up and the lower wings folded to point down, he’s captured that piece of the Magician nicely. The lemniscate is below in the form of a twining vine where you can also see a bit of binding holding the moth’s wings together.

There are enhanced eyes on the wings and if you look closely, you will see a second set of eyes hidden. A skull adorns the soft white fuzz as well.

This is, for me, a clever interpretation of the Magician. As above, so below is one of the phrases I need my Magician to evoke. This does that for me. It’s more the hidden eyes than anything else actually.

Which brings me to today’s affirmation:

Today I seek what’s hidden. Today the arcane paths open up to me. I step onto my path knowing I am protected. I invoke the elements to guard me as I proceed. Love and loving, I love each of you.

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Magician, The Wooden Tarot, SkullGarden.net

Family Ties

So I understand that I’m lucky, blessed, given a true gift when I can honestly say that I have blood and chosen family who are equally dear to me.

[Tweet “Today’s affirmation is from Magician card from the Fradella Adventure #Tarot.”]

Fradella Adventure  Tarot  Magician
Fradella Adventure Tarot

Today is about family–chosen or otherwise. I’m blessed. My blood family is pretty tightly knit. I’m friends with my cousins’ kids. I stay in touch with them (thanks Facebook). I love seeing how they are growing up with their own babies to raise.

And when their babies do something, I hear “Oh my God! They are just like…” and they name someone in my generation or before me. And I laugh. Because they are right. They are soooo right.

I don’t know if it is genetics or environment that gives us all the same warped sense of humor. Is it genetics or environment that makes us love one another no matter our religious preferences, our sexual preferences, any of our preferences.

Is it genetics or environment that makes us animal lovers to a fault? Why can I pick up the phone to talk to my cousin knowing she will get it. That she may not approve, but she wouldn’t ever stop loving me?

I know from talking to my chosen family (how lucky am I that I get to have both) that what I have with my blood family is not as commoan as it should be. That some of my chosen family got the proverbial shaft (with barbs and all) when it comes to their families.

So I understand that I’m lucky, blessed, given a true gift when I can honestly say that I have blood and chosen family who are equally dear to me.

I chose the Magician from the Fradella Adventure Tarot because I love that he is working on himself. And that is today’s affirmation, too.

I work on myself. I learn new things. I discard non-working attitudes. I open up my heart and mind so I will grow. I embrace my own willingness to move forward. Love and loving, I love each of you. Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Magician, Fradella Adventure Tarot, USGames 2002 (OOP sad face)

Magical Failures

I actually AM one to brag when there’s something worth bragging about. I’m a damned good cook. So it didn’t seem silly to me to try something new to take to my Thanksgiving gathering.

Vanessa Tarot, MagicianToday’s card is another round of “MOM! The Tarot’s mocking me!” See I’d already decided to confess my pie disaster. Not to be confused with my ongoing PI disaster, this one happened in my kitchen.

I actually AM one to brag when there’s something worth bragging about. I’m a damned good cook. So it didn’t seem silly to me to try something new to take to my Thanksgiving gathering.

No. Not something new. Something so foreign to my cooking repertoire that I really was a stranger in a strange land.

[Tweet “And baby, you can’t grok your way to meringue.”]

I once had a pie so tasty that I’ve remembered it for over 15 years. Sour Cream Raisin pie doesn’t sound all that tasty but it truly was delicious. This year I was going to take a pie for Thanksgiving.

Now, mind you, I made this decision on Tuesday and bought stuff Wednesday. Instead of sensibly making it Wednesday, I bravely tackled this Thursday morning.

Yeah. My arm nearly fell off while beating the crap out of egg whites to make a meringue. I tried to make the pie.

Sadly, it didn’t work out. While the meringue browned up beautifully, the custard didn’t custard. It was pretty much LIQUID. lol

So I grabbed an emergency bottle of Cabernet and went to the gathering where I had a lovely time.

I randomly pulled a card for today’s post and got the Magician. Now the Vanessa Tarot uses a definite Sophia Loren lookalike pulling her well baked tools out of the oven. Or is she putting them in? Hard to tell. All I know is that I laughed out loud for real when I saw this card. And yes, I did say, “Mom! The Tarot is mocking me again.”

The Magician reminds us to use all of our tools. She knows to get everything in place first then start the work. And she has backups if the first plan doesn’t pan out the way she likes. Even her Sour Cream Raisin pie…

So what about you? Ever try something that failed so miserably it was one of those epic stories? Did you try it again? Or did you decide it wasn’t for you?

I’ll be making another Sour Cream Raisin Pie. You can depend on that. And if that one fails? I’ll do it again.

Journal prompt for the day is “What is the worst thing that could happen if I fail at something I try?”

Magician, Vanessa Tarot, U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Seek Joy, Y’all. Pass it on.

Elephants, Magicians + Me

Do you? Do you tell yourself you can’t? Do you reject new things so hard you get whiplash from the sudden stops?

RoyalThai_1MagicianToday’s card is from a Tarot deck that celebrates the culture of another country. Here is the Royal Thai’s Magician.

Obviously this is Ganesh, a Hindu Deity. I have a small statue of Him in my bathroom. I talk to Him about getting help breaking through obstacles. Normally the obstacles is my own damned self. I have a serious problem with getting in my own way.

Do you? Do you tell yourself you can’t? Do you reject new things so hard you get whiplash from the sudden stops?

Sigh. Yeah. Me too.

For instance, my honey was telling me about this Bountiful Baskets thing that he tried. How he got all this food for not very much money. And did I want him to do it when he was in town the next time.

NO.

That was the first thing out of my mouth. No, it’s too much food. No, it will go to waste. No. No. No.

Then I said, “I’m being resistant again.” He agreed. LOL

So I will try it.

The Magician is the card of using the tools you have to make things happen. It’s about having what you need and knowing how to use it.

This is a nice addition to the Magicians of the world with the “As above, So below” hands on both sides. With Him sitting in the enlightened lotus position, I have to remember that the Magician’s greatest tool is knowing himself.

And being able to get out of his own way.

To Ganesh the Magician, I say, “Today I will get out of my own way. I will say yes to new things. I will embrace change. I will be honest with myself and admit that change is scary. I will do it anyway. I am a child of Universe. I celebrate my connections to the All. Loved and loving, I love you. Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.”

Your journal prompt today is, “How do I limit myself? How can I open up my thoughts to allow more in?”

Magician, Royal Thai Tarot, USGames

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Knowledge And The Use Thereof

TotOP_1MagicianToday’s card reminds me of all the thing my will can affect. This is the Magician from one of my primary reading decks. I got it a while back. Then promptly fell in love with it. It spoke to me on so many levels.

See the wolf emerging from the flames? The Wild man, or is that a woman, casting the rues. The horns and furs emphasizing the wildness. The unicorn under the full moon.

But what really, you should pardon the pun, strikes me about this card is that lightning in the upper right corner.

FLASH
SIZZLE
CRACK
BOOM

I imagine that’s the lightning striking the Tower down the road. The Magician here knew not to stay up in the tower. She, or is that he, understood that knowledge may be sacred but doing is even more so.

How much knowledge do you have? What do you do with it? Do you polish it and put it on a shelf? Do you take it out and use it until you are ready to fall over? Do you balance somewhere in the middle?

Me? I swing back and forth like that old pendulum. Right now, I’m all about getting my hands dirty and grubbing about in the wild, wicked world. I’m going to be rubbing elbows with people I love and people I have less time for than a cockroach.

I’m going to do it because it’s time for me to be out of the tower. I’ll climb back up later but for now, it’s down on the ground. Creating. Learning. Dissecting.

Making things happen.

Journal prompt for the day is, “What does it mean to you to use your knowledge?”

Join me and 21 other speakers as we share our own unique takes on the Major Arcana.

Magician, Tarot of the Old Path, USGames[aff]

#Seekjoy, y’all. Pass it on.

Trees, Danglies & Counting

But back to blessings and gratitudes. I focused on the idea of wanting a card that would communicate counting blessings then drew.

The Magician? WHAT THE HECK, UNIVERSE? I said COUNTING not creating. sigh.

TarotofTrees_1MagicianToday’s card comes from a deck that has utterly charmed me. I don’t reach for it often enough so I think I’ll tuck it into one of my Baba bags so it can rattle around in my purse a bit.

I woke up today thinking, “I need to do a post on gratitude.” I’m in a Facebook group where all we do is post a daily gratitude. So simple. And so effective. It reminds me how to find joy in so many ways. So then my mind wander off to the idea that gratitude is counting your blessings.

Of course, this made me remember this song from White Christmas. Which I just realized I missed this holiday season. Grin, good thing they run it a lot late at night. 😀

But back to blessings and gratitudes. I focused on the idea of wanting a card that would communicate counting blessings then drew.

The Magician? WHAT THE HECK, UNIVERSE? I said COUNTING not creating. sigh.

Then I looked again. The magician’s tools dangle from his limbs. He has what he needs right there with him. And beneath him are a bevy of beautiful flowers.

Um, Universe?

Yeah. Sorry about that outburst. I guess this card is perfect.

The first place to start with gratitude, with counting blessings, with finding the WOW!Moment is myself. I don’t need to look further than my nose to realize that I am grateful for the ability to see my nose. I’m grateful for my fingers that type this post. I’m grateful for my tastebuds that tell me how yummy that cup of coffee tastes.

Then I expand out. I’m grateful to a son who asked me if I wanted coffee this morning. Then made some and brought me a cup.

And I could keep going. Keep tying the knots of things from one to the other to create (yeah, I hear you laughing, Universe) a net of gratitude that casts so far and so wide.

I may be a simple Pollyanna girl, but little joys that pile up into bigger ones are what sustain me.

What’s your most immediate gratitude? What does it tie to for you? Let’s make some knots together to create a worldwide joy net, shall we?

And did you know you can help me do one of my 100 Things for 2013? That’s one of the things from my workbook+planner that . You can do a short video of yourself saying, “Seek Joy, Y’all” for me. I would love to have folks saying this in every language of the world. I know “y’all” is a Southern thing, but it translates into “all of you” basically. So how would you say “Seek Joy, Y’all” in your way? Philadelphians might say, “Seek Joy, Y’ens” while Michiganders might say, “Seek Joy, You Guys.” How would you say it in England? or France? Or Paraguay? Or India? I want to hear you/see you say it. Message me here if you can help.

Magician, Tarot of Trees, Dana Driscoll http://tarotoftrees.com/

Whips, Sticks & Carrots

Today’s card is from a very direct little Tarot deck. There’s little to wonder about here. The creator of the deck has repurposed the Magician into a very believable new idea. Motivation. So what motivates you? Carrot or Stick?

Our Magician holds out a shiny gold trophy or a whip as your two choices. A gold fish is cramped in a too-small-for-swimming fish bowl. Behind him you can see the signs for Cancer and for Scorpio. Water, anyone?

I just told a client last night that a fish grows to the size of its environment. Sometimes you have to make your escape for the deeper waters, the bigger pond. But what makes any of us actually take that step?

Let’s face it. It’s not easy leaving your comfort zone. If you have gotten used to the idea of where you are (even if it’s not where you want to be), you may not be willing to risk it.

Better the devil you know, right?

WRONG! What if you never make that move? What if you never break for the finish line? What if you never step out of the hamster wheel you’ve allowed yourself to think of as progress?

That’s the whip.

Let’s look at the trophy instead. What if you succeed? What if you find a job that makes you wake up before the alarm goes off? What if you create a family of friends who truly understand you and help you become better each day?

Don’t stay in a bowl that’s too small, y’all, Swim out. Remember Dory? Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. Just keep swimming.

When you need motivation, focus on the carrot for yourself. We have enough outside forces ready to apply whips and sticks. Love yourself. Love that bright and shiny you in the mirror. Tell yourself every day what a marvelous human being you are.

And know that you are. Be your own carrot, darlings.

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on!

Motivation, Bright Ideas Tarot, Llewellyn Publications, 2005

REVIEW: Tarot Birth Cards And You

Tarot Birth Cards And You by Bonnie CehovetTarot Birth Cards & You by Bonnie Cehovet

Schiffer Publishing LTD

978-0-7643-3902-8

Bonnie Cehovet is someone I know and adore. I want to be clear and upfront about that. I am fair when I review a book. I try to take personal admiration out of the formula. Sadly, that was nearly impossible with this book. I loved so very much about it that this will sound like a “BUY THIS BOOK NOW” review.

So if you want to cut to the chase, click here to buy this book now. 🙂

Let me start with the cons. Continue reading “REVIEW: Tarot Birth Cards And You”

Tarot In Nine Words – The Magician

Rider-Waite-Smith Magician

Well the next in this journey is the Magician. Traditional meanings are about manifesting power and controlling it as well as using the tools. Most cards show the Magician with four symbols to represent the suits of the Minor Arcana.

I love the Magician in the World Spirit Tarot because Continue reading “Tarot In Nine Words – The Magician”