oracles Archives < Arwen, Professional Joy Seeker

Ghosts of the Past

What kisses did you mean to give? To get? Who can you not forget?

#affirmation This card makes me think of Ol’ Blue Eyes. No, not Bill Clinton, silly. The original Ol’ Blue Eyes himself. That hat-wearing son-of-a-gun Sinatra, Frank Sinatra.

Regrets? I’ve had a few….did it myyyyy way.

“Regrets, I’ve had a few;
But then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption.”

Here is the card Regrets from Stacey DeMarco’s Halloween Oracle (Blue Angel distributed by U.S. Games). The moment I saw the box I was drawn to this deck. The box features a sugar skull.

But this card is an eerie one with our milky-eyed miss misting in and out. She stares up and out in an unseeing way. She almost seems transfixed by whatever she sees.

Perhaps it is the memory of things she didn’t do. Things she didn’t try. People she didn’t forgive or didn’t forget. Kisses she meant to give. Love she meant to offer.

[Tweet “What kisses did you mean to give? To get? Who can you not forget?”]

I don’t know about you, but that’s not what I want for my own afterlife. I may not be the type to ride my motorcycle sideways and slide in screaming whoo hooo, but I do want to be the woman who can say, “Yeah, I have no regrets. No ghosts to haunt me.”

What about you?

Today’s affirmation

I release my regrets. I let my fears ghost away. I believe that every choice I’ve made has led me to this moment. And this moment is good. The past holds more joy than sorrow because I choose to focus on the joy. I move into my future self confident in my ability to seek joy.

Seek joy, y’all Pass it on.

Yeah, thanks, Frank. I’ll do it my way too.

Regrets, Halloween Oracle, U.S. Games

P. to the S. One of my regrets that I’m striking off the list is doing a NaNoWriMo. I’ll be using my . Will you?

Love

Today’s affirmation is short and sweet.

Short and sweet: #dailyaffirmation #affirmation Today I dance when I hear something that moves my feet, sways my hips and opens my heart. Today I laugh out loud for the pleasure of feeling my belly bounce under my chuckles. Today I love my entire self without judging it too large, too small, too anything other than just right for who I am right now. Loved and loving, I love each of you. Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Love, Tea Leaf Fortune Cards by Rae Hepburn, U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

#seekjoy

Frogs, Choices + Transformations

Rather than lovers, the very things we did that weren’t the best choices were frogs.

Today’s card reminds me of all the transformations I’ve gone through. From the child who would rather be reading a book to the teen who ran the streets with her friend to the young woman who explored her beliefs to the mature woman I am now.

Frog, from Kris Waldherr’s Sacred World Oracle, is a reminder that many of the choices we made in our lives could be seen as the frogs we kissed. [Tweet “Rather than lovers, the very things we did that weren’t the best choices were frogs.”]

So yeah, I had to kiss a lot of frogs to get where I am today.

On last night’s show with Bindiya Aravandeker, we talked about the Akashic Records and bad choices. Bindiya shared her thoughts on how working with them helped her. Now she helps others with the same access. Learning why we continuing to make the same bad choices can be very helpful in moving away from them.

I was so impressed to learn that she gives away a free session to any woman ready to begin working through sexual abuse issues. She is very clear that she does this in a very sacred, spiritual way. When she talked about this on the show, I nearly cried. It was so amazing.

You can see last night’s show here.

What about you? Journal prompt for today is, “What choices do I keep repeating and why?”.

Frog, Sacred World Oracle, U.S. Games 2013

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Rings, Stumps + Roots

The rings on this one show how many years this tree grew. How much knowledge it saw/gained. How many lives it touched.

Today’s card is from a deck sent to me by Schiffer. I expected one thing and got another when I opened up the Tree Of Life Oracle cards. Then when I drew randomly, I giggled.

The card is titled “Tree Stump: Pride And The Old Ways.” I skimmed the very thorough write-up in the book to see these words:

“…reminds us that enduring is opens us up to grace.”

In my beloved Gaian Tarot, the 10 of Earth features a tree stump as well. In that deck’s book, I learned that the stump is called a nursery (maybe nurse?) stump because of all the growth that happens from that one fallen giant.

The rings on this one show how many years this tree grew. How much knowledge it saw/gained. How many lives it touched.

We are all trees in the human forest. Our roots spread out to touch one another. Our branches interlace with those near by. We are a connection…a living connectivity of souls. What you do touches me. What you experience influences me.

We will all be stumps some day. I hope my rings are remembered with joy. I hope my falling will nurture others to grow into their own best self.

I think, in the long run, that’s the very best goal in life. [Tweet “To live so that my life touches others even after I’m gone.”]

Journal prompt! “What do I do today to touch others tomorrow?”

Tree Stump, Tree Of Life Oracle, Schiffer, 2013

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Where’s Your Energy Source?

Today’s card is from the brand-new Magical Times Empowerment. I got my review copy yesterday. I just about drooled when I opened that box. I’m going to do a video review but let me just say that the box these come in is really great! Love where U.S. Games went with the design.

Now for today’s card. I drew this at random. Laughed like a loon when I saw it too. It’s so apropos for me! And, I hope, you.

So often we look for energy sources. We meditate. We draw on the Universe, on God, on Goddess, on Buddha, on Mohammed. We reach out trying to connect to that primal generator.

But here we see the truth. In this slighly steampunk, slightly Celtic dragon, an internal source. It’s the dragon itself fueling the dragon. Power from within.

And that’s such a simple lesson. I’m going to leave it at just that. Power from within.

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on!

Energy, Magical Times Empowerment Cards, U.S. Games, 2012
Used with permission. Further reproduction prohibited

Can You Really Hold On To It?

Today’s card isn’t a Tarot card. It isn’t one of my Zentangles. It’s from a rather unusual oracle deck. This deck depends on words rather than pictures. It doesn’t give me the out of letting my mind wander. I can’t trip over a meaningful interpretation the way I can on other decks. This one says, “Stop. Think. Consider.” So I will. Today I am told to hold my power.

Well, the haiku written by Rachel Marco-Havens, actually urges me to try. I like that gentleness. It’s inherently forgiving, isn’t it? Try to stay grounded. I really like the last line of this haiku.

And hold your power

What does that mean to you? What is it to hold your power?

For me, it means don’t waste my energy. I need to hold my power…use it for me…focus on that connection to the core.

It’s a good thought. One I really need right now as I am spending some time out of my own hula hoop wondering if someone else at work is doing the “right” thing.

Big quotes around right because my right isn’t their right. I am not privy to their life, their background, their ethics. What I see as “right” may not be their vision.

So I need to hold my power. I need to stop wasting so much energy wondering if they are doing as they should. I need to focus on doing as *I* should instead.

For your 180 seconds today, that three minute commitment, can you hold on to your own power? Can you commit to owning only what is yours? Can you let go of worrying about someone else?

Practice makes perfect, darlings.

And, grin, have you gotten your copy of my Fairy Tale Tarot spreads eBook yet? I hope you will.

Haiku for Thought, Rachel Marco-Havens, 2012 (a few decks from this amazing little pocket-sized gift are still available.)

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on. Remember that I love you.

Forgiveness,Haiku & Gifts

Today’s card is from a brand-new oracle. It is a lovely little deck that can be used in so many ways. I drew a card when I opened it last night and received a very magical message.

I drew today’s card then realized I was going to be late for an appointment if I didn’t shake my tail. I got mad at myself for forgetting.

Then I looked at this message again. I don’t forgive myself for my own mistakes as much as I should. I get down on me for messing up.

And you know what? It’s not that I mess up so much as I deviate from the course I’ve set for myself.

That’s okay, y’all. Journeys weren’t meant to be straight shots. They should be meandering wanders. That’s the best way to learn and grow–as far as I see it.

Of course there are people in my life that I have to forgive. Those that I’ve had to let go for whatever reason. Those that I still hold on to by thinking about them, revisiting old hurts…and why?

To be completely free, I must give myself the gift of forgiveness–for them, for myself, for all of it.

I forgive me for not being able to forgive them.

I love you. Remember that as you go through your day. Even if we’ve never talked/written/had a chance to share a smile, I love you.

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Haiku for Thought, Rachel Marco-Havens, (and these are priced very reasonably!)

I’m going to use this deck to help me work on my workbook+planner! 😀 Yes, you can still get it. Yes, you can still ask to join the to work on it with us. Can’t wait to have you!

Shells, Moments & Now

Maybe you were floating on a raft on a lazy Louisiana bayou. Maybe you were hiking through a piney woods on a September afternoon. Maybe you were watching your child run track at her school field day.

Today’s card is from an unusual oracle I heard about from another Tarot reader. Each card shows a seashell. On the back of the card is the name of the seashell and what it means in a reading. I haven’t read with it yet, but I was intrigued when I drew this card.

The back states, “Miller’s Nutmeg trigonostoma milleri MEANING: Living in the now; detachment from past negative experiences and future expectations.”

The thing that jumped at me was the idea of detachment. Not from past experiences but from future expectations. What a simple way to live.

And how incredibly hard is that?

From birth we are always looking at the future. When will we learn to talk? To walk? When we will become a teenager? An adult? What will we hear when we go into work today? What about when we come home from work? Will traffic be a snarling mass of horns and temper on the way to the beach this weekend?

And on and on and on.

Ever stop and forget to start?

Intentionally?

I mean not think about your next meal, the next page, the next word? Remember a time when you were in the moment without thought to the past or the future.

Hold on to that memory. Work to recreate it. As you read this, let go of what your day or night is supposed to look like. Accept that some of it will be good and some of it will be less good. Accept that this moment right now is for you. You don’t have to do anything else in this one space of time.

Be in the moment. Live in the now. It’s what the Buddhist student strives for. To be awake right now.

Joy. That’s joy, y’all. In this small moment of time, you have joy because you aren’t carrying worry forward or backwards. You just are. And that is enough, darling. That is more than enough.

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Miller’s Nutmeg, Ocean Oracle: What Seashells Reveal About Our True Nature,Atria Books/Beyond Words 2007

Holiday shopping yet? This would make a great gift for your beach-loving friends.

Guards, Horns & Attitude

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

Queens, Doctors & Disappointments

Who is the best person to heal you? A Queen? A Doctor?

Today’s card is from a fabulously fun little oracle. It’s very different from others in that it gives you some history along with some sage advice. I love history even more than I love sage advice, don’t you?

Here we learn a lesson that others cannot heal our disappointments now matter how much we want them to have that superpower. It isn’t until we learn that who can heal us that we actually heal. I know…convoluted, right?

But the secret that the wisest woman (and man) know is this. The person with the magic wand? The fairy godmother at the kitchen door? The talking donkey who can’t sing? That person is only found in one place.

The mirror.

Yep, the looking glass, Alice. The answer was there all along. Quick. Go look. Tell me who you see.

Right. Yourself.

You are the only one who can heal your disappointments, hurts and sorrows. You can have help from your friends, from professionals, from a stranger on the internet, but the final piece to that puzzle must be you.

Learn from your disappointments, darlings. Don’t let them define you. Let them refine you. Understanding those patterns like we talked about yesterday is your secret weapon. Once you know the patterns, you can choose the ones that suit and serve you best.

so dance, my darlings, dance. But remember what Queen Carolina Matilda of Denmark said. “Don’t look to your doctor to heal your disappointments.”

Queen Carolina Matilda, Ask the Queens: Advice Card Deck, US Games, 2010

This deck or the playing card version is a great gift for the history buff in your family.

P. S. It is National Coming Out Day. In case you didn’t know it, I’m a queer femme currently partnered with a man who understands. 😀 I support the Trevor Project.

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on!