Tag: Rumi Tarot

What Perpelexes Me Is This

Rumi_5CupsToday’s card was a challenge for me because I wasn’t sure I wanted to deal with the subject. Sometimes I have a thought in my head so I draw a card for that thought. Other times I wake up “tabula rasa”. This morning was definitely a blank slate morning. 😀

So here is the card I drew from the Rumi Tarot. The Five of Cups with the sad and isolated figure. His head is down. His hands are open but he’s not looking for anyone to give him anything. He seems to have lost hope. Or maybe he’s just lost his emotional way.

The quote is “Perplexity in the heart is like war.” I had to look up the rest of the piece so I could understand why this phrase was put with this card. Traditionally the 5 of Cups means being over-focused on lost connections while not seeing the ones you still have.

“The perplexity in the heart is like war:
when a man is perplexed he says,
“I wonder whether this is better for my situation, or that.”
In perplexity the fear of failure and the hope of success
always are in conflict with each other, advancing, retreating.” —Rumi

Okay. That works for this card quite well. Seeming to be stuck at the point of an emotional decision. Stay or go.

For me, that is something I can honestly say I run into a lot in my joy seeking. I get into situations that are so aggravating, so crazy-making, so ARRRGH that I just want to stay there until they are FIXED, DAMMIT.

Um, Arwen? Maybe the thing that is keeping them aggravating and crazy-making and ARRRGH is you? I mean…if you are the one common denominator?

Ouch.

But yes, a key tool in joy seeking is owning my shit. I must be responsible for my actions. I cannot blame D for hurting me if I know that is D’s way. I cannot blame S for not paying me back if I know that’s S’s way.

It’s like blaming the wasp for stinging me. It’s what it does.

So my take away for myself is this.

How much I contribute to those unjoyful moments is in direct correlation to the perplexity of my heart.

Clarity comes when I own my own shit. Because then the only person to celebrate with or blame is the person I see in the mirror. I need to allow and understand that not all are joy seekers and not all are shit stirrers. Many of us are a mix of both, right? I try to limit my shit stirring (grin) but I also MUST own it when I do it.

Your 180 second challenge today is to focus on a situation/person that is really chapping your ass. Find three ways you are adding to that situation. Find three ways you can change how you add to that situation (up to and including removing yourself from that situation, yes?!)

5 of Cups, Rumi Tarot, Llewellyn, 2009 [aff]

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

P. to the S. Here’s a course that really opened up my own creativity. I never thought I could create art before! It starts 8/1. Come take it with me [aff]! Yes, I’m doing a refresher/reawakener. 😀

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.

Rumi_12SwordsToday’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 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 ) 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.

Illuminate, Illustrate & Dream

I see this as a call to illuminate my heart more. To bring color and swirls in. Be more decorative. And that does tie into this lovely card from the Rumi Tarot.

Rumi_7CupsToday’s card reminds me that an illuminated heart is a lovely thing to own. It’s an even lovelier thing to share. Not because of the quote on the card, but because of the header on the back of the book that goes with this deck.

What does it mean to you to have an illuminated heart? For me, I read that word in two ways. One is the common “lit up” way but the other way is the idea that illuminating something is to decorate it. The Book of Kells (oooh look! One you can color on your own!) is an illuminated (and illuminating) book for me.

Another of those is this that I’m doing. We’ve just had a discussion about the 100 things we are each choosing. I’ve confessed that I’ve written down about eight. Someone else, who’s done this workbook in the past, shared that hers included fun, fanciful things like eat a purple cake with sprinkles. Her advice was to loosen up a bit–to play some more.

I see this as a call to illuminate my heart more. To bring color and swirls in. Be more decorative. And that does tie into this lovely card from the Rumi Tarot.

Here we are told

the present world is but a dream the sleeper imagines to be real.

Seems a bit chastising in a way, but what if the dream we are having is one where the present world is moving towards joy? What if we all focus on the same dream of good coming out on top? What then?

Wouldn’t that be a lovely reality as well as dream?

Illuminate your heart first. Then watch as the light spreads decoration and hope to the person you are closest to and then from them to the next.

We are strong human beings, y’all. Imagine how fierce and strong we are when we focus on the same thing. Just dream how marvelous that could be.

A whole world with illuminated hearts…

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Join me on my and then friend me here on Facebook so I can get you into the group. We are thrilled to have you join us.

7 of Cups, Guide to the Rumi Tarot, Llewellyn Publications, 2009

Grief, Windows & Curtains

Today’s card is a reminder that even in times of grief, there is hope. Here we see someone sobbing into their hands. He’s suffered an unimaginable loss. He is at the window and once he’s released that grief, he can look up and out.

When he looks up and out, he will see hope and possibility. He will remember that there are others who need him. He will be able to draw the curtain on this particular pain and move on.

Yesterday I learned of the death of someone I used to know. He was the son of someone who has become family to my family. I babysat for him while his dad dated my mom. That dating didn’t last, but the friendship did.

One thing I learned from my mother was how to maintain caring relationships past the point of being lovers. Not an easy thing to do when we grieve so hard over the loss. If you love and that love leaves (or you leave that love), it hurts. Even if it was the appropriate reaction–it still hurts.

When you find yourself in that position, remember that you can allow yourself to grieve because there is a window waiting for you. There will always be a window to show you hope and possibility. There will always be a curtain to draw over the grief so that it can fade into the past.

Be gentle with yourself and others today. Remind them that you love them–even if it makes the squirm with embarrassment. It’s important, y’all. You never know when that kind word will help ease some grief that they hold in secret.

I love you. Each of you. I’ve pulled the curtain over many a grief in my life as have each of you. Make sure the curtain stays down. Don’t keep peeking back into the dark, okay? Look out the window instead.

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

3 of Swords, Rumi Tarot, Llewellyn, 2009