USGames Archives < Arwen, Professional Joy Seeker

Hey Y’all! Watch This!

Today’s card is from a charming Goddess on the Go Oracle deck.. I love the dancing woman but really love the shadow figure dancing behind and above. I see it as a part of her. If you have read my words here, you will know that I’m pretty insistent about the fact that shadow self is not bad per se. It simple is. It’s bits and pieces of pysche that we would rather not deal with OR that are being used to protect our “tender bits” as Po Panda might say

You’ve probably heard the “dance like no one’s looking” phrase, but have you seen the whole thing? Or know who said it?

“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching,
Love like you’ll never be hurt,
Sing like there’s nobody listening,
And live like it’s heaven on earth.”

? William W. Purkey also attributed to an Irish proverb also attributed to anonymous

That first line gets the most air time, but look at the second one. Raise your hand if that makes you want to puke or run or laugh hysterically or some combination of the three.

Mmm hmm…that’s what I thought.

Me too some days.

Other days I would rather love out loud (yes, love, that’s not a typo) then live in fear of pain. That’s my goal real…to love out loud.

So hold on to the image in the card today. When things get you down…when someone just sucks the joy right out of your life…when you get cut off in traffic AGAIN… see this woman and become her. Allow your shadow self some time to dance as well.

Because even shadows need love, y’all.

Seek joy, y’all! Pass it on!

I am dancing my own dance, Goddess on the Go, U.S. Games Systems, 2007 [aff]

Am I A Victim Of Bambi Mentality?

Today’s card is from a deck I rarely dip into. Part of that is because it isn’t a Tarot deck. It’s an Oracle deck. Some Oracle decks I use more than others. I used to use this one more too. Here is a favorite card of mine. Some might wonder why I am so fond of it when the animal isn’t really one of those “super cute” woodland creatures.

I guess I’m just a victim of Bambi mentality. I look at this card and think, “He can call my flower if he wants to” in that sweet little voice of Flower from the Disney movie, Bambi. And I just melt. I remember the teasing that was about to start on poor, innocent Bambi and the little skunk boy dissipates it all by telling the others he didn’t mind the name.

Have you ever been the one who diffused the pack mentality? The one who said that you just didn’t care about something so someone else didn’t get picked on or mocked?

Ever been the one who said something others deemed stupid and had to take all the teasing for however long the teasing went on?

At some point, teasing gets old. I have a friend that I STILL tease about something. He’s a super good sport about it but sometimes I wonder…has it just gotten old for him? Or is it something he can laugh about with us? Guess I need to just ask him. Maybe he’s been being Flower all along for me. Wonder if he’s tired of that.

Skunks are neat animals who apparently make rather fascinating companion animals. I really like that they are extremely clear about their boundaries. If they don’t want you crossing them, first they stomp their feet at you. Then they lift their tail. Once they are standing up on their front fee, it’s pretty much toooooooo late.

Do you have clear boundaries? Around teasing and being teased? It’s a weird area for me. I’m not really sure I know when to stamp my feet and when to just, as it were, stand on my head. Because once I go there, it’s tooooooo late and feelings are going to be hurt.

Not sure where this post was going, but here’s where it ended. Take three minutes today to review situations where you are the teaser. Ask yourself if it has gone on long enough. Or maybe, just maybe, ask the person you are teasing. Who knows? Like Flower, they may just enjoy the attention.

Skunk, Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals by Sams, Jamie, Carson, David Book&Cards Edition (9/1/1997), U.S.Games

Tarotscopes July 28 – August 3, 2013

AQUARUIS TWO OF PENTACLES Partnership favored. Brilliant growth possible when you join with others who are heading down the same path. Balance=growth!
PISCES KING OF PENTACLES Connect w/ community in deeper ways. Spiritual leadership may be required. Accept but only for those you call family.
ARIES WHEEL OF FORTUNE Riddle me this. Why not go for what you want? Why not lean out and grab? Opportunity knocks. Answer the danged door!
TAURUS PAGE OF PENTACLES Job offer possible. Growth inevitable. Seeker? Put out more resumes. Belief in your own power is the key. Confidence!
GEMINI SUN So much attention on you this week. Shine like a diamond, baby. You have backing from your Higher Self so make it happen.
CANCER EIGHT OF SWORDS Careful you don’t cut yourself on those thoughts. Many “poor me” attitudes are from self-inflicted wounds. Release that negativity.
LEO QUEEN OF CUPS Spread your love. Share your happy. Others need to know it’s possible. You are their confidant this week. Nurture please.
VIRGO LOVERS Good week to indulge in the company of the one who makes your spirit glow. Open up on a spiritual level to really connect.
LIBRA Judgment Learn from past mistakes. Don’t blame. Grow. Time to rise to the next level. Old crap is just old. Move up and one.
SCORPIO TEN OF CUPS Gather with those you love. Indulge in celebrations of the heart. Connections this week will carry you forward. Reach out.
SAGITTARIUS KNIGHT OF CUPS Sometimes your emotions lead you astray. Please watch that this week. Not a good time to be a heart wanderer. You could be hurt.
CAPRICORN THREE OF SWORDS Emotional encounters could be murky, dangerous. Don’t venture into unfamiliar territory. Stay on safe ground with loved ones.

Fantastical Creatures Tarot, Lisa Hunt, U.S. Games Systems

Sad, Angry Humans

Today’s card reminds me that sometimes the only thing you can do to grow is to turn your back on things and people. Not all people are in our lives to help us grow. Well, maybe that’s not quite true. There are those people who exist to be examples of what not to do. So I guess they are in our lives for that reason.

We all have detractors. We all deal with those who just don’t want us to succeed. Generally that’s because they live in fear, y’all. You have to take just a moment to feel so very sorry for them. How awful it must be to live a life so full of negativity that nothing is shiny unless it’s focused on you. No one is worth a damned unless they are putting you above all others.

Sad, yes.

But if I’m going to be as authentic as possible, it also makes me mad. Mad because I see these people tear down others in order to build themselves up. I don’t want people like that in my world. I don’t want the sad,angry, narcissistic parasites. They suck me dry.

Just like with people who are never happy about anything, these fear-dwellers suck the life out of things.

Don’t suck the life out of things, darlings. Agree to disagree with people you love. Agree that sometimes they are going to tell you that you are being a dirtbag.

My sister did that for me today. And I threw it back in her face.

Oh. Yes. I. Did.

Then I apologized a few hours later.

Why? Because I couldn’t stop thinking about what I’d said. Not what she’d said, but what I’d said. It came from a place of fear. I was afraid she was right. I was afraid she’d found a hole in my joyful life.

Then I realized that she had and that it was okay. I’m not perfect. And, thank the Gods, I never will be.

I promise to be as authentic as possible.
I promise to turn my back to those detractors who are fear-dwellers and attention-seekers.
I promise to pay attention when my trusted circle tells me I’m being an ass.
I promise to work at learning to listen and think before I respond from fear.
I promise to focus outward rather than listen to the negativity around me.

This beautiful Three of Staves is from Kris Waldherr’s Goddess Tarot by U.S. Games.

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

And are you ready to stop living in fear? Are you ready to let your own creative goddess out? Come join me in an online course. I’m retaking it because it blew my doors open last year. (aff) and so worth it! You can take just the class or the join the full academy. Up to you. I did the full academy because I saw three classes I wanted to take right off the bat. 😀

What would you like to change back and why?

Today’s cards are from US Games’ Dreaming Way Tarot. I really love this deck. It’s quirky with images that often make me turn my head this way and that.

Here are the Sun and the Moon. What I particularly like here is the small child crawling out for a lollipop. She’s bare and free of worry. Her future is bright.

Then we see the same girl (perhaps) more mature. She has learned to cover her body–from shame or peer pressure or even personal taste, we can’t know. She gingerly holds the lobster. Again, this is something she wants, but she has also learned that she has to deal with the consequences of her emotional choices.

East of the Sun, West of the Moon is a fairy tale that always makes me think of a favorite book by Pearl S. Buck. I know…my mind…it’s a weird synaptic journey.

But the book is East Wind: West Wind: The Saga of a Chinese Family (Oriental Novels of Pearl S. Buck) and is about a very traditional Chinese bride married to a very modern Chinese man. It’s a clash of cultures but more than that, really. It’s about blending. It’s said to be one of Buck’s very best. I’d be torn between that and Imperial Woman. I simply adore Imperial Woman.

But back to the Sun and the Moon. Today I’m asking you to tell me something. What do you think has changed drastically from your child self to your adult self?

What would you like to change back and why?

Journal time! 😀

And if you feel like it, I’d really like to know.

Sun, Moon, Dreaming Way Tarot, U.S. Games [aff]

What Can You Drop?

Today’s card reminds me that sometimes I take on too much. I don’t let others do. I’m the first one with my hand up in the air volunteering. Here is the Three of Tridents (swords) from the Undersea Tarot.

He is swimming off to do who knows what. His hands are full. Even if something came at him, would he be able to defend himself? I honestly don’t think so. He would have to think about which trident to use while trying not to lose the others.

And haven’t I done that! Overloaded on what I wanted to do. Filled up my personal plate with groups and classes and appointments until I have no wiggle room whatsoever. And certainly no me time.

Yesterday was my day off. I had things I had to do that didn’t get done. Why? Well yesterday it was because of physical therapy. I came home in such pain that I relaxed watching TV then went to bed after taking a pain pill. I have readings that I HAVE to do. One of them is very late. But it’s a bad idea to do a reading while under the influence. I endeavor to not do that.

I also had to cancel a lunch date with a beloved friend. The drive out just seemed daunting given the pain. And I really love this friend.

The only thing I managed to do that was on my schedule was Aphrodite’s Kitchen with Anita Perez, Willow Polson, Mar Nale and Christiana Gaudet. That was a hoot, by the way. As soon as I get the archive link, I’ll share.

But back to our merman and his too-full hands. Can you guess what today’s challenge is?

Yeah, that.

For 180 seconds think about all the things you’ve said you will do. Now figure out how many of them could be done by others. Overachievers, relax. 😀

Three of Tridents, Undersea Tarot, U.S. Games 2008 [aff]

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on!

Have You Ever Perjured Yourself? I Have.

Today’s card makes me a bit sad. It reminds me of something I used to do. If I catch myself now, I have to correct it immediately. While I’m no court of law, I do expect myself to hold some things sacred.

Truth is one of those. Here in the Shakespearian Tarot, the Devil shares this quote, “Sweet soul take heed of perjury”. It’s a line from Othello, The Moor Of Venice. One of the bard’s darker pieces, this tells the tale of a husband who murders his wife. I was going to say wrongfully murders, but really…is murder ever right?

But I digress. Today I want to talk about lying rather than murder.

Have you ever promised yourself something then not followed through because, after all, if you can’t lie to yourself who can you lie to?

Now think about that while you read the definition of perjury.

“The offense of willfully telling an untruth in a court after having taken an oath or affirmation.”

Willfully. Intentionally. Deliberately.

If we are in a relationship with anyone, the first one is with ourselves. If we can’t be true to ourselves, who can we be true to?

Now then, please note that I don’t see “fake it until you make it” as lying to myself. Not at all. That is actually telling myself the truth as it should be. That is rewiring my brain from negativity into positivity.

But there are, or were, things I told myself that were lies. Like…I was strong enough to do certain things alone. Or…I would set a boundary and then let someone else walk all over it.

The resetting of that boundary is something I had to do very recently. On the 4th of July in fact I had to clean up one of my own personal lies to myself. I ignored all the red flags about someone and gave them more chances to hurt me. And yeah, big surprise, I got hurt. Emotionally, not physically.

If I can’t tell myself the truth, how can I tell anyone else the truth? It really comes down to that for me.

What about you? How do you see perjury in the sacred court of your own sweet self?

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Devil, Shakespearian Tarot, USGS 1993 [aff]

How Much Do You Bend?

Today’s card is the Universe’s way of teasing me, I think. I pulled from the gorgeous Magical Times Empowerment deck by Jody Bergsma (USGames) this morning. I didn’t focus. I didn’t meditate. Just grabbed the deck and pulled. And snorted when I saw the card title.

Flexibility. Gently flow through the turbulence. Life has the ability to shape you. Bend, don’t break.

This echoes a phrase I saw yesterday. It’s one I’ve heard (and said) a lot. The willow survives the storm because it bends.

Life throws a lot at us. We have to think on our feet. We have to negotiate seemingly endless bumps and turns. We have to actually live.

Life isn’t meant to be a straight line, y’all.

We set goals. We have to change those goals or alter how we get to them all the time.

That’s not failure. That’s life.

It goes back to that other saying about giving thanks for unanswered prayers. Our today selves aren’t fully cognizant of what our next year selves will need. We make goals based on today’s self so it’s okay that things change as we move through life.

Be flexible but more than that? Be gentle with yourself when you realize a goal needs to be moved or reshaped. It’s okay. That’s life.

Flexibility, Magical Times Empowerment Cards, Jody Bergsma, USGames (aff)

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on!

And do yourself a favor! Sign up for free goodies from Leonie Dawson. Her changed how I do business but, more importantly, how I VIEW business. Mind-altering stuff. [aff]

Who Defines Me?

Today’s card is from one of my primary reading decks. I’m a bit of a serial Tarotist, you see. I get hooked into one deck for a long time, but then move on.

This deck is one I bought because I’d met the creator online. Can’t tell you where or how. I don’t remember. I’ve slept since then. 😀 But I never thought I’d read with this deck.

It was a CARTOON deck, after all. SNIFF. SNIFF.

Yeah. About that? This is a ddeck taht immediately worked for me. On all levels. It is one of the first decks that taught me suits can be called different things. I learned how to loosen up as a reader.

How you see me does not define me.

I woke up with that phrase in my mind. Then I pulled this card. I knew I was going to work with this deck this morning. I just didn’t know which card would come to hand.

Our Two of Blades is ready. She is can go into a offensive mode if necessary, but for this moment, she’s solidly in a waiting, defensive mode. She is blindfolded because she’s learned what she sees can distract her.

Think about your “Internet-only” friendships. Those people you’ve never met face-to-face. The ones so many claim “can’t be real friends because you’ve never met them.”

We meet one another in this medium without some distractions. Is that a good thing? Is that a bad thing?

Perhaps, my darlings, it’s just a thing. What we do with it is what counts.

For me, I’m more cautious now than I was when I first began my electronic journey. I still have friends from my first BBB. Grex.org for those who are curious. LOL

I do my best to be real, to be authentic, to be who I am in all my worlds–online, offline and dreamtime. That means sometimes I’m cranky. Sometimes I’m mean. Sometimes I’m emotional. It’s who I am.

Some see me as a one-note joy seeker and that’s okay.

How you see me does not define me.

Some see me as an egomaniacal bitch and that’s okay.

How you see me does not define me.

Hold on to that for yourself. You define you. Your opinion is the one that counts in this.

Two of Blades, Adventure Tarot, U.S. Games (OOP) (aff)

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

How Do I Add To My Burdens?

Today’s card is from an oracle deck by an artist I love. Her work is so lovely. She has a new oracle out that I reviewed a week or so ago. This is from an older deck that I have only recently gotten.

Bears are power animals to me (and many others). I love that the Spirit of the Wheel Meditation deck (by Linda Ewashina, illustrated by Jody Bergsma) use Bear here for the card called Cleansing. It’s an important message for me personally as well.

I’ve recently had a personal upset. I’ve been let down in the financial arena by someone I trusted. I’ve been let down in the friendship arena by someone I asked to be honest with me.

Both those things weigh heavily on my mind. The first in several ways since the money helps me pay my bills. The second hits my heart very hard.

But this card tells me that I need to work on releasing burdens. I should detoxify my world. I need to let my energy flow in clean, pure channels.

When I over think things such as “why would X screw me this way,” I bring my own angst into it. I color it. I, if you will, stir the energy with a shit-coated stick. Yeah, that’s a lovely image, isn’t it. Sorry ’bout that.

But stick with me. (I hear you groaning from here!) Burdens in life are inevitable. How much crap I toss in is on me. If I simply see this sizable debt as someone else’s burden, it helps. I step back and acknowledge that, while it does affect me, in the long run, it is weighing the debtor down far more than me.

Same with the friend who lied to my face. That is their burden to carry. That is their knowledge to live with. That they were given a chance to come clean…to tell the truth and they chose to lie. That I found out about the lie within an hour is chance. Or is it? Do all lies get uncovered? Can you live with lies? Can you live with liars?

Truth is something sacred in my world. Now, don’t get me wrong. I get that not everyone will always tell me the truth. I get that I will be the fool some of the time (thanks President Lincoln.)

But when I find out that I am the fool? Then I get to make choices about how I react. What energy I add to that burden. You feel me?

I am culpable in the burden when I jump into it. When I don’t step back and think, “Okay. That was shitty. I need to make room in my life for those that will tell me the truth.” I need to let go of my need to figure out why someone would not pay an agreed to debt, tell me the truth when asked.

Cleansing. I need to do some.

Today I release the burden of needing to know why. I detoxify my life by letting go of those who choose to live lives that don’t match my own paths. I open up the channels. I allow pure,clean energy and people into my life. I seek joy to replace the pain. I cleanse myself with the Spirit Bear of the North today.

Cleansing 29, Spirit of the Wheel Meditation Deck, U.S. Games, 2007 [aff]

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

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