Tarot Blog Hop: Cozy

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Welcome to the Winter Solstice Blog Hop.  This go round our wrangler, Joanne Sprott, asked us to explore the concept of cozy.  For me, the first word I think of when I think about cozy is Hygge.  For those of you not familiar with the concept, Hygge is a Danish concept that roughly translates to enjoying the cozy contentment and well being through enjoying the simple things of life.  For me hygge is about snuggling in, lighting candles, and just being.

In the spirit of Yule and my own efforts to bring  more hygge into my life, I've put together a spread to reflect on various components of hygge.  I chose to use the Druidcraft Deck for this spread because it is a Celtic deck and it reminds me of the outdoors and of a simpler time.  It is also the first Tarot deck I every worked with so it brings a lot of history to the table and a lot of knowledge of who I am and what is important to me in terms of cozy.

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Hope for me is central to the concept of hygge because when I feel hopeful, I'm able to let go of distractions and be present in the moment.  When I'm worried about the future and feeling as if the world is closing in on me, it's hard for me to relax and be in the moment.  When I asked the cards, how I can keep hope alive, I pulled the Six of Pentacles which is a reminder to give to others and to help when you can.  This card is a reminder that life can be harsh and cruel, but that everyone has something to give. Some of us have money to give, some have time, and others may only have a smile, but if everyone gives what we can, we will all be better off.  

The Six of Pentacles also reminds us to give with an open heart.  The flip side of giving is receiving and the Six of Pentacles is also a reminder to receive with an open heart.  I struggle to receive with an open heart and this card is a reminder that receiving is as important as giving.  This is a reminder I need right now because I'm feeling overwhelmed and overburdened and a lot of it is because I am not opening up and asking for the help that I need.

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Yuletide is a season of hope and joy that should be innocent and kind, but all too often we get caught up in the commercialism and the competitiveness of having to buy the biggest and best presents. When I asked the cards how I could honor the spirit of yule, the Seven of Pentacles told me to take a break and be grateful for what I had.   The cards told me to let go and trust that I'd done my job and that I didn't have to be a super star in all areas of my life.

This resonated so much with where I'm at with my life as in the past, I've always fully decorated my house for the holidays.  I've had at least one tree, lots of Santas, and a host of other decorations.  However, I had an opportunity to travel right before the holidays to see some old friends and I realized that if I wanted to be fully engaged with my friends, I couldn't decorate the way I usually did.  I decided that I'd scale back this year with lots of candles and greenery and less stuff.  I'm heading into the week feeling relaxed and at peace.

I'm finally realizing that I am enough just as I am and that I don't have to continually prove myself over and over and over.  I can just be.

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Gratitude is another important component of hygge in my life.  When I am feeling grateful, I feel peace right down to my bones.  Being grateful helps me to remember that even though life might not always be perfect and that there are a lot of bad things that happen in our lives, there are also a lot of amazing things in our lives.  As cliched as it sounds, I write a gratitude list every day and I've found that when I take time to consciously think about the good things in life, my outlook on life is a lot rosier.

The cards have a sense of humor and when I asked what I had to be grateful for, the ten of pentacles showed up to remind me that I have people in my life to love me, I have material goods, I have a house that keeps me warm and cozy, and I have a couple of big dogs in my life to bring me laughter and joy.
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Grace as unmerited and unconditional love and support is a concept I was introduced to after my divorce.  I was a mess and was incredibly needing and I emotionally vomited over any one who was close to me.  I was incredibly fortunate in that I had a best friend who was totally there for me.  He listened to me rant, gave me a shoulder to cry on, and reminded me that I was worth loving.  He was the first human that ever truly gave me unconditional love.  However, since then I've realized that I've always had unconditional love in my life because I've always had dogs who were there with a snuggle and love no matter what was going on in my life.

When I asked the cards how I could show grace, I pulled the eight of pentacles which was very ironic in a way as my best friend was also my mentor at work.  The eight of pentacles tells me that grace is a skill that I need to work on and develop as I'm often quick to judge other people, especially when I am stressed and overwhelmed.  The cards are telling me that I also need to show grace and love myself even when I'm not perfect at unconditional love.
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Embracing cozy is something I struggle with as I always feel like I should be doing something productive instead of sitting on the couch sipping hot chocolate and enjoying my scented candles.  A lot of us have been brought up in an environment that equates just being and relaxing with being lazy and slothful.  The advice the cards gave me when I asked how to embrace cozy was interesting as the Ace of Swords showed up to tell me to cut away all things that no longer matter.  It's time to let go of emotions, people, and things that no longer serve me.

Pulling this card was serendipitous as one of my words for the year was shedding and I have been working all year long on letting go of things that no longer serve me.  I've limited relationships with people who trigger me, I've gotten rid of stuff I know longer need, and I've worked to set boundaries.  This card was both an affirmation and a reminder that there is always more to shed.
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I have to confess that when I turned these cards over I very nearly put them back and reshuffled because they seemed too perfect and they had me wondering if my deck had actually gotten shuffled.  However, this is a deck I've been using for a while so I know it's been shuffled and the cards are what they are.  Sometimes, you just have to laugh at how perfectly they fall.

I hope everyone has an amazing Yule.

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Tarot Blog Hop: Honoring the Beloved Dead

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For our Tarot Blog Hop this Samhain, I'd like to share my ritual to honor my Grandma Elda who died on October, 15, 1998.

According to Mexican tradition, we all die multiple times with the last time being the time that someone says your name for the last time.  As I've grown older, I've realized that we are always connected to our loved ones that have gone before us and that it is our duty to keep them alive through our memories and our traditions.  One of the practices I have recently started is to take a pause on the death day of someone who mattered to me.  I create an altar in my tarot journal, I write them a short letter to thank them for the wisdom they've given me, and I ask them three questions:

• What do you think of who I am now?  
• What advice do you have for me?
• What can I learn from your life?

This practice keeps my beloved dead and strengthens my connection to my beloved dead.  I practice this ritual for both those who died who were personally connected to me as well as people who have died who have impacted my life in some way such as Frida Kahlo, Marilyn Monroe, John Glenn, and others.  I generally use the Bonefire Tarot for this practice as it just feels appropriate.

My Grandma Elda was not my grandmother by blood, but by choice.  She was my babysitter from the time I was six months old until I was about 10 and she was part of my life until she died.  She'd been born in Germany in 1902 and immigrated to the United States before World War II.  Her husband, who was Greek, had diabetes and was confined to a wheel chair.  She took care of him as well as anyone else who came into her sphere of influence.  My Grandma Elda was the best cook I knew and with her food was truly love.  It was from her I learned to love pasta, beef stew, and other amazing food.  Her home was tiny in size, but was large in love.  One of my favorite traditions was that my family would go to her house the day after Thanksgiving and have a feast of love.

Dear Grandma Elda,

Thank you for being there for me and for loving me.  You were the grandmother of my heart because my grandmother who truly loved me was true far away to see on a regular basis and my other grandmother was not very interested in being my grandmother.  From you, I learned the love of family, the love of good food, and the value of hard work.

I loved the Angel Food cakes you made for us every birthday because I knew that your love was baked in.  And the salads that we had with every dinner made me love salad.  I always loved pulling down your wooden salad bowl and smelling the faint scent of vinegar that always lingered.  I wish that my children would have gotten to know you.
Thank you so much for everything.
Love,
Raine
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What do you think of who I am now?

You have been through a hell of a battle.  In some ways, you were fighting for your very life in your marriage.  However, you are a survivor and you are much stronger than you know.  Although you have been battered and bruised, you have also learned and grown from the struggle.  You have also done an amazing job of recognizing that your children were battled and bruised with you and you have worked hard to help them heal as well.  They are healing and they are starting to believe that love and peace are real.  I'm proud of the job you've done in not letting your pain and disappointment scar you and harden you.

What advice can you give me?
You need to learn to let people in and collaborate.  All too often you think that you can do it all by yourself and you don't need anyone else in your life.  However, this is not true and you need to let go of the go it alone mentality and learn to trust and collaborate with others.  This card also tells me that you have been and continue to be on a spiritual journey as you continue to learn and grow.  As with other collaborations, spiritual journeys often need other people to help you along or to guide you.  It is important for you to let others help you.

What can I learn from your life?

Fight for those who matter to you and defend your boundaries.  I lived through WWII and there were times when it would have been so much easier for us to give up, however, it is important to defend that what is important to you.  That means not only defending your loved ones, but also defending the beliefs and attitudes that you cherish.





This was an interesting reading as there was so much of it that I heard my grandmother's voice in.  However, my grandmother was not a political woman so I'm not sure about the meaning of the last card.  This is something I will need to meditate on.

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Temperance: Internal and External

One of the best things about Tarot is that the cards are so multidimensional and can be read on so
many levels depending on the circumstances.  I got a first hand glimpse of that today when I pulled Temperance for my daily reading.

Internal

Since moving to Cleveland two years ago, I've struggled to make friends, in part because I work as a consultant and generally travel during the week and a lot of social activities are on week nights.  However, when I'm really honest with myself, I use work as an excuse to keep from meeting people because deep down I'm terrified of letting people in and being hurt.  However, the cards have been screaming at me for the last few years that I need to take down my shields and start letting people in.

When Temperance showed up in my reading today, I knew it was about achieving balance in my life by taking the various components of my life and adjusting them to find the right mix for me as what I'm doing right now isn't really working as I cycle between extrovert and introvert and I'm getting burned out.  During the week, I am in pure extrovert mode as I spend my days advising clients, doing presentations, and other extroverted work.  To counter that, I go into introvert mode when I'm at home and have no desire to interact with anyone other than my family.

Temperance is telling me I need to find a way to balance the introvert and the extrovert so that I have the emotional energy that I need to find friends and to build an emotionally satisfying life.  As I was pondering this and the usual excuses came to mind, my guides told me that I could have it all, I just had to let go of my all or nothing mentality.  As I pondered that, I realized they were telling me that I could sign up for book clubs even if I knew there was a chance I wouldn't be able to make some of the meetings.  No one is perfect and if I made the meetings I could, it would be enough. 

External

Interestingly enough, Temperance provided another more immediate lesson today at the Dog Park.  The dogs were all happily running and playing when a man brought his trained attack English Shepard to the park.  The English Shepard started running and all the other dogs chased him thinking it was just a fun game.  However, anytime another dog came close to him, he growled and went for the dog's jugular.  One by one all the dogs ran away except for our dog, who thought it was still a game, until he got too close and the English Shepard went for his throat.  Luckily, Clark got away without serious injury, but he was pretty shaken up.

My daughter, Cam, went into Mama Bear mode and she got into the dog owner's face and told him he needed to take his dog and leave because his dog was attacking others.  He said the other dogs were attacking his dog, then went on a verbal attack.  My daughter refused to back down and it got ugly.  We, along with the few remaining pet parents, took our puppies into a fenced off area meant for smaller dogs, but the guy continued to yell insults.

We eventually left because it was too stressful to be around the toxic energy.  On the ride  home, we were both a little shaken, but we agreed that after the initial shock of such a negative encounter at a normally peaceful place, we both felt sorry for this man and his dog because they were both so filled with anger that they could not accept or experience friendship or love.  We both said a prayer for the man and his dog and thanked spirit for bringing him into our lives as a reminder that sometimes the best thing you can do is walk away.  It was right for Cam to speak her peace and remind this man that vicious dogs are not allowed at the dog park, but once it became clear he was not going to listen, we could choose to stay and escalate or leave.

In this instance, leaving was not giving up or giving in, it was choosing to walk away for our own peace of mind.  And the lesson from temperance goes back to the word's original meaning:  "moderation or self restraint" was that sometimes it is necessary to restrain our anger and our desire to have the last word in order to have peace.

All in all, it was a magical day that lived up to the meaning of temperance.

Daily Draw: Seven of Swords

First Impressions:  Sneakiness, taking back what's mine

Book:  Unwise action, failing plain,new ideas, challenging old assumptions

Guidance:  Do not take credit for others ideas, do not procrastinate

Journaling:

This card to me is about soul theft.  I'm realizing as I reflect on my soul retrieval that my grandmother, John, and Charlene  all stole pieces of my soul.  My grandmother did it with her careless comment.  She took away a piece of me that needed to matter to other people.  She didn't believe I was worth loving and she didn't believe I was worth making a connection to.  I reality, I don't know if that is true.  Maybe it was just a stupid and thoughtless comment.  She never treated me as if I didn't matter and I have also received unconditional love from others who did believe I mattered.

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Letter from my grandma

Lora,

I'm so sorry.  I love you and would never want you to think otherwise.  You are amazing, strong, and courageous.  I didn't want your Mommy and Daddy to feel any pain if something happened to you, but that was wrong as the reality of it is that your Daddy was attached to you the moment he laid eyes o you.  You were going to be amazing.  He struggled to reconcile his feelings about women with his desire for you to succeed. That was hard for him.  He never did like John, but he respected your choices.  You are loved and you do matter.  I am so sorry for hurting you.

Love, Grandma

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Dearest Soul Part held captive by Charlene,

I am so sorry that I didn't realize that she had you.  I did not connect the anger and resentment I was feeling with her holding you and abusing you.  Everything she told you is lies.  Women are not second class citizens and it is not our job to give everything of ourselves in service to others.  We are allowed to have our own hopes and dreams. 

Charlene is a product of another day and time.  She is an ancestor and she does not speak for the way the world is.  I am so happy you are home and we will take care of you.  Thank you for being strong while she held you captive. 

Raine

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Dearest Soul Part held captive by John,

I am so happy you are home and I am so sorry that I left you behind.  Everything that he told you is a lie.  I am not too big for my britches.  I am sexy, funny, and loving.  However it is hard to be any of those things when you are constantly being put down and abused.  You are safe in our home as bad behavior is not tolerated.  The rules of the house are that everyone is treated with respect and no one is put down.  We discuss disagreements respectfully.

Welcome home!  I am so glad you are here.

Raine,

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Dearest Soul Part that was with X,

I am glad you are back and I'm sorry that I gave you away.  Thank you for the guidance to be myself and live my best life.  I just need to be patient and let life unfold.

Blessings, Raine

December 25, 2018

This soul retrieval was so amazing and I have grown and changed so much since it has happened.  I know that I am healing because I am letting go of the anger toward Charlene.  I know in my heart of hearts that she did not mean to hurt me and that makes it easier to forgive her and let go.  However, I also know that intention isn't all that mattered.  She did hurt me and she will continue to hurt me if I let her back into my life. 

I also know that I really need to let go of John and cut the cord completely.  There are days when I wish he will fall flat on his face and other days where I hope that he has a happy life and doesn't drag Sean down with him.  At this point, what I really want is just for him to not be in my life any more.

Shadow Work--Day 28

The departing message from my shadow is...

Dreamer Princess gives me the gift of telling and of sharing what I know with others.  She also is telling me that I do not need to be attached to whether or not they receive my message.  All I need to do is speak from the heart.  There is also a warning that I need to be straightforward with people and not use my gifts to manipulate.

Maker Four tells me to hold on to what is mine, but is also a precaution against being greedy.  I need to build my own stability, but also find a way to let others in and contribute to the greater world. 

Dancer Queen tells me to find and dance my own truth.  I need to let go of all the bullshit in my life, including the lies I was told as a child about my own worth.    I am brilliant, beautiful, and amazing and I am worthy of having friends and a lover.  Unlike the messages that I continually got told as a child, my life is about more than other people.  My life is my own and I get to choose who shares it and what I do for other people.

Shadow Work Day 27

What is the main thing I have learned about myself and relationships?

The Sun tells me that I am perfect just the way I am and that it is my right to bask in the warmth of the sun, of the love of people in my life, and in the love of the gods.  I am part of a larger community and I am perfect just the way I am no matter how imperfect that may seem.  The Sun is also telling me that it is time to leave behind all the things that are keeping me from enjoying my life and that it is time to step forward into freedom.

Dancer Prince tells me that passion is my birth right.  I deserve love and passion in my life.  However, he also cautions me against losing myself in passion and going over to the dark side.  I need to keep my perspective in all things.

Warrior Three tells me that I am not alone.  I am surrounded by people who are ready to step forward and help me, if only I ask for help.  I do not have to go it alone, but can be part of a team moving forward in life and love.  From a romantic perspective, this card tells me that I need to tell the gods what I want and be sincere in asking for it.

Shadow Work--Day 26

Going forward what does my attitude on relationships need to be?

Maker Ten tells me that I create my own stability and that I need to own that.  If I have a poverty consciousness around relationships or finances, then that is what I will create.  Just as I have created wealth around material things, I can also choose to create wealth around relationships by having an open heart and being loving.  One of the key things about creating emotional wealth is knowing that I am worthy of having friends and relationships.  I am not some hideous monster to be hidden in the corner, which is what I sometimes thing.  I deserve love and friendship.

Dreamer Six is about taking a journey and choosing what to take with me and what to leave behind.  I can choose to drag around all the drama from my childhood or I can choose to learn the lessons from my childhood and take those lessons with me and leave behind the pain and the bullshit.  There is nothing to be served by dragging the pain and drama with me.

Dancer Nine tells me that my relationships and my life will be what I dream into being.  I can choose to hide under the covers in fear or I can choose to dream a beautiful and amazing life for myself.  This card is also about opening my heart and inviting people in.

The bottom line from this reading is that I can choose what my relationships look like.

Shadow Work--Day 25

What am I settling for in my relationships?

Warrior Three is about waiting and watching.  For me, it represents sitting on the sidelines while other people are in center stage.  This card is also about teamwork and being part of a larger group.  I don't want to be part of a larger group.  I want to be someone's one and only and not part of a group of friends. 

Maker King in this position is about being my own king and being responsible for myself.  I enjoy being independent and taking care of myself, but sometimes it gets lonely to be the one that is always responsible for taking care of things.

Death is an interesting card to come up in this position and I'm not sure what it tells me about what I am settling for in relationships.  What it may tell me is that I am holding on to things that I should let go of because they are no longer serving my needs.  Sometimes in order to move on, we need to let go of things that are holding me back.  I'm wondering if this card is telling me that I need to let go of my infatuation with someone and cut that cord so that I can have a deeper and more real relationship.  This card is also about shedding and one of my words for this year is shedding as in getting rid of things that no longer serve me.  This card seems to be telling me it truly is time to shed those relationships.

Shadow Work -- Day 24

What am I looking for in my relationships?

Maker Five tells me I want full transparency and honesty in a relationship.  I do not want someone who is hiding anything.  I also want someone who is capable of asking for help and doesn't use passive aggressive tactics to manipulate me.  I want someone capable of having an honest conversation about who they are, what they want from a relationship, etc.

Dreamer Two is all about making decisions.  I want someone who knows what they want and goes after it.  I don't want someone who is purely a dreamer who thinks up great schemes, but never does the hard work required to make things happen.  John had great ideas, but he never had the grit and the gumption to bring them to fruition.  I need someone with grit and gumption who will actually follow through.

Maker Two echoes that theme in telling me I want someone who takes responsibility for their life.  Who is capable of owning their mistakes and who doesn't constantly blame others for their sorry state in life.

All of these cards are telling me that I want a grownup and not a little boy. 

Shadow Work -- Day 23

At this point, what am I refusing to accept about my shadow and my relationships?

Dancer Six tells me that I cannot be the center of the universe at all times.  Other people have their own things going on and I can't expect everyone to constantly drop everything to take care of my emotional needs.  If everything is constantly drama, than no one will be there for me when i really need people to support me.  This card also  tells me that I need to let go of the crappy messages that I learned in my childhood.  Those messages are not supporting me and are not helping me to grow as a person.

The Tower tells me that I am refusing to accept that people will like me for who I am without the mask on.  I love this version of the Tower because it shows a mask being blown away which tells me it is about the fakeness and the illusions being blown away.  I always feel like I have to be someone else in order for people to like me.  I have to do something for them, I have to buy them something, etc.  This card is telling me that I don't need any of that.  I just need to be myself, but I can't accept that.

Temperance is telling me once again that I need to open my heart.  The heart on the fairy figure is clearly open and the man below is also opening himself up.  Opening my heart is life and love will bring me all that I desire in relationships, but I refuse to accept this.  I continue to look for ways where I can have an amazing relationship without opening my heart, but Temperance is telling me that will not happen.

Shadow Work--Day 22

At this point, what have I learned about my shadow and relationships?

Warrior Ten tells me that I cannot carry the entire weight of a relationship on my own shoulders.  There is a give and take.  I need to let go of my need to "buy affection" or to do more of my fair share of the work so that people will like me.  I need to hold people accountable in both work and personal settings.  That's hard for me to do because I am a people pleaser, but other people have to own their actions and have to own their responsibilities in friendships, in family relationships, and in other relationships.  Part of this is choosing to value myself and choosing to say that if I value myself, I cam not going to carry the burden of always being the one to contact people.  If someone values me and considers me their friend, they need to share the burden of connecting.  If someone does not share the burden of connecting, that tells me that I am a friend of convenience and that I don't really matter to the other person.  And that includes X!  He never reaches out and I'm tired of being the one to maintain our friendship.

Dancer Four tells me that it is not all about me.  I need to get out of my own head and look around me and start forming relationships with people around me.  I do spend a lot of time living in my head, not from a vanity perspective, but from a perspective of being wrapped up in my own world and tuning out what is going on around me.  Cam calls me on that all the time because I am just so wrapped up in my own things that I just don't pay attention.

The Maker card reiterates what Warrior Ten tells me, I cannot be all things to all people in a relationship.  I have to be comfortable being my own shining star and letting other people be their own shining stars.  I also cannot be all things to all people and I have to accept that.  People who want to use me should not be in my life.  I also have to do a better job of drawing boundaries around time with my family, especially C's demands.

Shadow Work-Day 20

What part of my shadow do I need to use less?

Warrior Two is the card of power awakening and although power awakening is a a really good thing, it can also be a little overwhelming.  I now that I can overwhelm people sometimes with my attitudes, my thoughts, and my power and while I will never choose to be less than again as I was with my ex, I will choose to listen more and talk less.  I'm learning that sometimes raw power needs to be moderated and dialed back to enable and support people versus overwhelming them.

Warrior Two gives me the gift of courage and helps me to jump into the middle of new situations and make my way to the other side.  However, courage is something else that can be scary for other people especially if I set the expectation that I think they are a wuss if they do not have the same level of courage that I do.  This is something else I need to moderate and practice holding people's hands and guiding them versus pushing them off a cliff.

The Hermit tells me that I love to retreat into myself and shut people out.  That is intimidating for people and people often take it personally.  In reality, it is not meant personally it is just me needing my personal space and doing what I can to protect and care for myself.  One of the things I can do to take care of myself better and not put up the huge shields is make sure I take care of myself all along and not let myself get so run down that the only way I can recover is to isolate myself.

This was an incredibly powerful reading and although it is a great reminder that I am a very strong and fierce person, it is also a reminder that sometimes there is strength in dialing back our capabilities.

Shadow Work--Day 19

What part of my shadow do I need to use more?

Maker Four tells me I need to learn to say no to obligations, etc. that are not in my best interest.  I shouldn't say yes to things that mean I end up spending the entire weekend working with no down time.  I need to learn to set better boundaries.  It also means I need to stop using work to escape into and as an excuse to not meet people.

Dreamer Three tells me that I need to feel the heartbreak and let it go.  I need to accept the cleansing relief that letting go of the pain can bring.  I need to lean into the pain instead of running away from it.

Dreamer Queen tells me to think things through and to use my logic and not just my heart.  Dreamer Queen is a stalker card as she has shown up multiple times.

Up until now my readings for this work have been spot on and have made a lot of sense.  I struggled with this reading as the cards did not seem to make sense for the question.  I'm going to continue to pray and meditate on it and the cards may make more sense later.

Shadow Work -- Day 18

What do I need to release to bring my shadow forward?

Tarot of the Sidhe
@Emily Carding

Warrior Two tells me that it is time for me to make a choice about what I really want in life and the last few weeks have helped me to make that choice.  I'd always though that I was a white picket fence kind of woman and that the white picket fence needed to include a husband, but I'm realizing that I'm perfectly content all by myself.  I do not need someone to make me whole and complete and that actually having someone in my life 24/7 is overwhelming.  As I write this, I realize that John probably always recognized at some level that I did not need him and he worked to make me need him.  This card is also about awakening and claiming my power and realizing how strong I truly am.

Dancer Princess tells me it is time to believe in magick and to open my heart and soul to love and joy.  It is time to let go of my cynicism and believe in unicorns and love.  Opening my heart to love means that I might be hurt, but it could also bring me great joy.

Dreamer Princess tells me it is time to clearly communicate my wishes to the universe.  Dreamer Princess tells me it is time to tell the universe what I want and to be prepared to go after it.  By clearly communicating what I do and do not want, I let go of the whispers and the fear.  Claiming what I want seems a little intimidating, but I'm ready to move forward with my life and to get out of limbo.

Shadow Work--Day 17

What is the main cause of my negative traits in relationships?

Dreamer Queen is back to tell me that one of the causes of my negative traits in relationships is that I live in my head and that I prefer books to people.  Oddly enough I lead with my heart at work because I love what I do, in my personal life I very much lead with my head because my head is what keeps me safe.  My heart made the bad decision to marry John so I have to pay for the rest of my life by living in my head.  However, I have a choice and I can choose to take a more balanced approach and listen to both my heart and my head.

Warrior Five tells me that I put obstacles in my own way by continually coming up with excuses to not find love and to not let people in.  I can always find something else to occupy my time or something else to do versus letting people in and spending time with people.

Oh the cards are talkative tonight.  The last card I pulled is the Hermit and that is so true because I would rather stay in my comfort zone than get out and meet people.  Oddly enough, this card rankles me sometimes because my ex used to say I was a hermit and it made me angry because he said it in such a derogatory manner.  When we divorced, I embraced being a hermit because it meant that I could control who came into my life and I didn't have to play by his rules anymore.  However, I may have gone too far and built the walls too high.

Shadow Work--Day 16

What negative aspects of my shadow do I project?

As much as I love the Dancer Two card in its aspect of soulmate, the message it gives me about this question is that I often turn my back to people I love.  If things get too emotionally intense, I will back away and be standoffish rather than be emotionally available and open to another person.  I also tend to pull away when conversations get too personal.  I don't like to let people in because of my fear of being hurt so I walk away and show my back.

The flip side of this is Dreamer Ten which tells me that if I get comfortable with someone I can bleed my emotional pain all over someone else.  Up until recently, I've taken emotional hostages and expected them to be my emotional support human and take whatever pain and ick I've dredged up.  If they pulled back or had their own issues, I got angry because they weren't there for me in the the way I needed them to be there for me.

Dreamer Queen sitting on her pile of books tells me that when I am in uncomfortable situations, I approach them from a place of the mind and not the heart.  This reminds me of my original list of qualifications for a partner.  Because my ex was basically a deadbeat, my first criteria for being with someone was that they made as much or more than I do.  A lot of people pointed out to me that I was ruling out a lot of potential partners on something arbitrary.  They made the argument that a lot of guys were not like my ex and were self supporting and would not have their ego's bruised by someone making more money than they did.  To a certain extent, I see their point, but my fear has kept me from removing that criteria.

As always with the Tarot of the Sidhe, I'm getting a lot of good reads that are truly speaking truths I need to hear.

Shadow Work--Day 14

What part of my shadow stifles relationships?

Dreamer Four tells me that I value my me time over relationships and it is true because a lot of times if the decision comes down to chilling at home and going out to meet people, I will choose to stay home and chill.  I don't necessarily think that that is a bad thing because I am very much an introvert and need my recharging time, but I can't sit and bitch and moan about not having a lot of friends if I am going to consciously choose alone time over meeting people.  There is also a possibility that I choose alone time over meeting people because I am afraid of interacting and being hurt.

Strength is another card that makes a lot of sense in this reading as I am a very strong and fierce individual and I don't need a lot of help navigating life.  Additionally, because I am afraid of meeting people, I often choose to be strong and just get things done versus asking for help.  I can never be disappointed and have people say no if I never ask.

One of the things that I am realizing as I mature and heal is that I sometimes have problems differentiating between illusion and intuition when it is something I have strong feelings about.  The Moon is telling me that because I am terrified of being hurt either intentionally or unintentionally, I an convince myself that my intuition is telling me I should not do something when in reality it is my fear.

These cards were really spot on and they are forcing me to look at how my fear is manifesting itself in my life and how I'm using a lot of excuses to prevent myself from meeting people.

Shadow Work--Day 12

How do I integrate my shadow?

Dreamer King tells me to cut through the illusions and the bullshit.  I have spent enough time working on healing work that I know it is bullshit to think everyone will treat me like my ex-husband.  I also need to cut through my old beliefs that came from my misogynistic upbringing.  I do not need a man to be happy.  I do not need a man to be successful.  It would be nice to have someone to hang out with and confide in, but I am a fully functional human being all by myself without anyone else.  That is a really hard concept for me because I saw how divorced women were treated when I grew up (and yes that was in the 70's and 80's).  Divorced women were to be pitied for not being able to keep their men and they were expected to either go out and get a new man or to move in with their parents.  Intellectually I know that is total garbage, but I guess there was a part of me that believed that bullshit.  Dreamer King tells me that I have the responsibility to let go of that way of thinking.

Dancer Two is a card that I love because it shows the soul mates back to back instead of face to face.  I like this because it tells me that soul mates can be connected and always be there for the other, but that being soulmates doesn't mean I have to be completely focused on the other person.  Even though we are partners and together, we can still have our own lives and our own interests.  This is the complete opposite of my marriage where John said he wanted us to build our own interests, but every time I tried he sabotaged me.  I wanted to go back to school and he put up road blocks.  I started working out after work and he started taking an earlier train so I'd have to pick him up sooner.  He also expected me to be interested in everything he did and got pouty when I wasn't interested in football.  That is now how a relationship should work and that is the very clear message I'm getting from Dancer Two.

Dreamer Eight tells me that I sometimes get caught up in my own illusions and it is okay to cut through them and to recognize them for what they are.  I have chosen to trap myself and it is time to free myself.  I have it within my power to cut through everything that is holding me back and to step out of the trap.  All that is holding me back is my own beliefs.  This card has come up multiple times lately as it came up for my card of the day on Friday and it came up when someone read for me.  The universe is screaming at me that it is time to step out of my own constraints.

Shadow Work--Day 11: Where do I hesitate in relationships and why?

Where do I hesitate in relationships and why?

Dreamer Ten tells me that I hesitate in relationships because I am terrified of getting hurt.  I'm terrified of having my heart ripped out again and I know that I could not handle this hurt again.  Interestingly enough, Ten of Swords came up yesterday in a reading I received yesterday as a reason that I hesitate in relationships and it is a mental block and not a block from my heart.  My brain has convinced me that I am unlovable, that I am not worthy of love, and that everyone out there who might be interested in me will take advantage of me and bleed me dry.  I am projecting all of the hurt from my ex-husband on everyone else.  As long as I continue projecting on everyone else, I will never be able to have a relationship because I will keep everyone at arm's length.

Dreamer Nine is interesting as I have nightmares about not being loved and being unloved forever, but it is my own fear that is keeping love at bay.  There is no room in my life for love as long as I am haunted by nightmares of being hurt.  I think it is time that I actually addressed the physical and emotional abuse that I received.  For the most part, I've dealt with the emotional abuse and am in a place where I would recognize emotional abuse for what it was.  I've also gotten so much stronger at setting boundaries and cutting people out of my life.  I would also walk away after the first time someone hit me, but I'm terrified of letting someone close enough for there to be a first time.  My mind has built barriers to opening up and letting people in to protect my body.

Dancer Seven is telling me that I am drowning in these illusions.  I have so bought into my belief that anyone I meet would hurt me that I can't seem to release this and let it go.  I have built my barricades up so high and I am so convinced that my only alternative is to keep people out.  This is why I am in such a place of fear and it is so difficult for me to actually connect with people and make friends and have relationships.

This was an incredibly powerful and insightful reading and it has identified something I didn't realize before as I had kind of shrugged off the physical abuse my ex put me through and focused on the emotional abuse, but I've realized that my mind has built a lot of barriers to protect myself from this abuse.

Shadow Work--Day 7

How important are relationships to my shadow?

Warrior Ten tells me that my shadow likes relationships to feel needed.  My shadow wouldn't know what to do with itself without someone relying on him.  However, this is a double edged sword as my shadow also feels used by people who "walk all over it."  My shadow also takes on other people's burdens as a way of feeling important and needed.  In some ways, my shadow would feel as if it did not have a right to exist if it wasn't doing for others.  This was the mentality that my mother drilled into my head as a child and it is a hard mindset to break.

The Hermit shows the flip side of my shadows relationship to other people. Once I have reached my fill of other people, I like to retreat and to be by myself with no human interruptions.  I need the room to contemplate and to breathe.  Being around people can be suffocating for me and it can be incredibly overwhelming. 

I had to smile as I saw the warrior king as the warrior king is prancing alone in a field of battle.  He likes his glory and he likes to be the center of attention.  My shadow loves to be the center of attention.  I've gotten better about it, but in the past I truly had to feel as if everyone was paying attention to me or I would cease to exist.  I liked to be the center of attention for things I did well, but I was also content being the center of attention as a victim.

Shadow Work--Day 6

How does a lover's shadow influence my shadow?

Pan tells me that my lover's shadow is in part about indulgence and drunken lust and that is very true.  My ex was all about indulgence and having a good time.  He was someone who didn't want to be responsible, but always wanted to have a good time and he always wanted me to be at his side.  It was as if he did not understand that I had responsibilities and when I had to be up early, I did not want to be out until 3 am partying.  When we were first together, I'd let him lead me down that garden path, but then I grew up and became...




The Elder who tells me that I realized I had responsibilities in life and that if I wanted to be successful, I had to fulfill those responsibilities and could not do that if I was out partying.  The Elder is also about tradition and ritual and studying and doing the work.  The Elder is about doing the work required for initiation and not just stepping up and getting it handed to us.  Oddly this card resonates with me for another reason as well as my ex always accused me of getting my degree handed to me and not working for it.  While it is true that my parents paid for my degree, it is also true that I worked hard for everything I had and I continue to work hard for my success.

Warrior Six tells me that my ex was all about the adulation and the accolades and not about doing the work and that's true.  I always wrote for the sheer joy of writing, but his focus on writing was selling and I didn't like to write just to sell.  I've realized that I write as a form of catharsis.  It is about putting my story down on paper.  Sometimes I'd turn my stories into fiction because it was less painful for fictional characters to deal with my pain than it was to acknowledge the pain as mine.  My ex is all about the victory lap and he's also all about using people to share their glory.  He was horrible to our kids, but he loved to brag about them.

Shadow Work--Day 4

How does my shadow hurt my relationships?

The Dancer tells me that I like to be alone.  I like to dance alone, I like to just be alone.  It is hard for me to be part of a group as my normal state of being is aloneness.  This is a card of healing and love, but for me that is healing myself and not healing the world.

Warrior three tells me that sometimes everything in my life is performance art.  I show up because I have to instead of because I really want to.  This works well at work where I get paid to show up and basically tell a story, but it doesn't work as well in my personal life because it keeps me from forming the real and intimate connections that I crave.  This is supposed to be a card of collaboration, but for me it speaks to people working alone.

Maker King tells me that I intimidate people.  This may be because I am skilled at what I do, but could also be because I give off a vibe that I'm not interested in hearing other people's opinions.  I like to be the king and I like to think that my skills are so special that no one could improve them.  Interestingly, I've been getting an education in learning to sell lately as I've had to put material together for our sales team and every time I do it, it gets a little bit better, but I'm not quite there it.  I have to be honest and say that this is literally one of the hardest things that I've ever had to do.

Shadow Work--Day 3

How will integrating my shadow improve my relationships?

Maker Prince--The maker prince is kind and gentle and spends time in nature with animals.  My knowledge of my shadow and my honesty with myself will help me to build true connections with people.  I don't put on airs or pretend to be something I'm not.  I also acknowledge my flaws and work hard to truly change my interactions with people.  All of these things are attractive to people because they get the sense that I am real. I'm also grounded and am beginning to be comfortable in my own skin, flaws and all.





Death--I have learned over my life that nothing stays the same and that sometimes we have to say

goodbye to things that matter to us so that we can move on.  One of the best lessons I've learned from John is to let go when things are no longer working.  I held on to the dead and lifeless corpse of my marriage for way too long and that caused a lot of problems for me.  I've learned that it is okay to work on relationships, but sometimes you have to acknowledge they are dead.  Although I don't always welcome endings, I've learned to welcome the transformation that comes with them.  There is always something new to discover and to learn.  Change is always hard, but it is easier when we welcome transformation and accept that there is something new and different coming into our lives.

Dreamer Five--At first glance, this is a very depressing card as it is about hope being discarded and about powerlessness and resignation.  However, I've learned that unrealistic hope can be unhealthy.  Sometimes we cling to a dream that we hope will work out, but in reality we've outgrown that dream and it is time to move on.  When we aren't able to discard this hope and move on, it can hold us back.  It's really interesting that this card showed up for me because I am finally at a point in my life where I've let go of the hope that a relationship will work out with someone.  Intellectually, I've known it for a couple of years, but int eh back of my mind I had hope that it would magically work out.  Being able to let go of that hope means that I can finally move on and be ready for the right relationship for me.