Water barriers

Daily Draw: Gateway Oracle Cards: Breaking Barriers/ Druid Craft Tarot Deck, Queen of Cups

This card is about breaking through self imposed barriers. The guidebook advises 'don't let fear or even reason prevent you from over coming barriers'. My thoughts went to a situation in my work life from which I've withdrawn so much I'm almost in Narnia. I will need to (and friends have urged me to) reassert my right to go to work and get on with work peacefully. Yet I don't relish the reaction that is likely to provoke. 

Over the past couple of days I have been preoccupied with creating a more harmonious home especially through the use of water. Wondering if this is a distraction or diversion I sought clarity in the Druid Craft (my go to deck when I want immediate guidance). I drew the Queen of Cups which speaks to me of healing and nurturing indicating that creating a serene space is necessary not just nice. Truly accepting that might be my barrier...

Perhaps as I enlarge the peace in my home I will achieve a shift in perspective so the significance of the snake and the bug diminish just as they are small in this card. 

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. 

Norman Maclean, 1902-1990

Doors again

Daily Draw: Gateway Oracle Cards, Embracing the Future

I think one reason people remain in situations that no longer serve them is because they don't know what the future looks like. The irony being that when the future comes a'calling we don't notice it let alone embrace it. 

I am reminded by this card that visualisation can be a powerful motivator. In the absence of it we put one foot in front of the other although it can feel like a slog to nowhere. 

The doorway that the woman walks through is the outcome of the path she has trod so far. As the card shows there are clearly other ways forward that have always been open to her. Perhaps if we take off the blinkers instead of trudging forwards there are opportunities to dance our way. 

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards 

Søren Kierkegaard, 1813-1855

Reflexive openings

Daily Draw: Gateway Oracle Cards, Looking Deeper

I had an enforced meditative practice this morning when I went for breakfast stuff and locked myself out of the house. Listening to clear birdsong outside rather the muffled sort I hear in the kitchen was a good experience I will repeat. 

The message of this card is that something that may seem closed could actually be just about to open (like my door). I am reminded by this of the difference between surface and deep reflections. The former describes something that happened whereas the latter involves an unsettling of assumptions so we think and do things differently in the future. 

Maybe joy is whatever is happening minus our opinion of it, and love is whatever is happening minus our attempt to control it. 

Sebene Selassie, 

sort of anniversary

Daily Draw: Gateway Oracle Cards, Planting Seeds/ Fairy Lights Tarot, Ace of Wands

It is a year today since I began blogging my daily draw. Although it was in secret so not sure today counts as an anniversary. 

Today's oracle urges us to be clear on what our hearts truly desire. It suggests to me the importance of planting spiritual seeds first for the clarity we need to decide which worldly seeds to sow. The card also speaks of nurturance so what we plant grows strong like the oak. Partly this means being willing to pull the weeds along the way. 

I also drew a card (the Ace of Wands) from the Fairy Lights Tarot which is the first deck I blogged with. According to the guidebook "A tree of inspiration is growing from a seed planted long ago. Tend it well and draw upon its creative powers''

This image of the sapling growing from an old trunk reminds me that we don't always get to start from a perfect beginning. Sometimes growth emerges out of broken or dying things. Things can grow from seeds which we planted quite unintentionally or without great expectations. Whether the tree in this card is beautiful or a weed depends on your point of view. 

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant

Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894

Oh well

Daily Draw: Gateway Oracle Cards, Making a Difference

Been mulling this one. According to the book the card represents making a difference to the lives of others in ways we do not know. Not feeling it today. Oh well. 







One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important.

Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970

Quiet

Daily Draw: Gateway Oracle Cards, Stepping into Stillness. 

I have a meeting with a noisy drama queen today. This card speaks of the need for inner calm even as there is chaos and disharmony around us. I see it as a continuation of yesterdays card. If I allow myself to be sucked into the madness it will affect my relations with others and their relations with others and so on in a domino pattern of negativity. 

The challenge today is to resist the temptation to embrace unnecessary drama and invented urgencies. As the book suggests true power is born in stillness. 

We don't need giant personalities to transform companies. We need leaders who build not their own egos but the institutions they run. 

Susan Cain, 1968 - 

Out of clutter

Daily Draw: Gateway Oracle Cards, Cherishing Self

I was surprised to draw this as I've done a fair amount of self-cherishing in the shopping centre recently. On reflection though this is surface level self care. 

Real self nurturing is feeling good on the inside which shines through to the outside. Partly why I've chosen to work with this deck. Feeling a little trepidation at getting back into the thesis and in need of some positive calming energies.

A harmonious environment helps too. I bought Denise Linn's Sacred Space last year and ironically became too busy and stressed to read it let alone indulge in the home clearing rituals she suggests. The wrong way round. As the oracle guidebook suggests we cannot adequately look after anyone else when our glass is empty to half full. 

So I'll start reading and try to remember to balance headwork with the housework that makes a home a joy to live in. In fact clearing a smudge off my MacBook I've just discovered a function that has evaded me for two years. Woohoo! What other possibilities await? 

The table's simple balanced offer reminds me that I like nice things in small quantities. A single rose can bring great pleasure. One artisan made chocolate delivers over and above a bumper box. Who knows as I centre my space I may become a more mindful shopper...

Out of clutter, find simplicity.

Albert Einstein, 1879-1955