Death

From The Halloween Tarot

By Kathryn Ravenwood  10-19-16

 

I am loving the season; Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, yellow leaves falling from the trees while brilliant blue skies blaze overhead. This very fun Tarot deck (Halloween Tarot) is full of great images but today Death spoke to me. The card is rich with images and symbolism. A skeleton uses a brightly colored can to pour life-giving water onto grinning pumpkins. A vulture perches on the fence where an Ankh sign (symbol of life) has been posted. Green ferns and bright sunflowers happily grow along the walk, a moth flits by, and a black cat contentedly rubs up against a bony skeleton leg, curling its tail around the other.  This card looks more like life to me than death.

 

The life/death cycle is in everything. The moth was once a caterpillar and transformed through metamorphosis. The seeds that became the pumpkins had to “die” to sprout and become the plant that bore the fruit. The vulture is known as a scavenger – it only eats dead matter and yet transforms that into its living body. Vultures are known to provide the flesh of their own bodies to their babies if no food is available. Eventually the remains of all physical bodies return to the earth creating the compost for new generations of life.

Fall is the time to celebrate two of my favorite holidays, both of which honor Death – Halloween and Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Halloween lets us take on an alternate identity. For some of us we are empowered allow the hidden side of our nature to show up as a witch, an alien, or a magical creature. We are allowed to abandon all rules and be as outrageous as we like. For the time we are in costume we experience a little death of our everyday selves and transform into our imaginations where unlimited things can take form.

 

For the Day of the Dead we create altars for the dearly departed in our lives, the ancestors, our friends and family and beloved pets. We fix their favorite foods, get out physical objects they owned and dust off the frames of our favorite photos of them. Enshrined on their altars, lit with candles and strewn with brightly colored marigolds, our dead loved ones are alive again in the stories we tell of them, in the tears and laughter we share remembering them. Re-membering….. “Member” means a part of the physical body such as organs and appendages; to re-member brings back together the parts into a whole, into our present consciousness where the Dead are always with us.

 

While we move through this special time of year, honor the dead – your loved ones, the dead parts of you, the death of what used to be, the death of what might have been. Light some candles, tell the stories, shed some tears, laugh and celebrate that what is now dead once was full of life and will transform into some form of life again. Life and Death are partners in the great Cosmic Dance of Becoming. Our bodies may die but the works we do while alive live on in the talents we shared, the help we gave to someone in need, our children, and the generations after us. Tell your stories. There will come a time when we will be a faded photo on an ancestor altar and some friend or family member will share the tales and we will be re-membered.

 

Love is eternal….Kathryn  Ravenwood 10-19-16

 

 

Temperance

From The Halloween Tarot

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood 10.12.16

 

 

What a happy witch – cooking up a bubbling brew of magic! Everything she needs is at hand; a shelf full of ingredients, books, measuring spoons, flowers for beauty, and of course her Familiar Black Cat. Her wise owl sits on her hat, a lizard (symbol of transformation) has blended right in with the shape and color of the vase, and a darling little bunny peeks out of her pocket as she mixes and blends her potion. Who knows what else is there in her cozy laboratory? She is well stocked to create her magic, her alchemy.

 

Our lives are an on-going recipe, a concoction, and magical brew of our experiences. Like the witch’s cauldron, we are each a vessel for the physical and spiritual ingredients that make us uniquely who we are. The spilled water on the floor is a reminder of spirit flowing through our lives, sometimes unseen but always there. We are constantly cooking up a new version of who we are. Like a tried and true recipe we have some very basic parts that don’t really change but become more refined as we practice our lives. Sometimes we have to just wing it, using whatever is at hand to make the right potion that allows for an immediate transformation. Like great chefs, we are the artisans of our own lives creating the magic that is uniquely our own. We present ourselves as works of art as we live, grow, learn, and interact with others.

 

In the Tarot the Temperance card brings a welcome balance. The previous card, Death, has caused us to experience that which must end in our lives, sometimes very painfully. The next card, the Devil, calls to us to go into the shadows and face that which we fear. Temperance gives us a break. We find equilibrium, stability, and beauty. We have tried, failed, tried, succeeded, and failed again. Now we have obtained a level of mastery where all our efforts, wisdom, experience, and risks have come to fruition. We get to feel the magic and know that WE are that magic. We are not stuck or confined to one version of ourselves. We can modify, alter, and re-write how we do this thing called life, all the while accommodating the external events that cause us to internally change. Our cauldron is always there, our familiars ever at hand to assist us in this life long – even eternal - alchemy.

 

In traditional Tarot, the Temperance card shows an angel blending the contents of two cups, pouring one into the other. This reminds us that our spiritual nature, our soul, our higher self, is participating with us in this great alchemy. We might get bogged down in 3-D living but our higher nature is always at work within us, guiding us, celebrating our delicious new recipes with us.

 

Fresh home-made bread right out of the oven has a mouth-watering aroma. If anyone is in the house they will be drawn like a magnet to the kitchen, begging for a piece of the yumminess. As we hone our alchemy we are like that luscious aroma, attracting into our lives that which we need to help us continue on the path of growth and beauty. There might be a few toadstools and toes of salamanders along the way, but hey – they are all part of the mix.

 

What’s cooking in your cauldron?

 

…Kathryn Ravenwood 10-12-16

 

Temperance: What is Cooking in Your Cauldron?

Temperance

From The Halloween Tarot

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

10-14-16

 

 

What a happy witch – cooking up a bubbling brew of magic! Everything she needs is at hand; a shelf full of ingredients, books, measuring spoons, flowers for beauty, and of course her Familiar Black Cat. Her wise owl sits on her hat, a lizard (symbol of transformation) has blended right in with the shape and color of the vase, and a darling little bunny peeks out of her pocket as she mixes and blends her potion. Who knows what else is there in her cozy laboratory? She is well stocked to create her magic, her alchemy.

 

Our lives are an on-going recipe, a concoction, and magical brew of our experiences. Like the witch’s cauldron, we are each a vessel for the physical and spiritual ingredients that make us uniquely who we are. The spilled water on the floor is a reminder of spirit flowing through our lives, sometimes unseen but always there. We are constantly cooking up a new version of who we are. Like a tried and true recipe we have some very basic parts that don’t really change but become more refined as we practice our lives. Sometimes we have to just wing it, using whatever is at hand to make the right potion that allows for an immediate transformation. Like great chefs, we are the artisans of our own lives creating the magic that is uniquely our own. We present ourselves as works of art as we live, grow, learn, and interact with others.

 

In the Tarot the Temperance card brings a welcome balance. The previous card, Death, has caused us to experience that which must end in our lives, sometimes very painfully. The next card, the Devil, calls to us to go into the shadows and face that which we fear. Temperance gives us a break. We find equilibrium, stability, and beauty. We have tried, failed, tried, succeeded, and failed again. Now we have obtained a level of mastery where all our efforts, wisdom, experience, and risks have come to fruition. We get to feel the magic and know that WE are that magic. We are not stuck or confined to one version of ourselves. We can modify, alter, and re-write how we do this thing called life, all the while accommodating the external events that cause us to internally change. Our cauldron is always there, our familiars ever at hand to assist us in this life long – even eternal - alchemy.

 

In traditional Tarot, the Temperance card shows an angel blending the contents of two cups, pouring one into the other. This reminds us that our spiritual nature, our soul, our higher self, is participating with us in this great alchemy. We might get bogged down in 3-D living but our higher nature is always at work within us, guiding us, celebrating our delicious new recipes with us.

 

Fresh home-made bread right out of the oven has a mouth-watering aroma. If anyone is in the house they will be drawn like a magnet to the kitchen, begging for a piece of the yumminess. As we hone our alchemy we are like that luscious aroma, attracting into our lives that which we need to help us continue on the path of growth and beauty. There might be a few toadstools and toes of salamanders along the way, but hey – they are all part of the mix.

 

What’s cooking in your cauldron?

 

…Kathryn Ravenwood 10-12-16

 

The Ace of Cups
From the Witches Tarot – Ellen Dugan
Detoxification

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

We are each a vessel of Spirit.  Our physical bodies, made of water, earth, fire, and air, are the living containers that Spirit inhabits, allowing us to enjoy not only a physical experience but to also provide a way for Spirit to expand through us. We use our minds, our hands, our voices, gifts, and talents so Spirit can experience the physical world and do work through us. When we are tuned in and “in the flow” with Spirit we are like the picture above: a shining cup filled and overflowing with the grace and love of the Universe. 

There is a cosmic filtration system set up. While we are in these bodies we are constantly learning. The Cups of the Tarot are about water and emotions. The planet and our bodies are about 70% (or more) water so the Cups represent a huge part of how we process life. Ideally, we experience and incorporate the lessons and gifts, releasing that which does not support us. We keep the flow going. The lake under the Cup is filled with water lilies blooming on the surface. The unseen roots of these plants grow and are fed from all the cast off dregs washing out of that cup. It is a scummy, putrid mass if you scoop it out from the bottom but to the plant it is an anchor, food, and the growth opportunity it needs.  In this recycling process everyone wins. 

However, all is not always well. Our emotional bodies get very clogged with the detritus of life. We experience more than we can continually process: fear, rejection, toxic relationships, loss, broken hearts, shattered self-esteem – the list goes on and on. We find ourselves holding on and when we hold on, the natural order of the Universe  - that of give and receive – is stopped. We begin to drown in our own emotional murkiness. 

The Ace of Cups is generally associated with things like a blissful new love affair, an overflowing of joy and spiritual love, and all things happy.  But when our cup is clogged with all that muck there is no room to receive. We have to release and give away – we need to detox.  If you were offered a drink of the most delicious nectar on earth and all you had to drink from was an old rusty cup or a glass caked with yesterday’s milk or coffee you could not receive and enjoy that nectar. But if you washed the cup first…

Try to stop the toxic intake. Forgive yourself. Forgive others. Implore Spirit to help you. Be willing to change and forgive even if you think you cannot do it. Even if the crime against you was truly heinous, be willing to let it go. Start giving yourself some emotionally beautiful moments.  Focus on what makes you happy, what gives you joy. Embrace your life – all of it. It is OK and normal that you experienced failures, that people let you down, that things did not turn out how you hoped or expected. Recognize and honor of the gunk you are holding within you. As it begins to filter out of you trust that, like those water lilies, it becomes the base for new growth, to be an anchor for the present and future you. 

This is a grand alchemy and nothing less. You will feel the new reaching out, rising up from the mucky layers. As you grow and reach out to the light above, the transformation continues; the buds of new life will form and, like those lilies, you will bloom and grace yourself and the world with beauty. There will be room again in the vessel to let Spirit and life experiences flow through you; the cosmic order of give and take will be restored and you will be once again filled with love, grace, beauty, joy and all things beautiful.

We cannot change what happened but we can choose how to respond. We are talking about emotions here – not the mind, not the will power, not the muscles and joints of our physical bodies. Emotions, like water, have to trickle and find an opening, flow through that opening and clean and clear along the way. It is a journey.  The Grand Canyon took eons of time as water simply sought its way through and carved beauty out of layers of rock hard resistance.  

The Ace of Cups is being offered to you.  Drink up.

…Kathryn Ravenwood 10-5-16

The Queen of Swords: Mastery of Mind

The Queen of Swords

From The Aleister Crowley/Thoth Deck

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood - 9-29-16

Sometimes I am aware of an acute presence that monitors my thoughts and resulting actions. It is a very precise kind of focus that rises up within me. I pay attention. I notice things. I listen. It is like someone else is looking through my eyes, hearing with my ears, and thinking with my mind. I really like it when this happens because I know I am in charge of my present moment. I tend to make good decisions at these times and I trust myself. 

 

Who is this presence? She is the Queen of Swords. She is that Mastery of Mind aspect that is objective, uncluttered, precise, no nonsense. She has studied, checked the facts, read into the night learning with her avid mind. She holds within her vast knowledge and yes, even wisdom.  She is an advocate of Truth, able to keep herself out of the mundane and in the higher realms where she often sits and ponders it all. She raises the bar then calls us and holds us to our ability to rise up to a higher standard. She is not to be crossed as she stands firm, scrutinizing the situation, wielding her Sword of Truth, unwavering and even relentless – ruthless some would say. Warm and fuzzy she is not. She is often referred to as “the woman alone” and she probably likes it that way just fine, thank you very much.

 

Her lightening quick mind and rapier wit can be the life of the party. Her memory is clear; she can generously and sincerely give a compliment or good advice. You will not find this Queen making simpering gestures or kissing anyone’s feet. She is in command of her mind, her words. She can be the best person in charge, the one who can make quick, objective decisions, the one who can see the underlying order of the situation, and understand the Truth that prevails over even the messiest of conflicts. She carries a big sword (her mind); she can use it to get right to the point, be sharp and concise or, on a bad day, seek to control all who may disagree with her way of thinking. She is not always popular.

 

I love her. I relate to her. Sometimes I feel her advocacy come through me and am able to be discerning and honest with myself to make positive changes in me. She helps me be a more objective listener and counselor without attachment to the outcome of others’ issues. She makes it very clear that is me who must change and not that I may change others. Sometimes she scares me; I can embody her and take her power too far using my big honkin’ sword to off the heads of any and all that would cross me. In fairness, I find she(and me) usually gives people warnings and chances before that sword swoops down and cuts through the BS, severing it once and for all. In that state she is not likely to be apologetic because she acted on what she thought was absolute truth.  She will take responsibility for her action and, if proven wrong, will make amends.

 

The Queen of Swords’ throne is high in the clouds – the realm of thought and mind where she is Master. The Swords of the Tarot are also the suit of Air – of the East – of New Beginnings. The Queen holds her sword in one hand and the severed head of an old man in the other. The severing of the old dogmatic mind allows room for the new to come in, rising up like the child, whose head we see above her throne, above even her own self.  Our Queen is a defender of this child – of this truth – of this ability to bring about transformation through thought and subsequent action.

 

How can the Queen of Swords enhance your life? What old and trite thoughts and dogmas do you perpetuate that really no longer serve the truth of who you are? Whose words and rules overpower your own?  Is it time to cut off a few heads?  If so, speak your truth, be your truth, be open to the Higher Truth where wisdom reigns, and then wield that sword and let the heads roll where they may.

 

…Kathryn Ravenwood 9-29-16

The Four of Swords

From The King’s Journey Tarot

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

We all need to clear our thoughts at times and get regrouped. That is sometimes easier said than done. The mind loves to circle around the same old concepts and worries, attitudes and beliefs. Our thoughts stack up like layers of clouds that fog our mind and thinking process. Some of these thoughts are beneficial and some not. We must learn to the art of self-negotiation to become master of our own mind. 

In the card above we see a person sitting high on a mountain spire. He had to climb up there on a ladder, the rungs of which are swords. Swords represent thoughts. There had to be a conscious thought process to lead him to this place of retreat. From this viewpoint he looks out over layers of clouds -his thoughts - which have pushed up against themselves until there is no space between them; clarity is  concealed. The cave behind our quester represents the empty space available when we can reorganize our mind. I find it interesting that the cave is shaped much like how the man is sitting. Thoughts manifest into form. We become what we think.

The Fours of the Tarot are ruled by the Emperor, number 4 of the Major Arcana. The Emperor ideally represents form, formation, the ability to rule, to delegate and the right use of power. In the midst of all the clouds of the Swords it is good to utilize the Emperor’s tools to re-establish order and take command of our thoughts. The mountain peaks in the card remind us of the grounded nature of the Emperor, that in spite of a messy mind, we have the ability to reform our thinking back into order. The discipline and practice of mental awareness builds over time until we, like the mountain peaks, have a vantage point available for discernment and reflection. The Four of Swords is not so much about emptying our mind but in negotiating a better mind space; a place of truce where we stop fighting with ourselves and sort out the facts, fantasies, and fiction.

In the card shown above, we see a few leaves dropping out of the sky, drifting down to where our thinker is sitting. These leaves are inspiration from somewhere outside the mind, outside the cloudy expanse. Swords are the element of air, which is associated with the East and all things new. The green leaves are the fresh ideas, those “ahas!” that pop into our heads when our mind is clear, not when we are ruminating endlessly on the hamster wheel of linear thinking. Some leaves will drift on by but some will land offering new opportunities for thoughts and action. 

Our minds are incredible tools. We cannot control the world, other people, or events but we can learn to have better control over how we think and therefore react to what happens. We get to choose what we want to learn, to read, to study and gain mastery of.  We can choose to dwell on negative thought patterns or seek out new, stimulating ideas. We might excel in math or music, poetry or prose. How wonderful it is to engage in lively conversations with like minded people. How frustrating it is when our thoughts are so muddled we can’t even recall basic information.

In the Age of Information we are all on overload. Much of what enters our thoughts is simply useless blither. Be the Emperor of your own mind. Take control. Be responsible for  your thoughts. No one lives in your head but you. You have the power to clear your thoughts and bring some blue sky into that cloudy field of vision. Let those leaves of inspiration that find you take hold, root into the foundation of the realm of your own mind.

A beautiful mind is a terrible thing to waste. Your mind is beautiful. If you have forgotten that, please rediscover it and let your beautiful thoughts loose into the world. We surely need them.

…Kathryn Ravenwood  9/16/16

Medicine Woman Cards

9 of Stones (Pentacles)

Sharing the Wealth

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

What do you know that you could to teach? You might be surprised that what you take for granted is a much needed and basic skill for someone else. In the above card we see a woman on her hands and knees planting a garden. A child stands by watching, learning. The woman has done this dozens of times yet it may be the first time the child has had the opportunity to watch and learn. I love this card as it has so many layers of activity.

The woman was once the child who also had to learn. Someone taught her so she, too, could pass the wisdom and skill along. Being an expert, the woman knows how to just do the job, but she takes the time to carefully teach the child all the steps it takes to make a garden. First, the idea of the garden must happen. Then a spot must be chosen based on many conditions such as sunlight, permeability of the soil, water source, the length of the growing season, and of course, what has worked or failed before. The soil must be prepared, seeds brought in and planted at the most opportune time. The seeds must be watered correctly – not too much and not too little. The difference between a seedling and a weed has to be recognized. As the plants grow they may need to be thinned out. And what to do about the inevitable bugs that show up? The woman/teacher knows what works in her garden – she has seen plants fail and plants thrive. She knows when to plant the greens, the corn, or the squash. She knows about the usual growing conditions and has seen the extremes. She knows to plant above a flood line or to avoid the area that is full of stones. To the child, it is exciting, overwhelming, and all new. 

We are each a treasure trove of experience, information, knowledge. Much of it is collective and seems commonplace – we know how to read, do basic math, and drive a car. But not everyone knows even the simple things we take for granted. And, we each hold our own unique mastery representing years of study, commitment and devotion to what we do. We are healers, writers, ceremonialists; we are adepts and masters of The Mysteries. We are parents, friends, teachers, mechanics, bakers, tailors and dancers. We have experienced and survived the painful sides of life as well as learned how to throw great parties in celebration. 

My parents and grandparents planted by the Llewellyn Moon Sign Book and had fabulous gardens. The publisher collected information passed down through the generations and then shared it so that knowledge would not be lost. When we teach what we know to someone else, especially a child or a student, we pass along our wisdom for someone else to have, to explore and to use perhaps in new ways that we did not ourselves know. Even the seeds in the garden are teachers. They hold the secret life of the plant locked within them, yet they teach us that a seed cannot grow unless it is put into the ground where it basically dies- gives itself away - to be reborn as a new plant – Osiris risen in the green field….

This is generosity. This is the great give-away of life. We cannot hoard our resources: if we do not give away what we know it is lost. My grandmother made a killer Hungarian Goulash but she did not write down her special recipe and none of us knew exactly how to make it – grandma’s delicious secret died with her. 

Don’t let what you know be lost. Teach, share, give; celebrate your unique storehouse of wealth, wisdom, experience and expertise. Give it away. It will all come back, renewed, replenished, and your garden will continue to thrive and produce beauty and abundance long after you are gone.

…Kathryn Ravenwood  09/08/16

WHAT SNAKE TOLD ME

Tarot Card from Collective Tarot

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood ...10-5-2003

 

During times of intense growth and change in our lives we can easily become blinded to conditions and actions that are often very apparent and obvious to others. It is as if we have lost our ability to see. This can be extremely frustrating and depressing, especially if we have come to a level of self work that has taught us how to glide through change with understanding if not ease. When times arise that have us totally blocked it is important not to give up and fall into despair. 

Lately I have been experiencing a tremendous blindness in my life. I had achieved what I thought to be an expanded awareness of making choices based on that positive heart expansive feeling we get when something is “right.” I was thrilled that I had overcome many obstacles in my life and was able to come to a closer connection with my higher self - closer to enlightenment (I thought). Then, after a series of events that left me close to shattered in personal confidence and wondering who in the world I thought I was to even think I knew anything about higher consciousness, I turned to what “should” have been an obvious path from the beginning - my Guides. They see (while I did not) what is best for us in the big picture. While setbacks and obstacles may seem like defeat and the loss of personal power to us, they see the truth: we are always learning and just because we thought we “got it” at one point in our life does not mean we won’t have to “get it” again by repeating some of the old lessons. After all, we do tend to forget and cannot see how to apply what might have been familiar teachings to new surroundings or conditions. 

 

So in a fit of despair I went into my altar room, lit one candle, started to breathe and asked to be guided to help me see my way out of my grief and desperation. I found myself out in the beautiful plains of Wyoming, a place where I have met a great Spirit Guide, Buffalo, before so I expected to see Buffalo and fall into that wonderful energy I know and love. No one came.  I started to sing a little song to the Directions, thanking the Spirits of each Direction for their help, for guiding me and showing me the way. “Thank you Spirits of the East for giving me this new day; Thank you Spirits of the  South for teaching me to play; Thank you Spirits of the West for taking me within; thank you Spirits of the North for your wisdom and my kin; Thank you Spirits who are above, the Sun and Moon and Stars; thank you Spirits who are below, unseen ones that You are; Thank you Grandmother Spider for the Web of Life you weave; Thank you God/Goddess for in Your Heart we all are One.”  Still no Buffalo!  So I drummed and sang for awhile and found myself walking over to a grouping of rocks which were hot with the heat of the sun. Then I heard the lesson. 

It was Snake who talked to me and told me what I already knew, had already experienced, but completely did not see in this current situation. We all know that as snakes grow their skins do not grow with them - they only stretch to the point of having to be shed. The shedding releases the old body, so to speak, so the new, larger one can come forward. The old skin is dull, often has scales missing or is scarred or torn. When the old skin is shed it comes off all in one piece, including little snaky eyeglasses where the skin fits over their eyes. If you saw the shed skin laying on the ground it would look like the envelope of the snake - a transparent tube-reptile. The new skin comes in all shiny and beautiful making the snake feel soft and smooth. 

 

What Snake reminded me of was this: before the old skin is shed, there is a period of time when the snake is almost completely blind. A blue film forms over its eyes. During this time of critical transition the snake is agitated, strikes out, cannot eat, and is very defensive and vulnerable.  Then the blue film goes away but still the snake has not shed. Maybe the whole process was a false alarm; maybe the snake was just sick or crazy! Even experienced snake lovers can question the process. But then the magic happens and that old skin comes off. Sometimes the snake just wriggles out of it easily and quickly. Sometimes it takes more effort, even requires soaking in water to loosen where the old skin is so tightly attached it resists all efforts to release.  Sometimes the snake has to rub repeatedly over rough rocks to scrape off the torn pieces. But, eventually, the shedding is done. The snake is no longer blind, is ravenously hungry, and extremely active.

 

Snakes do not carry around the old skin as a reminder or a personal cross to bear of their hard times and previous existence. They leave that old skin right where it came off. They don’t cry about it. They just go on. Some reptiles do eat the old skin. This can be viewed as both a nutritional opportunity and as absorption of the old into the new. As a concerned human helper we could help that snake peel off the areas where the old skin is stuck but we risk harming the new skin below. It is just something the snake has to go through in its own time and on its own.  

 

What Snake told me, is that I am in the blind stage. My eyes are blue-filmed. I am aggressive, lost, striking out and defensive. When the shedding finally comes, no matter how long it takes or how difficult the process, I will have gone through another growth cycle, ready to go forward.  I am grateful to Snake for this reminder and so feel safer in my blindness knowing it is all part of growth and becoming a new and shiny being - at least for awhile until the process repeats itself.

 

“After all”, says Snake, “that is the way of life.”  So I wait and in the waiting it wouldn’t hurt to go find a nice pool of water to soak in……..

 ...Kathryn Ravenwood (written Oct 5 2003) on August 4, 2016

Princess of Wands

Unknown Deck

Original writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

 

If ya got it – flaunt it!  The Princess of Wands is that absolutely juicy, luscious, passionate part of us that has the guts to take on something new in spite of experience, age, fear, past failures, lack of cohorts, or the admonished disdain of family or friends.  She is out there – in there – just waiting for you to call on her, to channel her unabashed desire to try something new. Whether it be belly dancing, writing your memoir, falling in love (again), saying “no”, saying “yes”, auditioning for a play, leaving a toxic situation, or embracing your spiritual path with commitment and power, it will never happen if you don’t try, if you don’t get started, if you don’t commit to your own fierce power of self love and possibility.  

 

Whatever it is you have “always wanted to do” or wished you could do, or thought you could never do, now is the  time to get your juicy on.  Yes, you.  Get out of your comfort zone. Get up, get dressed, show up and fake it till you make it.  Let your glorious light shine – no – let it blaze forth!

 

What is stopping you? Is it fear? What if you fail? What if you make a fool of yourself?  Is it too hard? Not as hard as staying stuck or small or always wishing you had the guts to go for it – whatever “it” is.   Life goes on whether you participate or not and the Princess of Wands is no way going to take a back seat and watch her life fade away.  She is going to step up, speak out, take risks, dare you to join her, go screaming and hollering all the way through the scary parts and celebrate like crazy at the very fact that she tried.  Because even in trying is a great success.  This is where the juicyness is.  And if you should actually succeed…  awesome!

 

We all go through slumps in our lives. These periods can be times of processing and learning about our experiences. But if we settle into a place of complacency, using fear as a blanket to protect us, years can go by – time we do not get back again. Yes, there are horrific times in our lives when we need to retreat, to process, to recover. But eventually we need to move on and kick start our lives again. The Princess of Wands shown above is a beautiful dancer. Do you think she always knew how to dance? How to make those gorgeous costumes? At what point did she go on stage and become vulnerable to the public eye?  She probably had a very full and busy life and she had to make a lot of adjustments to find time to take lessons, practice, learn to sew, audition for performances.  But she did it; and now just look at her just oozing with passion!

 

At whatever point you are in your life, there is always room for the Princess of Wands to dance in and get you jump started. She is there to collaborate with you publically, privately, spiritually, to help you embrace your life and get your creative juices flowing again. It is OK if you start and fail. It is OK if you start and change your mind.  It is OK if you start and succeed, but please take the hand of the Princess and get out on the dance floor with her.

 

 Just do it.

 

…Kathryn Ravenwood 7.14.16

WHOLENESS

From the Crystal Ally Deck

 Original writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

 

Division and duality are the push and pull of life. This or that. Yes or no. Go or stay. Regular or decaf. We choose one thing and let something else go. We rejoice and regret, win or lose, succeed or fail. Millions of events, thoughts, actions, and decisions make up the complicated stories of our lives. Nothing is simple. The past, present and future exist simultaneously within us – we struggle with that and try to make a linear sense of it. Time zooms along as we try to catch up or ride the wave of it. Mindfulness is lost in anxiety. We can feel frustrated and fragmented. Wholeness? What is that?

 

The card shown above always encourages me. A mosaic of little pieces of turquoise have combined into the matrix of a full circle. I can well imagine those individual bits strewn across space in a seemingly random pattern, the very essence of chaos. And yet, here they have gathered together and formed a whole. Turquoise itself is a matrix of different minerals which create the beautiful colors we treasure in the stone. The circle is the symbol of unbroken and eternal being and yet in the picture it, too, looks to be made of individual parts - perhaps like tree rings imprinting the annual influences that caused the tree to grow in a certain way; drought or flood, fire or disease, not enough sun, or an easy year allowing solid growth. How those parts and pieces, influences and conditions come together form the matrix of the tree. The same is true for you or me.

 

Wholeness lies not in unbroken perfection but in the play and arrangement of all the pieces. It is emotional, cellular, physical, mental, active, passive, energetic, vibrational, black and white and living color. Every aspect of our lives is what Normandi Ellis calls “our eternal becoming.” At any moment, with every breath, we are absolutely a whole being connected body to soul, living on earth and existing in spirit. Our matrix continues to evolve and build upon itself.  Like the card above, our Wholeness sits between the two pillars, between the dualities; the mosaic of the Whole holding the space within the dark void from which all possibility arises and from which we create our unique and sacred existence.

So take a breath. Exhale. Breathe again. While you are doing that your body cells are dying off and being replaced. The Earth is spinning around the Sun. Rivers are flowing, flowers are opening their buds, insects are singing, worms are making dirt from compost. Breathe. You are a collection of moments, each precious and never to be repeated again. You are a whirling energy gathering the wisdom of your experiences, your body, your mind, your heart. The Wholeness of who you are hangs like a great web shining with silky dew drops in the morning light. Every breath is a new beginning, every moment another mosaic in the matrix.

 

Nothing is perfect. The Navajo weavers, in respect to Great Spirit, deliberately created a flaw in each of their rugs. They knew we are humans, not perfection. Yet the finished rug would be an amazing piece of art and beauty, each passing of the shuttle drawing texture, color, prayers, songs, the warmth of the day, the smoke of the fire, the memory of sheep.

 

Let go of perfection. Rejoice in your Wholeness. Embrace each crazy, unknown, scary and beautiful piece of who you are. There will never be another like you.

...Kathryn Ravenwood 6.28.16

The Four of Cups - Taking a Time Out

From the Fenestra Tarot

The Four of CupsTaking a Time Out

Original writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

Sometimes it is just too much. Life may be rich and full but there comes a point when we feel we cannot take on – or feel  - one more thing. We need a time out, time to process and regroup.  The woman in the above card looks “done” to me. Three goblets sit upon her table. Maybe she has partaken of all three and is now fully sated and unable to consume one more drop. Or maybe she drank them all and found their contents lacking, unsatisfying, and certainly does not want any more of the same. Whatever the circumstances, as a fourth goblet is offered to her, she folds her arms and, completely uninterested, does not accept the offer. I can just hear her saying, “No. Really – no.” 

I so know how she feels.  

Those three goblets represent the previous card in the Tarot – the Three of Cups  - which was all about creativity and definitely being in a celebratory mood.  We loved, we partied, we expanded our emotional limits, we let the floodgates open and run free. But now, the Four of Cups is upon us.  We are maxed out and need the luxury of a time out, to process and feel our way through that watery world of emotions we just immersed ourselves in and so happily celebrated.  All that new emotional input has left us feeling floundering and washed out to sea, past the safety of the shoreline. Maybe extravagance caused us to lose track of how much we were emotionally expending. Perhaps we have taken on burdens that belong to others, not us. Maybe a personal relationship has challenged us past our comfort zone. It could be an over dose of empathy for the crazy world emotions constantly spewed out to us through the media.  Or maybe we simply have reached a point where all the touchy- feely living has put us into boredom and apathy.  

The Fours in the Tarot are about structure and foundation. The Four of Cups is telling us it is time to pull in, to allow some space and time while we regroup and sort out our feelings. We are called to step back and allow the creative jumble of the Threes to settle down into a new foundation and support, to re-establish some boundaries and get our bearings. We need to find out where the heck we are again. What in all that emotional input really works for us? What did we learn from it all? How have we overextended ourselves? Were we honest and authentic or did we perhaps party for the sake of selfish emotional indulgence?  It is wonderful to create and celebrate and bring forth the new, but then we need a place to put that energy, to apply it and let it work for us, to build upon it, to become more aware of just how our emotions are moving through us and out into the world. 

If you relate to the woman in the card, please give yourself the luxury of time out.  Going into a prolonged state of denial, angst, or boredom will not serve you well in the long run, but taking a conscious retreat and finding your emotional base again will be of life-long service to you. Maybe you need to learn to say “no” or “yes” based on what you really feel rather than what you think you should feel (please don’t should on yourself!)

Reach out if you need help. Be solitary if that would serve you better. Listen to any intuitive messages coming through – after all this is the suit of Cups – of emotions and intuition and the ability to tune in to Spirit’s promptings. 

So take a break and enjoy your journey.

Kathryn Ravenwood  May 20, 2016

The Star: Hope Springs Eternal

The Star

from The Phantomwise Tarot by Erin Morganstern

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

No matter how bad it gets, there is always Hope. I love the Star – as most of us do – because it is the Tarot’s promise of beauty and balance, guidance and direction. The previous card in the Tarot is the Tower of Destruction. Lightening has hit the Tower and it is falling down…I have written before on this card ( please see my blog at http://kathrynravenwood.blogspot.com/) and how I think it is one of the best allies in the deck, even though it can also be one of the most devastating. However, fall it does and with it are clouds of debris, ashes, flames, and great wailing and gnashing of teeth. It is sometimes hard to see our way through a Tower event – no matter what has caused our world to fall apart we feel hopeless, shot down, ruined. And yet, when everything settles down- there is the Star shining in the darkness, the Hope of better things to come. 

There is a Haiku that always reminds me of the Tower and  the Star:  "Barn's burnt down… now I can see the moon. (Masahide, Japanese poet, 1657? – 1723). The lesson of the Tower is the removal of obstacles and barriers and the Star is the reward. In the featured card we see a woman in balance. She sits on a rock emerging from water, and is centered between the two pyramids in the distance. Her long braid falls neatly down the middle of her back. She holds a pitcher of water in each hand, the contents of both equally flowing into the water around her as she faces the starry sky. This is a time of reflection and soul searching, a time to refill what has been depleted and feel the balance returning. We have had to let go and we have learned that even though we fell from the Tower we were not destroyed; the destruction was of that which was blocking us from seeing a higher vision, from connecting with the Guidance that is always there to help us re-connect with our higher self, to know ourselves to be both physical and spiritual beings, to feel the alignment with our mortal and divine natures. 

The Star is that new vision and it calls us to transformation, to use conscious awareness and intention to access the tools of the Magician to reform our lives. Those tools are the Swords of Clear Thinking, the Wands of Right Action, the Cups of Intuitive Emotions, and the Pentacles of our Manifestations in the physical world. The way is clear now, free of encumbrances, peaceful. As Tom Petty said, the future is wide open.” 

It is time to be the Star of your own life and realize the fulfillment of your dreams,  all those times you wished upon a star, all the nights you sat under the vault of the heavens and cried out for guidance and vision. Nothing is holding you back now. You are poised to go forward and upward from balance, vision, peace, and purposeful intention.  

Shine on.

…Kathryn Ravenwood 4.16.16

The Hanged Man – Tarot Deck Unknown

“I sit before flowers, hoping they will train me in the art of opening up. I stand on mountain tops believing that avalanches will teach me to let go.”…Shane Koyczan

I recently read this quote in my Free Will Horoscope (the brilliant Rob Brezny). It has been pressing upon my consciousness for several weeks now. While it immediately made me think of the Hanged Man in the Tarot, the card of Surrender, to me it seemed to be more about what happens when we are able to allow the art of opening up and believe we can learn to let go.

We have all been there; dealing with a life event of pain, suffering, guilt, loss, anger, shame, or whatever it is that has bound us, trapped us, left us hanging out to dry. We try to process it, work it out, understand what happened and “what next.” Friends, who may be tired of listening to the story repeated to them say, “just let it go.”  I always felt that if I only COULD let it go – if I only COULD move on. I wanted to. I tried to.  I could not.

The Hanged Man tells us there are other realms, other ways, other opportunities if we can but trust. It is not an overnight process. I like to think of this card as when we are up all night pacing the floor back and forth, filled with angst. While we pace, we run the same old story over and over through our head but no inspiration or answer is found in that rut of linear thinking. Then something just trips us up, pushes us over the edge and we experience a sort of fall; we just can no longer hold that unresolved pattern any longer. And as we fall, we find we are supported, held by an unseen force or power. We drop out of that linear realm where we are trapped and find ourselves suspended into a new dimension – a void – where we have room to just fall apart and come loose. In that place of hanging we drop into silence, into a place of non-action, of suspended animation. Our resistance is futile. We are held, we are hung out, and we finally let go.

And out of that other dimension we start to hear the answers, feel the hope return, find ourselves again in space, realigned to our higher self rather than trapped in our limited mind set. It is not a matter of degree or why or judgment; whatever has brought us to the Hanged Man did so because it was time to accept, time to fall, time to let go. Time to receive grace.

There are many levels of the Hanged Man. Sometimes we are launched over the edge without any warning by a disaster. Sometimes, fed up with what is going on, we run yelling and screaming and jump over the edge. Anything is better than this! But the quote about the flowers and avalanches felt to me more like an unraveling rather than a surrender; a graceful coming apart inspired by beauty, wisdom, and the magic of life itself, opening up to an expanded awareness.

The featured card shows a person held by the tendrils of a lotus blossom hanging down through an egg shaped enclosure filled with the night stars – the field of unlimited possibility. In the surrender the aura expands and the chakras open revealing a pendulum of balance. There is a sense of true power here, of discovery and even freedom. In this suspended time and space we come to know that anything is possible; even to be able to let go.

May flowers and avalanches guide you.

…Kathryn Ravenwood  3/23/16

 

 

THE TOWER OF DESTRUCTION

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

2.11.16  

From the Rider Waite Deck                      

                            

The Tower of Destruction. Just reading or speaking those words elicits fearful images of gloom and doom.  Lightning strikes a tower, people fall from it in certain disaster.  But is it really so bad?

A Tower event is typically when the Universe pulls the rug out from beneath our stubborn feet. We have had plenty of hints and warnings that the way we are doing things is not working out so well. Maybe we are “stuck” in a job we hate or a relationship that is sucking the life out of us. We have procrastinated taking any action for any number of reasons – fear, lack of vision and planning, or not mustering up the energy to move on. Finally divine intervention occurs; the heavens unleash their fires and finally the stuck energy is released in a catastrophic fall. But this is no fall from grace. This is a fall from that which has been holding us back, restricting us, keeping us separated from the more highly spiritual evolved being we are becoming.  

We gradually build up our Towers. Maybe they arise from self protection, our fears or habits. But rise they do. Brick by brick we mortar our towers higher and higher. We get used to the view from up there. We think we are safe and protected in our established routine, treasured practices, and mindsets.  We think these bricks are supporting us and, maybe for awhile they do, but eventually we have locked ourselves into a restricted place far above the needs and realities of our present lives. After all, they are bricks, solid, immovable, blocks with no flexibility. 

From The Cosmic Tribe Deck

In the Cosmic Tribe Tarot Tower we see the Tower is made of televisions which are all on fire.  The figure falling has a look of peace and bliss. This is one of my favorite Tower cards as it is a strong visual of just how easily we can create these towers of ours. We believe what our favorite programming tells us; we keep running the same stories over and over like a summer season of bad re-runs. Finally, we experience the Tower and are given the opportunity to have a fresh look at things.

What bricks are in your Tower?  There is no judgment upon them. They are there for a reason and have probably served you well; but beware! Get ready for a fall as the Cosmic Lightening strikes, offering up another danged growth experience - er - opportunity!  That opportunity is the next card in the deck  - the Star. After the Tower falls, the dust settles, and the smell of brimstone begins to wane, we look up and realize our lofty view had been blocked by the very habits we thought were supporting us. We see that getting fired from that dead end job was really about freedom; that the breakup from the unhappy relationship was a lesson in self trust,  that allowing our current notions of spirituality or lifestyle are now outmoded, that Spirit is calling us to be more, to look up and step up to our Higher Self and our  Guidance, to remember that isolating ourselves in a narrow tower is holding us back. It is time to be more.

And yes, sometimes Tower events really are an “act of God”… illness, death, the total destruction of a home or family. I am not addressing these in this article as they are not mine to explain. Why do really wonderful people die in a car crash and some “drunken low life” lives through it?  We may never “get over” these kinds of events but hopefully, at some point, the Star of understanding is revealed. I pray it is so. 

So if the Tower has toppled for you lately, look up and reconnect with the Star of your higher wisdom.  If you can’t see it, call on Spirit to guide you. Sometimes we forget to do this until things are really bad.  Are you working from a blueprint of impending disaster?  Every day is a chance to begin anew.; and maybe, just maybe, you will be able to say “bring it on! Let it fall! I am ready to move on, ready to move upward!” 

….Kathryn Ravenwood 2.11.16