THE FOUR OF PENTACLES

From The Mother Peace Tarot

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

SECURITY 

The Fours of the Tarot are ruled by the Emperor. They represent structure and form. Pentacles are about the physical realm, including our money, homes, health, goals, and habits. The forms we perpetuate ideally hold us in structured, yet creative, patterns. We need order in our lives, and schedules do tend to keep us moving toward our goals, but we also need room for creative flow. When our physical world is boxed in or buried with details, we may have become a slave to our habits and might not be living with intention. What used to give us security now has a choke hold on us. 

In the image above we see a woman taking time to withdraw from the usual routine by entering a sacred space in which she can reconnect to her true power - not the power of her possessions or routines, but the power of her soul wisdom. She creates a ritual to clear out what is no longer valid, connect with her true nature, and bring new visions into the physical realm.  The very fact that this space is available to her reminds us that we are the creators of our lives. We have established a foundation of security in the physical world that affords us the life we manifested and live. We indeed can afford to spend the time and energy to occupy the sanctuary of our inner security and wisdom.

Many factors have contributed to our security. We have exercised discipline, routines, established boundaries, set and accomplished goals. It is this stable foundation that now allows us the opportunity to re-evaluate our current state of being and truly identify where we are within the framework of our own world. Are we holding on to attachments such as possessions for the sake of the security they represent? What about our various identities? A persona we created in the past to protect us or to serve in the accomplishment of our goals or social position may no longer be the person we are now and might actually be holding us back from growth. We may have disconnected from the “real me” in allowing these personalities to run our lives. Boundaries we created years ago might now be too restrictive, limiting our ability to interact as the evolved being we have become.

Here are some signs that a retreat and re-look at the box of our lives might be appropriate: boredom; loss of focus on the big picture of our life; blocked creativity and excitement; a feeling of miserliness indicating we have lost touch with the creative abundance of the universe and our ability to connect with it.  An unreasonable fear of losing what we have; feeling isolated. If any of this sounds familiar, then welcome to the world of the Four of Pentacles!  Help is already here - within yourself.

It is time to honor what we have created through our hard work and to recognize that WE DID THAT and we can continue do so in the future. However, the forms we created need some reshaping from time to time. We create these structures to hold our creative visions but when our visions no longer serve us, when we have passed into a realm of habit, these same structures begin to restrict and block us. 

The wisdom gained from the past is still within us to guide us and be part of the bigger structure of our self. We are not abandoning the wisdom but might need to release the identity, personality, structure, or habit of it so new visions and versions can enter. When we step outside the box we can see how big the world really is and value our ability to thrive in it. 

Our true security lies in our ability to connect and re-connect with our visions, our creativity, and to remember we are always part of a dynamic flow of energy that is available to us at an moment to access, use, and then release; to perpetually be in a state of creation, established form, and then death/release and rebirth into new expanded editions of our own self.  

The power is always within us.  

....Kathryn Ravenwood, March 5, 2020

The Four of Cups

From the Starseed Tarot, by Patricia Cori

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

In the above image sea and sky are barely distinguishable as they flow and merge together. Perched on a rock, the only solid ground in sight, a woman sits pensively. The three cups behind her, representing emotions already experienced, as well as the cup being offered by the dolphin, representing new situations and emotions not yet experienced,  are ignored. Hands pressed to her heart she is taking the luxury of being in the moment, to let the waters rise and fall around and within her. Soon the incoming tide will force her to take refuge on the shore but, for now, she is free to just feel and be one with the elements around her.

The Fours of the Tarot are ruled by the Emperor who calls us to look at form and structure. The Cups are about our emotional world. To define form for our emotional body is very tricky. We have to consider our awareness, consciousness, what is hidden in the great depths of our subconsciousness, all the memories, hurts, loves, and fears we carry with us. We are also connected to the vast collective consciousness. There really is no way to make a form for all of that - it would be like trying to define the form of the ocean or to contain it in some giant bowl. 

We cannot control our emotions or put them in a neat little box but we can learn to recognize and honor them. This is where the Four/Emperor energy comes in handy.  We can use structure to create time and space to just sit and be with how we feel, to honor the pain or the frustration, the joy or the elation. We know water takes the form of what is is put into, and that it will find the path of least resistance.  Given time and the right conditions it can permeate anything. Same with our feelings. If we give ourselves a loving opportunity to feel and process we can learn to recognize how our emotional body works - when it is healthy, when it is fragile and needs extra care.

This beautiful card reminds us to take a time out and not feel pressured to take on more that we can process at this time. Rather, as the waters swirl around us, the restricted emotional container of our feelings can then expand, flow away, and allow a natural ebb and flow to move through us. The ocean, constantly in a state of change yet always appearing the same, is held within its shorelines. How does it know where to stop? How is that proverbial line in the sand drawn so that the ocean stops just there?

Like the ocean we are constantly experiencing flux and change. Not unlike oceanic shorelines, we contain our emotional world with boundaries. We learn to honor how we feel and say “no” or “yes” or “I don’t know”.  We can say nothing at all and reside in silence and stillness. We can be mindful of overindulgence, to be able to recognize when we have taken on too much and take time to withdraw and process. Are you carrying an emotional load for someone else? Is that serving you or the other person? Like the movement of the tides, our emotions will ebb and surge revealing different aspects of ourselves like exposed tide pools or force us to retreat to higher ground for refuge. 

Are other people or even your own judgmental voice saying you are taking “too long” to “get over” a hurt or trauma? Honor your process and take as much time as you need. In that great ocean of emotion we can hide our feelings in deep underwater caves but sooner or later they come to the surface. As part of the great collective consciousness we are living in one big emotional soup. We feel things that are undefined and hard to explain because they are not always our own. It is important to know when to embrace the great ocean of emotions and accept love, joy, or beauty that we may have closed off to before. 

We can sink or swim and even learn to surf the waves. The Four of Cups offers us a much needed time out to re-establish our boundaries so we can safely identify that watery realm of our emotions. 

Embrace the process.

....Kathryn Ravenwood 1-28-2020

The Four of Swords

Neogtiation 

From The Tarot of Transformation: Willow Arlenea & Jasmine Lee Cori

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

Four is a number of formation and stability; four seasons, four major directions, four corners of a basic building foundation, and four suits of the Minor Arcana in Tarot. The Swords of Tarot represent many aspects including the mind, insight, speech, thoughts, and in discovering personal and cosmic truth. 

The mind is a powerful tool, our brains magnificent, our thoughts capable of brilliant creativity. The mind can also harbor psychotic fears, get mired in non-intentional patterns of negativity, and generally run on auto pilot driving us through life with no discernment or imagination. In the above image we see a woman standing in what appears to be a whirling and indistinguishable flow of energy. From it she rises and pulls into focus a beautiful mandala of form and color. Holding it brings a focal point of vision which now supports her in what was chaos. She has created mental structure which now gives her a portal of opportunity. From this perspective she can direct her thoughts to align and stabilize, not only to form, but to beauty.

The mandala is reminiscent of a kaleidoscope. Looking through its lens and turning it the viewer sees endless possibilities form from the colored glass inside as it reflects the light using mirrors. Like this delightful instrument, the mind, also an incredible instrument, has endless possibilities of thought to create patterns that form the structure of how we think, view the world, discern and decide.  As conscious beings, we strive for clarity of thought and to align our thoughts with our heart - with love. This powerful alignment leads us to right speech, right action, and the ability to listen not only to others but to our own inner guidance. 

The Fours of the Tarot are ruled by the Emperor who knows that even the strongest structures built with good intention must be open to change to prevent them from becoming confining and restrictive. Right forms are in service to right thought and right action and allows for negotiation rather than control. So it is with our minds. The Four of Swords reminds us to be open to negotiation, of a continual learning, re-evaluation, and new discernment of what it true. 

In the ongoing process of personal growth and mastery we have unlimited opportunities and challenges that temper our minds, emotions, will, health, and prosperity. Chaos and confusion, clarity and purpose, bliss and despair are all part of the dance of life. Sometimes it can feel like we are spinning out of control and sometimes the rhythm is just perfect as we flow with synchronicity and joy. Learning to master the art of negotiating our thoughts helps us negotiate in the outer world and move through it more balanced and empowered for ourselves and in being in truthful service where we can. 

The Bible tells us that the Word of God created the entire universe. We must remember that our thoughts and speech create the form of our own world. I am reminded of a verse from a song by the Sons of Champlin - I cut this out of a Rolling Stone magazine in maybe 1969 and carried it in my wallet for decades:

“The forms which we create caress our minds

And they’ll take us past this place which lives by time

And the forms we are creating today

Are the forms which we will be someday

And the good games are the flowers of our minds

Forever

I love you”

May the flowers of your mind bloom and bless you.

....Kathryn Ravenwood 1-10-2020

Emperor Card from Tarot of the Spirit by Pamela Eaton

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

Mention the Emperor card of the Tarot and we immediately think of the Number 4, of form, structure, power and the male/father force. We think of Aires, the Ram, the first sign of the zodiac and its famous ME FIRST attitude. We think rules, discipline, and firm foundations. The Emperor is all these things which offer visions of of power and form for our lives for both the year ahead and the start of a new decade.

The Hebrew letter that corresponds with the Emperor is Heh or window. In the image above we see the Emperor sitting on his cubit throne within a window. He is looking out of the window even as he IS the window. Windows bring in light which the Emperor understands to be both the creative solar energy and the light of knowledge, of vision. Watching through a window suggests vigilance, observation, clarity, and surveying the landscape. Air/breath/life force also comes in through the window. Clear sight is a gift of the Emperor. He knows how to receive the power of the Cosmic fire, seeing the vision it imparts and, using universal laws, builds his empire of form which he then governs to hold his people in positive form.

The image is full of geometric shapes - triangles, the cube, the cross. They represent both physical and sacred geometry. The cube is the form of basic foundation and represents the manifested universe. The cross is a symbol of the intersection of the the manifest (mundane) and un-manifest (cosmic) realms - or heaven on earth. The Emperor’s head and shoulders form a triangle, his legs crossed forming a 4, or a T-Square; both are basic tools used in measurement, planning, surveying, and building. These tools provide the Emperor, the architect, the means to organize and build structures to bring his vision into manifested form by the application of natural laws.

In many versions of the Emperor card we see him on his throne looking over his shoulder - looking back at the Empress. It is her creative force that fills the Emperor’s world with beauty and abundance that would otherwise be sterile. He creates the forms to hold her creations and so honors, protects, and is in service to her. As the Empress is always creating something new the Emperor’s world is always changing. He must recognize what is old, even dead, that no longer serves the empire. He then has to plan again, rebuild, and reorganize new material into physical form. He must be dynamic to manage all the changes and maintain an on-going order or the once useful forms become limiting, restricting, and will eventually crack and fall into the rubble.

Each of us is the Emperor, the Window, allowing Light to shine through. We use our vision and consciousness as agents of creation, building our world. We order our experiences with deductive reasoning and application of rules and boundaries. The Emperor is known as the “Constituting Intelligence;” we must frame our individual constitutions even as we must conform to the laws of nature, which will always make themselves known - especially when errors in judgment drop us into chaotic experiences. We want freedom to explore and create but we also want what we create to support and sustain us. “Freedom is the choice of one’s discipline” (anon). The trick - or should I say plan - is to learn to make our decisions with the window open - letting in light, getting a clear view, and then using the power of self control and discipline to bring our vision - our decision - into form. Boundaries are not just about “staying in our lane” they are rules which allow us to practice right action to govern our lives in the greatest of cosmic laws - service and love.

We need to be the Emperor, not just to get our To Do lists done, but to empower our divine nature to express and bring forth the Light. No wonder the Emperor appears so formidable! This is a huge task and is one we are all here to master. The Emperor shows us how to do it - how to apply the power of cosmic law to establish order which then provides the perfect container for our creativity to thrive and expand. We are each a mini cosmos of the Universe; each an Empress and Emperor, creating and bringing into form that which we see with inward sight. Never doubt your identity as an architect of the divine.

Open up your window - receive the light - receive the breath of life - use your powers to be the Grand Architect of your life and to expand the cosmos in your creation.



…..Kathryn Ravenwood 12/31/2019

THE KNIGHT OF CUPS

Tarot de St. Croix - by Lisa de St. Croix

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

How are you flowing with your feelings lately? Our feelings, our emotions, are very much like water. They can surge like a wild river forcing us to hang on for dear life to the rickety raft we call our sanity or gently bob along the sparkling surface, calmly and peacefully, on a lovely inner tube experience. They can cascade us over the edge like a roaring waterfall, get backed up like a stagnant pond, go deep underground and then resurface as an erupting geyser or gently bubble up as sweet, artesian springs. They are always in motion and ever changing.

In the Tarot the cards of the Knight of each suit represents us moving more into the mastery of the qualities of that suit.  In Cups it is all about our emotions, feelings, love for others and love for ourselves. This can be a dreamy state, a journey through the dark and troubled waters, or a heart-guided passage of spiritual awareness.  Whatever it is, it will change. You can count on that. The Knight has not yet achieved mastery but is definitely on a journey far and wide to discover it. There will be many detours, mistakes, and triumphs along the way as the search continues.

I love this Knight of Cups card. Our gallant knight is kneeling before an incoming flow of water pouring out of a cup that emerges from a dreamy looking and undefined background of the world beyond him.  He is kneeling, indicating to me that he is both honoring his emotions and also perhaps a little knocked down by them. He is allowing that which is flowing to him - not fighting or arguing or classifying. From this state of receiving the flow, he is accepting the next wave of mastery. We so often just do not honor our emotions. We tend to discount them, make a full-blown production out of them, blame them or project them on someone else, or drown them in a variety of addictions to numb out any trace of them. We can easily do this to others as well: “Gosh, aren’t you over that relationship yet?  Just let it go!?” or, “Gee, there is no need to get so emotional about this!” or “Wow – it’s no big deal - stop being such a drama queen!”  We are fully aware of how these kinds of heartless comments hurt us - even if we are aware people say them to avoid engaging in their own feelings – but why then do we continue to do it to ourselves?

We are not meant to suppress our feelings, to discount, avoid or even master them. We are meant to – well – FEEL them. They can be our greatest teacher, our higher awareness calling out to us to pay attention and notice what is important, to understand life is not all about being rational, linear, or provable.  We feel what we feel. And we know what we come to know.

Ultimately, we learn that all the images represented in the Tarot are an aspect of our own selves. We are the Knight. We are the vessel. We are the flow. The Knight of Cups is often referred to as The Grail Knight who is on a quest to find the Holy Grail. The watery realm of our emotions takes a life-time of navigation and is indeed a sacred quest. We come to learn that the Holy Grail has been within us all the time. We just needed to find it and have the courage to drink from it to be transcended by it.

Today I encourage you to drink deeply from the cup, the vessel of your emotions. Take them in, swirly them around as if tasting wine to savor its subtle or robust nature. If you need a good cry then put on a sad movie and go for it.  If you need to tell someone you love them, don’t wait any longer – let them know. Is your anger at yourself or someone else? Try seeking forgiveness in either case.  Lonely? Happy? Feeling antsy or bored? Follow the clues and seek the source of your feelings.  Maybe they don’t even belong to you!

Whatever course the Knight of Cups leads you through, know you are indeed the Holy Grail – a being of eternal love and light just feeling your way as you flow through the emotional realm of mastery.

…..Kathryn Ravenwood  12/4/2019

The Four of Wands, Robin Wood Deck

Celebrate New Beginnings

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

The Four of Wands is often referred to as “the wedding” card. I had not been to a wedding in a long time and now I get one a month for three months! I always find it an amazing time when two people decide to stand up together in front of witnesses and say, “yes” to one another.  It is one of those turning points in life. Two individuals step out of their single lives, join hands, exchange promises, receive blessings, and go forward, still individuals, but now married – joined – wed to one another and their common life and their shared love. Then there is kissing and applause, and generally a joyful celebration. 

However, this card is not just about getting married.  Fours are about creating foundation, stability, establishing and getting grounded.  Wands are our fiery spirits, our will power, and applying that will into action. Where is your will power going these days? Are you in a consensual relationship with anyone or anything? With yourself? Have you stood up lately to say, “yes” to new ventures or new partnerships? Have you recognized a turning point in your life that would love a ritual to celebrate its passage or witnesses to cheer you on? Have you made a declaration of love to anyone or yourself lately? When was the last time you celebrated your own creations?

None of us are ever really alone. We all have an amazing variety of marriages and partnerships we enter into during our walk through life. Even if we part ways later on down the road, we have all stepped up, said “yes” and gone forward in a commitment and agreement with someone else or with an aspect of ourselves. There is a great sense of recognition, desire, passion, and love that calls us to make these marriages. We reach a point where going on alone is not an option and taking on a partner or a new aspect of ourselves, even though results are totally unknown, is a far better choice than the solo act or staying singly focused.

Creativity spurs us forward and then needs a form to hold it.  This is what the Four of Wands gives us – a celebratory container to hold our creative ventures.

I invite you to consummate a new relationship. Say yes. Get committed. Let the road open up before you and start out in joyful celebration. Whether with a person or your art, your writing, your creativity, or the renewal of your will towards what matters to you…  step up, take a stand, get excited, and dance down the path that opens for you.

…Kathryn Ravenwood  11-5-19

The Eight of Wands – Swiftness

Photographer Unknown

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

In the Tarot the card of the Eight of Wands means swiftness – like the “bolt out of the blue” or the sudden appearance of some action or event.  Wands are the suit of fire, of will power.  I have always loved the card and when I saw this photo it brought in an even higher meaning for me.

We have all heard of some rock band who was “an overnight sensation” only to learn they had been struggling for ten years, waiting for that big break. We all can think of a time when we suddenly experienced everything coming together in just the right way to move us forward along our path, to give us that recognition, opportunity, or burst of energy at just the right time.  We like to think of it as synchronicity, divine intervention, or just great luck. That is all true but there is more to it.

We live in a limitless universe of abundance, of all possibilities, of the past, present and future all existing simultaneously. We experience various energy “downloads” depending on our level of awareness, our participation with the life energies, and how we interact with this living, expanding universe of cosmic fire.

The above photograph is a slow motion capture of meteors shooting through the sky.  It shows us that all that juicy, massive energy of “everything is possible” is always – always – there.  We live in it.  We constantly interact with it.  We ARE it!! But how often are we really paying attention to it? We get used to living in “slow motion” and shut out or dilute the unlimited into something we “can handle.”  We learn to live as if asleep only to awaken when we collide with one of those big blasts of energy and are forced to pay attention.

The streaks of light in the photo also remind me of the Hebrew letter Yod…this is a special letter as it is believed all the other letters are formed from it.  It is considered the starting point of all things, and so holds the “spark of Spirit” in everything. And here we have a whole sky full of Yods delivering all unlimited sparks of Spirit and beginnings!  Can you feel the fiery excitement?

What wondrous possibilities are you surrounded with that you might be missing? Can you feel the rain of Cosmic Fire igniting the very air around you? Can you feel it light up your heart and explode within you? 

This is no time for an umbrella!

….Kathryn Ravenwood 10-18-19