A Surreality Check

Image from pixabay.com 

I love those random moments in life that make you stop and think, 'What the heck just happened?'

My cards for Monday were 4 of Swords, The Tower and The Fool.  My first thought was panic,  could it be that while I was sleeping my house would collapse and I'd have to become a vagrant. Luckily it was nothing so drastic, in fact my day took a very surreal turn.

Yes, Monday held one of those moments.  It was a moment that, afterwards, gave me such a good vibe, I could feel the positive energy just oozing from me.

I decided to join my daughter whilst she walked her unexhaustable dog Elphie through some local woods, as it was a beautiful day, sunny with a slight breeze, and far too nice to spend in the house.  I just felt the need to recharge my batteries with some earth energy and the woods was just the right place to go.

Now Elphie is a 5 month old Border Collie from farm stock, she is obedient, fast and tireless so a good walk was needed to burn some excess energy, because walking for miles through the Yorkshire countryside the day previous just hadn't cut the mustard with her.

After slipping her leash in the woods, Elphie  found a pug who seemed more than happy to play, and as we walked a conversation between the pug's owner and ourselves started.  There was an energy coming from him that seemed to click with me immediately, however my daughter thought I'd lost all reasoning, as I am usually very guarded around strangers.

However, this man was interesting, articulate, quirky even, and the conversation felt easy and refreshing.  As we meandered along the track, the pug's owner asked if we knew what the building on the river bank opposite was.  When  I looked through the trees, I was so taken aback, as the building was actually the farm where Elphie, the dog, was born, her birth home.  

Not realising that we had walked so far from our usual path, this lovely man kept us talking, he asked about our jobs, our family and about Elphie.  But surprisingly it didn't feel odd, it was a comfortable conversation, there was a familiarity about him, but I could not recall from where.

He took us walking on paths and tracks we had never been on before, showed us some of the best views of the woods and before we knew it we had been walking for almost an hour and a half.  Both dogs still going strong.

When we eventually returned to the car park, we were re-leashing the dogs, when this gent, eventually introduced himself.  And then the penny dropped, he is a stand up comic, well known, and just back from the Edinburgh Festival.

I couldn't believe we had spent nearly 2 hours with him, rambling and chatting about life in  general, laughing at the intricacies of life and had totally failed to notice who he was.  But he was a pleasure to talk to, down to earth and engaging.  He had shared things about his personal life, his family and the love for his dog.  We talked about toddler tantrums, our rather more comical parenting fails, and our jobs-we-hate-but-have-no-choice-but-to-do.

And the nicest thing, the thing that really lifted me, was the way he thanked my daughter and I for making his walk a joy and sharing our day with him.  He thanked Elphie as well for keeping his dog company too. 

But here was a man, with tv appearances under his belt, a venue at the Edinburgh Festival and who does nationwide comedy tours, thanking us for making his day.  It certainly made me feel, somehow humble, that my company (and my daughters) in a rather bizarre situation would be seen as something special.

It definitely instills my belief that, being true to who you really are, being honest and open and accepting of others, brings a certain energy that can be seen and felt by others.  Of all the dog walkers in those woods, how had it been us who clicked?  The strangest thing is this man's dog doesn't usually enjoy the company of other dogs, Elphie is usually very submissive to other dogs, and yet they played chase, hide and seek like old friends, but never went far from us or each other. 

Maybe these dogs sensed the energy flow, maybe it was their energy that drew us humans together.  I will probably never know, all I know is, out of the many bizarre days I have had in my life (and oh boy! there have been many), this one stands out on top.  I mean how many times in your life do you ramble through the woods with a celebrity and his dog in tow and to be thanked for your company, for being entertaining, interesting and 'real'. 

For me, I feel that never would I have seen any of this when I pulled my cards that morning, but looking back, it made perfect sense, in a surreal kind of way.

From Buckets to Bengalore, to Breakthroughs

XI Breakthrough.  Osho Zen Tarot.

 Being 'of a certain age', I have, over the course of the past six months, been writing my bucket list.  The idea being, once I hit my next birthday, I will start crossing things off, said list.  Some items on the list are relatively small things, such as going camping with my grandson.  Others are far more adventurous.

I've always had wanderlust, my mother calls it 'itchy feet syndrome', and doesn't understand why I want to investigate this wonderful planet we inhabit.  A bit rich coming from the woman who dragged two children under the age of four across to the other side of the world, and back again.  I feel being so transient in my younger years has left it's mark.

My parents emigrated to Australia in 1966 by sea, a journey of almost 7 weeks, and we travelled back to the U.K in 1971 in the same manner.  I can say I've been to some amazing places although cannot recall most of them now.  I do know I have been through the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal, I have sailed over the equator twice and have trinkets and souvenirs from places, that in my childhood, many people could only fantasise about.

When we arrived back to the U.K, we were effectively homeless, but my parents worked miracles going from lodging with relatives to buying a small 2 bedroomed flat, to a 3 bedroomed house within 2 years.

That never satisfied my mother though, she wanted bigger, better, more space, a bigger garden, a nicer area.  And so I was moved about more than most.

This has always been a part of my life.  I've never been one to want bigger and better though,  I just like investigating different places.  I've lived in rural areas, I've lived city centre.  I have done conventional and controversial but I always enjoy the adventure.

So there on my bucket list is the desire to live at an Ashram in India, it's a big wish as I fear flying, but there is such a strong pull for me to do it.  It is something of the long term goal as obviously I would need money for flights and back up, but I have my heart set on it and am planning ways in which to achieve it.  I cannot shake the feeling that this is something that I will regret not doing.

I have done  community living before, where everyone worked for one goal, that however was for the material benefit of a singular person.  It was hard work with no nurturing of the spirit, only relentless physical work.  This time I want to assist with something worthwhile, for the benefit of all beings, the benefit of this amazing planet and for the benefit of spiritual nourishment.

I asked the Osho Zen for a card to show how following this idea could help me grow and it gave me XI Breakthrough.  In brief, I feel this experience will break down any barriers I have about my spiritual growth, stripping me down to my very essence, giving me the chance to begin a whole new way of living my life spiritually for the better.

I think I've been given a big thumbs up from the universe, now all I need to do is start saving hard and getting my priorities set.  Time to address the unnecessary spending and relinquish the so called necessities, that in the cold light of day are little more than snacks for the ego.

Ker-Ching and I Ching

Tao Oracle by Ma Deva Padma

I took a mini road trip today, along with my daughter, grandson and puppy (both make up the Toddler Squad) to visit my youngest daughter at her new home since she re-located to another part of the country.  I had been wanting to go and visit her but my finances were tied up elsewhere and it just wasn't possible. 

You see, we like to make a proper day of it, eating out, coffees at nice cafés and with having a toddler in tow, there is always something to buy to appease his need for everything he sees.

The weather was beautiful and made a very long drive through the English countryside a pleasure.

Driving through the Yorkshire Dales is like stepping back in time, the views are spectacular, the roads are winding and the company was great. 

We enjoyed a nice lunch from a quaint little deli, then spent the rest of the day walking along the river, feeding the ducks, playing in the park and browsing the quirky, independent shops (the village has an amazing natural health store).  It was so relaxing and it was nice to see my youngest letting her hair down after 4 years of serious studying for her degree. It was nice to spoil her a little.

It's always a wrench when I leave her,  I still see the little girl she was, as she waves us goodbye, even though she is 22 and lives with her partner, she will always be 'my baby'.

There's always that feeling of an empty nest when I arrive home, although my dogs give me such a welcome and usually spend the night cuddling up to me, it's not quite the same.

So arriving home this evening I was greeted with 2 excitable dogs and a parcel.  My Tao Oracle has finally arrived.  I have had this deck on my wish list for so long and was recently enabled by Ellen to purchase it. 

It has made coming home a little less daunting as I had eagerly anticipated this deck's arrival.

I cannot wait to get some time in with the cards, having only had a quick browse through the deck (stunning images) and  a quick glance through the book, which looks quite meaty.   However I have plenty of time on my hands to relish it and take my time with it as I am now back to pauper status.  

Unboxed

Right Here, Right Now

Fairy Lights Tarot by Lucia Mattioli

I love my tarot cards, each and every one.  Today I asked my deck to show me the card for this post as I was a bit lost on what to write (this is what happens when you take time away, it's difficult to get back into your stride).

Well my beloved and slightly bedraggled Fairy Lights Tarot was up for the quest.  It gave my the 6 of Wands.

Wow, it really knew what it wanted me to blog about, and I say thank you to it.

I've been away from  my blog for a while as I explained in my previous post, lost in books.  I just needed to get some stillness in my life, as things were starting to snowball a bit with family and health.  I felt I was having to be in two places at once and between family commitments and tarot reading commitments I was finding my time was very much spoken for.  

Modern living (not that I'm complaining) seems so good at finding ways to take that precious spare time and just zap it.  It starts with the checking of emails, then a quick look at my favourite websites.  Before you know it I've been lost in cyber world for over an hour.

T.V has the same effect.  Stopping us in our tracks and numbing the tick of the clock. Thus I decided, I needed to reclaim my precious time.  I no longer have a television.  I have written out a list of books that I have been wanting to read and made a specific order in which I am going to read them.

The biggest change though is that I am actively meditating twice every day, something that 'I didn't have time for' before.  My meditations were always crammed in to a spare 10 minutes whenever I could remember, and were never fulfilling. 

So the last month has been a bit of a retreat for me and the 6 of Wands here shows a woman, so still that she has taken root to the earth, she is connected and growing as part of it.  As she is transforming, becoming one with everything around her, all other things continue to go about their business.  She stands, present in the moment, yet still in her self.  

This is what the last month has been for me.  removing myself from the stuff that has been eating away my time, the stuff that in the true reality if things is not what is truly important.  It will pass, it will be gone from existence yet what remains is the now.  The calm peaceful stillness of now.  And I am enjoying life so much more.

  

The Birds, The Bees and The Ace of Wands.

Legacy of the Divine Tarot bu Ciro Marchetti

I love to think 'outside the box' and I know that sometimes when I come up with ideas/thoughts, I tend to get that blank look from my nearest and dearest.  I can almost read the thoughts of 'what is she on?' when I start rambling. 

This is why I love tarot.  There are no right or wrong ways of what a reader sees in a card, it is also why I like to have several decks that are varied in their imagery. In every deck there is something different to glean from each artists interpretation.

In Legacy of the Divine's Ace of Wands I see the classic definition of the creative spark, the fiery passion.  And as I did my initial study of the deck, making notes on what the imagery could symbolise, I wrote down words that images reminded me of.  Reviewing it later I was surprised that I had written 'ovum' for the sphere at the head of the wand.

I decided to go further with this and then it struck me........passion and creativity.  What do we create in passion?

Yes you guessed, we're going to talk about the birds and the bees in symbolic terms (I don't want to end up deemed an 18+ blog), but bear with me.  After all it's nature, it's how we got here in the first place.

Wands, as we know are masculine/yang energy.  The wand itself is designed to look slightly phallic.  At the top of the wand is this beautiful orb which in my journal I had noted as the ovum, full of potential, glowing with energy. 

Take a look at the periphery of this orb, the glowing gems, as if attempting to penetrate the orbs surface...... now do you see where I am going with this.

The explosion of fire at the base of the wand, the dragons rising upwards from those flames, the passions rising, the climax.

Even the cliff faces at the sides of the cards have some connotation in the interpretation.  Cliffs are formed from rock, made from the earth.  Earth as we know in tarot is feminine/yin energy, and all this wand/orb/dragon action is taking place within this valley between the cliffs.

So forgive me if it is just my naughty mind, but I see a bit of baby making gong on here. So if this card showed up with The Empress, a Page, 3 of Cups or 9 of Coins, I'll be getting my knitting needles and bootee patterns out.   

  

If You Go Down To The Woods Today

A time away from the pressures of the modern world and all of its stresses can be a welcome retreat.

Like The Hermit in tarot, solitude can bring about personal insights and clarification that we can lose sight of when we are bombarded with the technological input of everyday life.

Away from external influences and responsibilities, we have the opportunity to quiet the noise and mental babble and really tune in and listen to what is going on internally.

Connecting with nature and with nothing but ourselves, it can be a time of laying to rest some of the issues that we struggle with. 

Getting back to nature, for me, is a spiritual experience too, to look at what Mother Earth has created from nothing but her own resources, never fails to amaze me.  When I am alone with nothing but the elements it puts life into perspective, in the grand scheme of things we as beings are just a fleeting moment in time, and yet the connection with everything is so strong. 

Finding peace and quiet, the inner voice has the strength to be heard clearly and listened to with full attention.  We can shed light on many things that can feel pushed to one side in the hurly burly of daily routine.  

Not everyone feels comfortable with solitude,and that is everyone's personal choice, however it makes me wonder what it is about themselves that these people dislike that they don't want to spend time in their own company, what do they not want to learn about themselves?

By being alone with nothing but our own thoughts can bring us closer to our higher self, the divine spirit, God or whatever your belief system names the great power.  

I just wonder how much more open and accepting this world would be if everybody spent some time off the beaten track with themselves, to listen to what is really being expressed internally, how much more at peace we would be with ourselves and each other if we could all have some solitary moments and connect with ourselves, 

No matter what someone's age is or life experiences, everyone has lessons to learn continually through life, if we don't listen to what our inner voice is telling us, we stop learning, we stop seeing those signs of what we can learn, where our journey can take us.

And like The Hermit, some time in solitude is enlightening, but it can be quite cold off that beaten track, and heading back to civilisation (and a hot chocolate) is necessary, especially if we want to put into practice what it is we have learned.