Day 3 - Strength

Today is day 3 of homework for the Tarot class I am attending at The Bead Angle. 

And what do you know? I did not pull the Ego card today. YAY!

Today my card is Strength. 

I pulled my card early this morning and I've looked at it throughout the day. I am not sure exactly how it relates to my day just yet. 

I'm looking to see what imagery in the card stands out the most to me today. The colors yellow/gold in Archangel Ariel's wings and purple from the halo and shield of the angel. Also in the distance there is a tunnel that seems to be pulling me in.  The color purple surrounds the tunnel and gold lights the way inside the tunnel.

From what I find online the color gold symbolizes wisdom and purple symbolizes spiritual fulfillment. Perhaps the tunnel represents the spiritual journey I am on and the shield symbolizes the inner strength I will need for this journey.

I wonder if the message I should gain from this card is that I will gain knowledge and spiritual fulfillment on the journey I am undertaking.

Tarot Day 2

A later start than yesterday, but it usually is when I spend my Saturday evening with my guy. Not an extremely exciting evening, but nice. We had a good dinner, caught up, and then hung out with a couple friends. 

Of course I just about forgot that I'm supposed to have dinner with the family today. I remembered a little after 10 this morning. Bounced out of the bed, threw on some clothes, smooched my man, and bee-lined out the door. Made it home in record time too. Shhhh!

My four-legged babies were so happy to see me. They always are when I've been gone- even though they spent last night with grandma. They had lots to tell me and I got a bunch of smiles, wags and kisses. I walked my babies and took my time getting cleaned up.

So there I am all fresh and ready to tackle a new day and I remember I have homework to do. 

I begin to shuffle my cards and my mind is wandering. My mind is always wandering. Do get that incessant mind chatter? Oh sometimes mine just drives me up a wall! I'm thinking, "Jeez I hope I don't pull that Ego card again." Then I'm thinking about work and little ticked a gal hasn't gotten back with me yet. I then realize what I'm doing. I have shut my guides out for so long and I think "Well if I can shut my guides up surely I can shut off the mind chatter too."

I give it a shot. I tell myself to stop with the useless chatter, that this is not the time for it. This is "my time" for "ME" and that I don't want to be bombarded with work or anything negative. I want to focus and spend time with my guide and receive their message. Instantly the mind chatter stops and I feel this warmth envelop me. Like a hug.   :) 

I continue to shuffle the cards, finally stopping. I fan the cards out and pull ----

TA-DAH! The Ego card again! Are you kidding me?!

Oh yeah if you're just coming into this blog, we're using Doreen Virtue's Angel Tarot Cards for class. So the Ego card in Doreen's deck is the same as the Devil card in traditional decks.

Anyway so on with it... 

I'm ticked! This is the third day in a row that I've pulled the Ego card! I thought I came to the understanding I was suppose to yesterday. I know I have a family thing today and I have a tendency (putting it mildly) to hide who I am from my family, but I'm not there yet. I lay the cards down and walk away grumbling for a minute or two. 

Then it kind of hits me...

You know there's a lot of imagery in the Ego card and yesterday my message came from the mask the man in the card is wearing. Well what if there's a different part of the card that wants to jump out at me today and I didn't take the time to notice that message. 

I go back and look at the Ego card again. The message is different today! The Archangel Jophiel is depicted in this card. What stands out about this angel is her wings how they are coming in towards the man as if she is embracing him. And then there are these rings of energy that seems to be coming from her heart that form a circle around the man. To me it feel like she is emanating rays of love to this person, wrapping him in love. 

I feel this is a message from my guide telling me that I am on the right path and even though it may be scary to not worry they are with me. That they love me and will watch over me.

Tarot Homework Day 1

So Theo asked us to work with the Major Arcana cards for this next week. We are to pull a card each day and find how it connects to the current day. 

As I mentioned in the previous post, we are working with Doreen Virtue's Angel Tarot Cards.

It's a Saturday morning and my usual routine is to crawl out and come alive sometime around 10-ish in the morning. However, today didn't work quite like that. 

I've been awake since about 5 am. YUCK! Not up, just awake. Well I drifted back off for a few minutes. Anyway you get the picture. So my brother-in-law calls at 8:30. He needs to use my PC to print some stuff he needs. For the first morning, in I don't know how long, I did not have to drag myself out of bed. If you've read any of my other posts, you'd know lack of motivation has been a big thing for me lately. 

I got up, put myself together, walked the dogs, and as I'm shuffling my cards I hear his truck pull up out front. I know the card I'm going to pull before I ever pull it. I know because I'm in a hurry to pull it and put my cards away as if to hide the evidence of wrongdoing.

Normally I just pull the top card, but no not today. I fanned the cards out and grabbed.

BAM! I pulled the Ego card, in traditional decks it's known as the Devil card.

Dammit! I fuss at my guides cause I can feel them nagging at me. I hurry and put my cards away before my brother-in-law makes it to the door. They fuss at me more for hiding the cards, for hiding who I am. 

I get it! I get the cards back out and place my card for the day on the chest in my room.

So moving on....he and my cousin leave and I decide to grab a bite for breakfast. All the while I'm still pissed I pulled this Ego card again. Yeah, I pulled it last night at class too.

Last night Theo shared that this is a family card. I didn't understand how he got that but it made since at that time with the rest of my reading. 

Since 5 am the Ego card has been on my brain. Trying to figure out how it means family. Well, that's still not jumping out at me, but something else is. 

In the Angel Tarot, the man is wearing a mask. Now there is a lot of imagery in this card but the mask jumps out at me the most. 

So why does one where a mask? To hide their identity. 

Is hiding information not a form of deception?

So if I'm hiding my identity or who I am from those around me. Am I deceiving the ones I love?

Why are people deceitful?

Do people deceive out of fear? Couldn't deception be considered selfish?

OK so my family is stuck with me. Their cart is hitched to mine through blood. And even though they may get pissed and want to disown me, we will still always be tied together. So in regards to my family, I have a fear of confrontation, of rocking the boat.

I don't like to think of myself as a selfish person. I am a giving kind of person. Awe but there is a man who is special to me. He is in my life by choice. I know that he doesn't exactly hold with what I am or what I do. So by not being open with him about this bit of information about myself could I be deceiving him? Now I'm not lying to him, just not sharing. 

The more I think about it this is also fear based as I'm afraid he will choose to walk away. So I mind my p's and q's and avoid rocking the boat.

I have determined that in order to expect others to accept as I am, as I truly am, I must first be honest about who I am. There can be no more hiding.

Tarot

Last night was the first night of the Tarot class I am taking at The Bead Angel in Evansville, IN. Our teacher is Theo Kostaridis and there are four other students taking the class besides me. 

So for class we are all using the Doreen Virtue Angel Tarot cards. These cards are beautiful. The artwork is amazing. Now I'm a proud advocate of shopping local whenever possible so I bought my deck through The Bead Angel, but pop over to Amazon for a bit just to see what this deck looks like...
Doreen Virtue Angel Tarot

Image of box for Doreen Virtue's Angel Tarot borrowed from Amazon.

OK so more about class...
I was very nervous before hand. I wasn't sure how many people would be there and who they would be. Meeting new people is always a little stressful for me. But at the same time I was also comforted with the thought of knowing these were like-minded individuals and that I wasn't going to have to hide the "weird" part of me.

Everyone was warm and inviting and sincere. There was a great amount of sharing and encouragement. It was an incredibly uplifting experience.

I'm super excited about the remainder of this class and will probably be a little sad to see it end.

Motivation

Have any of you ever been drug so far down into a rut you feel like you're never going to get out again?

Awe well welcome to my world. 

So what do you do to get out of the funk?

Some have suggested that I:

• change my diet
• practice breathing exercises
• try diet pills or energy enhancers
• drink coffee
• do drugs
• meditate
• exercise
• smoke a cigerette

I used to smoke. Quitting was horrible. 

Drugs are out of the question!!

If you've ever seen me after I've taken a diet pill or "energy enhancer" you'd understand PART of the reason illicit drugs are out the question. LOL

I do drink coffee, Mt Dew, and tea. Caffeine doesn't have much effect on me until I cross the line and have too much. Then you see me like I am after taking diet pills or energy supplements.

Now I have changed my diet before and noticed a significant shift in energy. Oh how I love to eat! Diet change is super hard to stick to. 

 

My question is has anyone who is reading this ever noticed a shift in energy by meditation, breathing exercises, or regular physical exercise?

Leave me a comment. Tell what you did and how it changed your energy level.

Blessings in Love :)

Valentine's Blog Party Via The Domestic Witch

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So I'm passing some time this evening reading blogs that I've subscribed to and I find this fun little bit over at The Domestic Witch. 

I absolutely love holidays. Next to Christmas Valentine's Day is my next favorite!

The general idea....

sharing as much or as little about Valentine's Day and LOVE during the month of February.

But to participate make sure you sign up over at 

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