Sunday, March 21, 2010

Goodbye Pisces... hello Spring and Renewal!

"So how
how will I go
Back on
Back on the shelf
with a smile
with a smile
to the customer and say
on sale by the owner

Here I
Here I go again
Breaking
Breaking porcelain
Is that all I am
just a Doll you got used to
We've done
We've done this before
as Mars sauntered through his door
Don't say it's time to say
Goodbye to Pisces
Goodbye to Pisces
Goodbye my Pisces"

~ Tori Amos, "Goodbye Pisces", from The Beekeeper, Sword and Stone



The Pisces sun has taught me a lot, and although the sun has now transited to Aries, I feel that it is time to take one final look at what I have learned through this Pisces cycle. Drawing some cards from my trusty Housewives' Tarot deck, and following some questions as posted here - Journaling With Pisces and The Moon, time for a little journey within....


What does this card represent to you? The Moon from The Housewives' Tarot doesn't have the usual symbolism of dogs, towers, or overall dismal terrain, but simply the image of a woman sleeping. What are her dreams telling her? Does she listen to them, or pass them off as simply dreams and nothing more? Is she afraid of her dreams, or inspired by them? These are the questions that I see represented in this card, as well as a call to pay attention to your inner voice. Drawing another card, asking myself, what does this card's imagery represent to me? I got...
The Knight of Wands
*exuberance * mischief * loyalty
My dreams have both the power to propel me forward, and to leave me frozen in fear. Am I being loyal to my dreams and instincts? Am I feeling exuberant about the messages of my inner voice? Am I willing to get into some mischief or will I take the safer path? Why am I answering a question with more questions? Simply put, this card shows me one thing in particular - my dreams are a vehicle, my instincts and desires are my vehicle and my armor, but I must pump the pedals and choose to move the vehicle forward myself, or leave it parked and let my dreams simply remain dreams.

What have you forgotten? I drew the Six of Wands. * Victory * Triumph * Praise *. Have I forgotten the feelings of victory and triumph? Certainly. I have become beaten down by certain events and circumstances in my life. At this point, I don't even have a home to be proud of, and I'm living on borrowed time, in borrowed property. I don't feel worthy of praise, but perhaps I have forgotten how to take pride in other aspects of my life, and I have forgotten how to feel victorious. Funny how this card focuses around the Shiny Sink, which is the focal point of my Housekeeping Mentor - The FlyLady. Have I forgotten to take pride and feel triumph over the state of my current home, just because of the fact that we are being forced to move? I need to take it back to basics, Shine My Sink, and allow myself to feel Victorious and Triumphant, because feeling anything less than that is just blocking the real victories from manifesting.

What do you instinctively want to do? I have been having trouble determining the difference between my instincts and my worries lately. On one hand, I am not worried at all. I should be running around frantically, trying to find a place to live, a job, etc. But most of the time I am just going about life as usual. Am I in denial, or are my instincts simply telling me not to worry?? I drew the Ace of Cups. Hmm... renewal, celebration, *new relationships * Beginnings * Foundation * Instinctively I know that change is good, that all things happen for the best, and that this is just another part of my soul's cycle. Raise the glass, make a toast. "To Beginnings!"

What kind of cycle or pattern are you repeating? "We've done, we've done this before, As Mars saunters through his door...." Have I been through this before? The Seven of Wands says Yes, Repeatedly. When in my life have I not faced challenges and crisis? When have I not been fighting for something? Life is a series of challenges, and I must keep that in mind. I've survived much in the past, but that was the past. This is my current challenge, here, now. Yes, I have cleaned the damned toilet every week for the past eleven years. But if I stop now, what will I have? A dirty toilet. At least over the years I have learned tips and tricks, refined my methods, and have gathered a whole slew of cleaning supplies to attack those stubborn new stains.


Are your actions appropriate to this particular situation or are you responding to some past situation? Actions? Half the time I am wondering what actions I can take. The other half of the time I am beating myself up for not taking the obvious actions. But I think in the long run, there is only so much I have been able to do. An occasional day spent doing job search or online applications, followed by days of simply doing the housewife thing. One day might be all work or business, followed by 3 days of reading fiction and writing poetry. Temperance says I have managed to blend a little bit of my past and present situations into the mix. Not reacting wholly on my past, but not leaving my past out of my actions either. I think, at least when it comes to the actions I take, I have learned not to let my past define me - but have also learned when to take a page or two from my past in the name of experience or wisdom.

What is bewildering or confusing you? How could things have gone so wrong? Why is it so unfair? This was supposed to be the happy time of buying our first home, and it turned into a nightmare (no fault of ours) because of other people's greed and stupidity. Death. I guess I have been a bit bewildered and confused about this whole thing with buying this house. Then finding out we can't buy this house, because the previous owners were dishonest and the bank made a mistake, so now we have to leave. Somewhere in my happy little housewife's life, I was under the impression that people were honest and good, and that somehow or another I would have my dream home. The dream went bad, I have to let it go. I'm still in shock, bewildered. But when you find that rotten food in the fridge, you don't keep it and hope that it gets good again. You throw it away and buy new food.

What is real and what is illusory? Control. It's real, but it's an illusion. I don't have control over these circumstances, but I DO have control over my life... it's all in how I react. Material Things. These are also both real and illusion. I may feel like I need more to get by, but in reality, I have much more than I need, and need much less than what I have. I am the Queen of Pentacles... this card is actually my astrological court card, and often my significator. So why did it come up here, for this question? Because this is me, but this is also the Illusion of me. I have the potential of being a control freak, I have the ability to be materialistic, I can have high expectations. But these are not rules that bind me. They are nothing more than words to describe the sometimes-real and sometimes-not aspects of me. I can deal with that.
























Friday, March 19, 2010

Tarot Spread - Pisces ~ I Believe ~


The Pisces Spread
~ I BELIEVE ~

__-1-___ - 4 - __


-2- __-7- __-5-


__-3-___ -6-__

1) My Idealism
2) My willingness to sacrifice
3) my Spiritual Experience
4) my Addiction to.....
5) My Current Secret Enemies
6) My Prison (Where am I bound / stuck ?)
7) What will deliver me of my burdens?

This spread can be used for anyone, Pisces or not. It can help you explore your own individual Pisces energy; which focuses on your spirituality, the hidden aspects of yourself, your idealism, and what parts of life trap you or bind you. This spread can also be used to further explore the meanings of both The Moon card and The Hanged Man card in you life. You can read my previous posts about The Moon; Pisces And The Moon, Journaling with Pisces and The Moon, and Lunar Liberation , then use this spread as part of your meditation or journaling with this card. Alternatively, if you get either The Moon or The Hanged Man in a different tarot reading, this spread may help you clarify their meaning in your life at this time.

This spread ad illustration are from the book; "Illustrated Tarot Spreads" by H. Pielmeier and M. Schirner


Saturday, March 13, 2010

Found

Found

The sky pales
Eye-stinging sun glistens
Golden on the western horizon.
I turn to the east,
Wait for the moon to rise
In the darkening sky while
Last rays kiss the tops
Of mulberry trees
Budding; Unaware.
I have never been lost,
Only temporarily
Void of course.

~ Lady Josephine 3/13/2010

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Thursday's 13 - Lunar Liberation

It's time for another Thursday's 13, Tarot Mom style! Here are 13 versions of the tarot card, 18 The Moon! Through exploring and comparing many different artists' interpretations and symbols used for this card, we can get a clearer picture of what the card means! Through all these cards I see the themes of Mystery, Secrets, Divination, Dreams, Fear, Instinct, Illusion, Mother Goddess, etc. The beauty mingled with darkness, of the things we can only see by moonlight, or by peering within the depths of our true Lunar selves. Enjoy!
The Aquatic Tarot

The Gaian Tarot - http://www.gaiantarot.com/


Deviant Moon Tarot -



Unknown - Linda K.


Thoth


Unknown - Stephanie Law


Unknown - Manga?


Unknown -


Giger Tarot


The Spiral Tarot


The Housewives Tarot


The Fey Tarot


Celestial Tarot

Thursday 13

P.s. - I found most of these images on public domain. I do not claim ownership of these images, and no copyright infringement is intended. These images have been shared for educational and comparative purposes for those with an interest and respect for Tarot Cards and art. If you know what the names of some of the unknown decks are, or the artists, please leave a comment so I can give credit!

Random Act of Kindness # 1

It was recently brought to my attention that over at a blog I follow, Domestic Witch has started a "Random Acts of Kindness Campaign" for the month of March! I wish I had found out about it sooner, but it's only the 3rd so I am jumping in!
The Challenge; Random Acts of Kindness. If you look for them there are opportunities all around you, random moments when kindness can happen. I think this campaign is a really great idea, it reminds us to be mindful and watch for these moments, and then act on them, as we try and complete as many Random Acts of Kindness as we can during the month of May. If you're interested in joining us, click the icon at the bottom of this post!
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Random Act of Kindness #1
There are some kids that live around the block who com and play with my kids after school. A girl and a boy, and from what I understand, there have 3 more siblings at home. They are being raised by thier mother, and I'm not sure what the situation is with their father. None of my business, really. These are the type of kids, you can tell they are poor. I mean, heck, I'm poor, but I feel like taking these kids under my wing... I can just feel and see that their family is probably worse off than mine when it comes to some things. If I have enough, I will give them snacks and drinks while they are here....
Anyways, today while they were playing in the back yard, I went out to see how they were all doing and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Princess A's pink tricycle sitting by the fence. It's been sitting there for a month or more, untouched. She outgrew it a long time ago. So I asked the children, you have a little sister, right? "Yeah, she is 3" Hmm. Princess A, you don't need this bike anymore do you? "No, I'm too big now." Bingo.
When the two neighbor children left to go home, they carried with them a pink tricycle for their little sister, whom I have never met. But I'm sure she is happy with her 'new' bike.




Poop.



Yes. Poop has been the recurring theme of my day. As a mom, I'm sure you've had one of these days too. As I wash my hands, again, I am asking myself, "Why?" What have I done to incur the wrath of the Sewage Monster?

First thing, to start my day, I woke up knowing that the time had come for decisive action. My 4 year old son, who had not pooped in 3 or 4 days, woke up with his stomach hurting. The extra water and fiber I had been giving him for the past 2 days had not yet yielded any results, and I knew it was time to pull out the heavy artillery. Fleet's Pedia-Lax mini Liquid Glycerin Suppositories. I've had this box of child's size mini enema things in the back of the bathroom cabinet, hoping I would never have to use it..... Well, I'll spare you the details but within 10 minutes my son was feeling much better, though quite shaken and a little sore.

Having dealt with this mini emergency first thing in the morning, before my coffee was not the greatest way to start my day, but I pushed through, emerging with a smile to help my older children get ready for school. This included curling their hair with the curling iron because it was picture day. Hurrying around the house trying to find backpacks and jackets in order to make it to the bus stop on time, a horrible smell reached my nostrils....

I quickly found the source of the smell, in the middle of the hallway. Dog Poop. Not only dog poop, but Stepped In dog poop. Tracked from the hallway, to the kitchen, through the Dining Room, and onto the Living Room carpet. There in the living room stands my six year old daughter, oblivious, and the dog, looking guilty. Okay.... I can handle this. Deep Breath. Ooops, don't take a deep breath, it stinks in here. Hold your breath. Wipe the poo off my daughter's shoes with a paper towel, then pick up most of what I n from the floor. The rest will have to wait because we're going to miss the bus if we don't go Now.

Okay. A walk was nice. Back home, I mop the floor. Muttering to myself because I just mopped this floor yesterday. Of course.

My son is hungry today. Guess that he must be feeling better. Later, a friend shows up and we decide to go to the Mall. Just walk around and get some lunch. It was nice to get out of the house, have some adult company for awhile. Don't get me wrong, I had a good day, but while we were at the mall I began to notice the recurring theme. On our way into the store, a dirty diaper laying on the curb and I almost walked into it. Nice. In the mall, my son suddenly starts having stomach cramps and we have to run to the back of a department store so he can use the bathroom there... not a fun experience for either of us.

At home, much later in the day, I walk outside to see what the kids are doing in the back yard, and you guessed it... I stepped in dog poop. *SIGH* Well, at least it wasn't in the house, and out here I can use the grass to wipe my feet and not track it through the house. At least it was me and not one of the kids who would have tracked it through the house... I think I would have had a melt down.

Then, just a few minutes ago, my son screams, "I HAVE TO POOP!" But my husband is in the bathroom. I try to urge my son to use the other bathroom, but he refuses... he wants his Spongebob toilet seat and his step stool, remembering the horror of the bathroom at the mall where he had to use the "big" potty. Of course, he didn't make it. So here I am again, helping him change out of his underwear and using half a roll of toilet paper to clean him up, asking myself, "WHY?"

But you know, sometimes being a mom is all about Poop. Makes us appreciate the times when it is about bruises, or snacks, or cartoons, or kisses. It made me thankful that none of my kids are in diapers anymore, a time when I dealt with Poop a lot more often... and perhaps I had forgotten. It reminded me of how much they have grown up, how much we have all been through, and that if a little poop every now and then is the worst I have to deal with, then I am truly Blessed.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Turn Around Tuesdays - The Aquarius Papers

I don't have one specific blog post here to talk about, because I think this blog as a whole is entrancing and beautiful. Maybe I'm biased because it is written by my brother. But see for yourself and see what you think of The Aquarius Papers.

Simple truths, thoughts about God and Humanity. Beautiful pictures, poetry, random thoughts. You never know what Prometheus will blog about from one day to the next, and neither does he. He just promised himself to write something every day, to take a picture every day. It all started out like this; "
How To Not Need Anything"


I hope you will enjoy reading this blog, and possibly even subscribe to it! This post has been brought to you by "Turn Around Tuesdays". No squirrels were injured in the creation of this post, though they may try to tell you differently.
Turnaround Tuesdays