Location, location, location

In a lot of the 20th century tarot decks, The Five of Coins is bad news.  It carries with it a sense of foreboding. It's another of the many ways that I part paths with these en-visioned decks.

Four coins surround a fifth, all separated by the leafy filigree.  The coins bring to mind the physical world, including things such as our spaces (home, work, the natural world), our finances (money, wages, gifts, financial windfalls), our valued relationships (the people we treasure), and our bodily existence (physical health). 

The card brings to mind the compass points.  North, South, East, West, and Here -- the place where I am now, the space occupied by the center card.  How  is my physical environment?  I made a half-hearted effort to clean my room this weekend (I spend a lot of time there). The kitchen is a disaster.  My office space at work is an absolute mess.  What effect does this have?  Though I'm far from a neat freak, I do feel the weight of the chaos around me.  Sure, I can accept the flux (fives are numbers of being on the move, changing things), but I also like to have stuff cleaned and in their place so they don't take up head space.  

So today I'll take a second look at the spaces I find myself in and act to bring a little order to the chaos.     I understand the idea of not investing too much energy in a perfectedly clean and organized home at the expense of other healthy endeavors, but our physical surroundings do influence our moods so it's important not to neglecdt them.  

Temper, temper...

The card Temperance has a very overt meaning for most:  nothing in excess.  And I go along with that. It's always good to draw this reminder not to eat, drink, stay up, neglect work, etc.  to the point that it damages us.  Like the Fours and the Emperor (IIII), Temperance (XIIII) has a message of stability.  In the case of this card, stability through measured actions and words.  And like the Seven Coins of the other day, I think it also reminds us to temper our spiritual and earthly selves, shown perhaps, with what appears to be an exaggerated lift of the higher pitcher, the whole body seeming to connect above and below.  

So what do we end up with?  A bunch of watered down wine?  Not necessarily.  This is a figure of an angel, an angel here on earth, where we are.  A guardian angel?  Perrhaps she's reminding us that no matter what happens in life we can exercise temperance to bring things back into balance.

Where in your life are things not tempered?  Do you easily fly off the handle at work?  Frustrated with kids who don't seem to do what you want them to?  Mad at yourself for staying out too late with friends on a week night?  What about a little humor to temper the anger?  A little alone time to temper the party time?

It's ok to have your head in the clouds, but make sure your shoes are tied.

I'm reading a lot into the Seven of Coins that really fits my current life sitiuation.  Most of the TdM portrayals of this card show a triangle (spiritual, conceptual) on top of a rectangle (material, earthly).  This card prompts me to think about the relationship between the two.  And though I'm not a stickler for reading reversals, my morning card pull was the reversed Seven of Coins, so I'll go ahead and admit that perhaps the spiritual and the material in my life are not necessarily in harmony right now.  

With the coins we think money, naturally, but there are other material things like our homes and families, our jobs and coworkers, our physical environments.  The Seven of Coins asks us to look at how we relate our spiritual perspective to the very practical world around us.  Are these in sync?

I need to work on this balance.  Currently my mind is running on overdrive spending much energy on its psycho-spiritual well-being and development.  This involves a lot of cloistering, being quiet.  And even when I'm with others, I'm not very participatory.  But what does that mean for others around me?  Do I just claim my spiritual mindset as more important than my relations to the physical world around me?  No, I can't do that.  I have to spend time with students, visit my aging parents, be responsive to my partner, (especially since our schedules will soon be on high-hectic and we won't get a lot of free time together).  And what about taking care of this house I live in?  As much as I want to lie in bed with the insence on full blast, I also have to vacuum, clean the tub, pay bills.  

The Seven of Coins invites us to evaluate this relationship between our spiritural and physical existences.  When they are in balance, we can let their true value shine through.  

Take a deep breath...

I know the Five of Wands is often related to conflict, and I guess to some extent that works for me, but stepping back a bit I think that many of the conflicts in our lives are the result of not facing the facts, not being honest about whatever it is we're dealing with.  I guess a question that could help address any issue of conflict would be "Am I being honest in my perspective on the situation?  Or am I relying on my habitual thinking patterns and routine responses as I deal with this situation?"  That single wand getting all involved with the other four is going to be pretty pursuasive to show that it is the true way or has the right answer.  But is that the right path?

I like this particular portrayal of the Five of Wands.  Notice that single wand in the middle isn't completely connected. (In other decks, it is covered by the opposing wands, so you can't see it completely either.) It APPEARS as a single path through the conflict of the opposing four, but that's just because our eyes are filling in the gap.  Perhaps what we thought was the direct path, the correct response to the conflict, really isn't.  

Today will be the fourth day of the new semester.  Each day this week is filled to the brim.  There are lots of new students, a lot of new preparations, and tons of emails flying about.  All of this comes after a rather relaxing few weeks during which I had a lot of down time, time I could devote to being quiet and doing quiet things alone.  My energies are quite exhausted by the end of the day.

 It's Thursday.  It would be so easy today to do what I usually do on Thursdays--go to the local beer joint and take part in their featured beer tastings.  I know I could sit back, relax and have a few cold ones.  I won't have to teach tomorrow morning, so I could hang out a little longer than usual.  But that would just be my regular Thursday routine.  It is in conflct with my goal of getting a little fitter, exercising more, losing weight, etc.  So, yeah, it'd be really great to have the regular Thursday fun after work, the temptation is there, but I'm not going. I honestly need to leave that for others.  

How will you deal with the conflicts that arise today?  You might have an immediate, passionate response (wands), often just rote responses and reactions, or you might take a moment to reassess your response to the situation.  Are you being honest with yourself?  

Happiness is...

Though many Tarot readers agree that the Nine of Cups speaks of the emotional aspect of life, they seem to go in many directions as to how to interpret this particular card. Certainly this speaks to me of highly emotional states.  And for me today (indeed these last few days) this rings very true.  However, I'm not ready to toss this card's meaning off with something so simple as "an abundance of joy" or "happiness in all of my relationships."  That might be a little simplistic. 

The Nines tell me to think about a culmination, arriving at an important stage or new perspective, an "ah ha!" moment.  And the leafy filigree running between the cups gives me this extra dimension.  I can't help but notice the wilting leaves of the bottom two rows:  dying off, mourning, nostalgia for what was.  But is this a bad thing?  I don't think so.  It's only by knowing what we have lost that we can see the beauty and joy in what is around us now.  We know that life is never just a joyful experience for anyone, so the happiness we do find is all the sweeter.  It's a more developed, complex, and mature way of looking at happiness.  

This new perspective makes us truly appreciate "the good life."  Indeed, we make our own "good life" through our perspective on things.  I think about how yesterday so many really good things happened, small things, but when added up made for a really beautiful day.  A student sent me a wonderful email as an introduction to herself and shared her appreciation for the help I had given.  As I was walking home, a stranger commented on what beautiful weather we were having and how lucky we were be out it in.  

Now it's time for me to think about how I add to the happiness of others.  There are nine cups.  I could be the one in the middle surrounded on all sides by family, friends, coworkers, students.  And strangers.  

In what areas of our lives can we find joy "right under our noses"?  What can we do that might create joy for others? We won't be oversimplistic.  We recognize that life can be rough.  But we also realize that we can be much more in charge of our happiness than we think.  What will we do today to make this new perpective a reality?  

Who's the boss?

Today's card, the King of Batons, has a huge field of meanings, many of which can be seen in the broader lights of leadership (kings) and action (wands), in other words, being in charge of one's will and the power it can wield.  No matter who we are, we exercise power over others:  politicians over citizens, parents over children, bosses over employees, teachers over students, and even in other spheres where "power" isn't so traditional:  a pet owner controls what happens to her companion animal, a gardener determines the fate of plants and animals in his garden.  

For me, today is the first day of class.  The King of Wands is a good reminder for me to think about what kind of relationship I will develop with my students.  How will I "reign" to enable students to achieve?  How will I avoid being a dictator?  How will I avoid the trap of doing things as I've always done them without applying some creativity, innovation, humanity, and humor into the class?  I'm taking this card with a bit of a warning as well:  be careful of abusing the power simply because I feel that my right to use it overrides the rights and dignity of others.

Wands are often associated with fire and the energy that comes from it.  I need to think about this today as this first day of class is the one that will set the tone for the rest of the semester.  It's a long class, four hours long.  Will I be able to keep the energy level up?

In what areas of life are you the boss?  Are you just?  Do you want things done come hell or high water just because that is your will, or do you have mastery over this firey will, channeling it so that it will lead to better outcomes for you and those you are in charge of?

The Power of the Intellect

The Power of the Intellect
Today’s card: The Ace of Swords.

 In the last year, I’ve only pulled this card two other times. For me, it’s a good example of how a card comes just in time and is relevant in so many spheres of life. 

Are you letting your intellect have its say in your life? If there’s a problem, how might the intellect help you deal with it? The intellect is great at helping us out of emotional ruts, those times when we put our brains on autopilot by letting our emotions just have their way over and over and over. 

Instead of reacting to the world out of pure feeling, perhaps it’s possible to stand back and take a critical look at the situation. Question. Look at both sides (as the sword’s blade has two sides). Do you really need him/her in your life? Should you really spend so much money on that awesome car? Is it time to go to the boss and enter a formal complaint against that crazy coworker? Such situations are heavy with emotion. The Ace of Swords reminds us our thoughts on such things need to be tempered with some good old objective critical thinking. 

For me, this card is a wake up call on various levels. Summer is over for those of us in academia. It’s time to get back to regularly scheduled work. How will I challenge myself this semester? And how will I challenge my students? This is not the time to fall into the emotion-laden bitch sessions that some colleagues are involved in as we learn of new responsibilities, regulations, and requirements. There are new lesson plans waiting to be developed, and the new textbooks will require new classroom activities and online exercises. There is the potential (ace) for things to be better than before. And there is the joy of mental activity involved in developing them.

Closer to home, the card reminds me to get organized. I MUST get back into my daily planner and write down my plans for each day. The sword is the logos, the WORD, which when written down becomes the thought outside of oneself, made visible on quality paper and a beautiful ink! Whether its a shopping list of healthier food or a reminder to pay bills and do the laundry, the written list can be a great weapon against the burden of overwhelm.

So today will be a day of planning, writing, organizing and “arming” myself with a plan for the upcoming week. 
How will you be using your intellectual sword today?

Sent from my iPhone