10 May 2007

November 2006 Modern Oracle Newsletter

A Modern Oracle : November 5, 2006

“The fastest way to prosperity is to live simply” – anonymous

Pensieve

Happy New Year!

I’ve heard that in the old Celtic / Druidic tradition, Samhain was the New Year celebration as well as the harvest celebration and the time when the spirit world draws tantalizingly near. This is also the time of year when we see more similarities among cultures and religions than we see differences. Yom Kippur heralds a New Year, renewal and atonement. Dia del los Muertos reverences those lost to the physical but forever with us in spirit. Some dogmatic (some would say fanatic) religions may try to suppress these natural celebrations, but even they recognize this as a season of gratitude, and Thanksgiving. Magic is everywhere. There is always a sense of refreshment and renewal when the coolness of autumn replaces the heat of summer. There is a thrill of anticipation with the beginning of a new school year and the approach of the holidays. What better time to get the ball rolling with the first real edition of a newsletter.

When I first started this, I was sitting on the front porch, wrapped in a black hooded cape, handing out trick or treat candy and contemplating all things magic, Celtic and the like. What better setting to come up with profound words and deep thoughts for a newsletter?

Turns out the real idea would come days later, in broad sunlight, right after doing a Tarot reading at a friend’s house.

The whole concept is trust. If I were a smart girl, I’d sit down and draw up several months of topics before announcing this project. But no, I felt drawn to it and intuitively trust that the right idea will come along at the right time.

I was asked how you know when something is really intuitive. Trust. Some call it faith. I see it as the firstborn of faith and good sound judgment. When it FEELS right, and stands up to logic and common sense too…why not trust it?

Starting each new year is a leap of faith, whether it is the western calendar, the lunar one or the old Celtic one. So is starting a business and a newsletter. Thanks for coming along on the leap…I have a feeling none of us will be too disappointed in the long run.

Spam in a Can

Here’s the plan, as it stands now. I hope to get this out the first Tuesday of every month, or as close to that as time and inspiration will allow. I intend every edition to have an interesting quote, “Penseive”, a name that will be recognized by J. K. Rowling fans, will be a short essay about SOMETHING. It may be Holistic Health topics, spirituality, just a few blog-ish thoughts or an all-out rant. We’ll just have to see where the swirling mists of the Penseive takes us.

“Spam in a Can”, as you can see, is just news and updates from the world of “A Modern Oracle: Tarot by Ronda Snow” and my holistic health practice currently housed on “White-tiger-wellness.com”. As I get more organized, this part will shrink dramatically. But for now here are a few tidbits I’d like to share with you before we get to the final section of the newsletter…”Modern Oracle”…a one-card tarot daily meditation.

First, I have NEW E-MAIL for the newsletter…rsnow@modern-oracle-tarot.com. Please adjust your e-mail settings to allow it into your inbox. The old email will be in effect for another six weeks or so, but the WTW part will likely change after the first of the year.

Keep an eye out after New Year’s for new contact information for Reiki, Natural Health, Intuitive Aromatherapy, and Bead Meditation.

Second, the newsletter will also be posted in the modern-oracle-tarot.com blog on Yahoo, on the “modern oracle” myspace.com page, and on the MSN group “Virtual Sanctuary”…all of these will serve as an easy archive for old newsletters if you ever need them again.

Speaking of Virtual Sanctuary… feel free to check that out and join…it is a FREE to join group on MSN groups. It is an open discussion on all things spiritual. Any topic, any tradition. Now for the good stuff…

Modern Oracle

I was hoping the card would come up to be something trust related, and ohhh wouldn’t I look clever for writing about that! But this is an honest reading, and I shuffled and drew the card just now TRUSTING that the right card would come up…the one that would give the most needed lesson. And here it is…

The card this month is the 10 of wands

The suite of wands does denote magic, and goes with this time of year. I typically associate the whole suite of wands with our internal journey, our spiritual growing. This card does have a spiritual lesson to it: selflessness.

Let’s not look at this in a put other’s first sort of way that we are all taught as children. We hear that lesson quite a lot and it doesn’t need re-hashed here. Let’s look at this in a more subtle way.

This card is asking us to do something far harder than wait our turn or even to try and serve others. It is asking us to take ourselves out of the equation entirely …and in so doing, look at the big picture.

It is very easy this time of year to get caught up in doing things for others to the point we let ourselves get stressed and worn out. Is that really selfless? Is that really good or right or nobel? The easy answer is yes…the harder answer is the one the 10 of wands asks us to contemplate. WHY do we do these things? What purpose does it really serve? What is a better way to serve our fellow man? To be selfless can also mean to take a step back, look at the big picture, listen to the others around us. It means much more than just doing things for other people. Selflessness asks for something much more. It asks for listening, and respecting other people too. It asks for judgment, and wisdom, and yes…trust. Trust that we will know the right thing to do…when to act for others, and when to nourish ourselves…when to serve fellow man, and when to be still and simply listen and love.

Think about the role you play in your life. Selfless isn’t the same as sacrifice…it is the same as compassion. Look for subtle ways to be selfless…subtle but important ways like simply listening, loving, and observing instead of DO-ing. There is much to learn from this seemingly simple card. Perhaps we will see it again.

That’s all for this month’s “modern oracle” newsletter! Please let me know what you think, and if you think this will be helpful to you. Please let me know some topics you want to hear about!

Take care, and best wishes to all!

Ronda Snow

www.modern-oracle-tarot.com

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