Today's Tarot: 3 of Wands

Inner understanding and perception: 

Shakespeare said that "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". Call a skunk a rose, and it still stinks the same - but the skunk sure feels better about themselves. Sometimes words matter, sometimes they are just hair-splitting semantics. It pays to know when is which, so as to choose words well to help and heal.

Now scheduling for Fall and Halloween entertaining

Tarot Reader for parties and individual sessions

Polite and Professional - Fun and Family-Friendly

Click the tabs above or visit www.ModernOracleTarot.com for full details

Available in select Pittsburgh Pa area locations

ShelfLight: A Nomadic Witch

The "geek girl's bookshelf" motif is becoming a common theme in the blogosphere. I'd like to change it up a bit here. Instead of just focusing on "geek" or just books, I thought it might be fun to expand it to any old fan-girl rant - a sort of "that's kind of cool" for anything. Think of it like a small display shelf with a light over it to showcase whatever we sit on the shelf. Who knows? Maybe you will think it is interesting too. Maybe you'll even check it out for yourself.

I just finished reading "A Nomadic Witch" by Debora Geary...for the second time. Her "Modern Witch" series is Harry Potter for parents...not because it is "adult", but because it she touches on the common everyday things we've all experienced with our kids...cookies and ice cream, glitter spills, 4 year olds playing dress up.

And then she shows us the pure magic in every bit of it. 

The Modern Witch series just keeps getting better. Underneath the layer of playful fun and the usual idea of magic with teleportation, flying broomsticks, fire globes, and storms-from-nowhere - underneath all of that is a real-life magic. She touches on very real emotion and very real parts of life that are, indeed, magical.

For example, parenthood. In past books she deftly handles deep ideas like self-discovery, change, self-image, personal responsibility and community belonging. Through all of her books Ms. Geary creates utter believable, genuine, realistic characters. Not only are they believable  but somehow you wind up caring about the characters as if they are real people. The people in her books are the bridge between fictional magic and the magic in real life and real people. 

In "A Nomadic Witch" that premise is taken further, looking at even more heart-rending, emotionally deep concepts like welcoming new life, healing old lives, and even saying hello to those who have passed beyond this one. 

Despite that, "A Nomadic Witch" is an easy, enjoyable page-turner, start to finish. I recommend it!

www.RondaSnow.com

www.modernoracletarot.com

Martial Arts Weekend

I think one of the big advantages of psychic work, intuition development, and tarot readings is the way it helps reduce stress.

Much as I like doing readings, there is no avoiding the other parts of the health and stress reduction trinity... let's face it, body is part of the mind-body-spirit paradigm. Tarot helps take care of mind and spirit. Both of those things work better as part of a healthy physical self. And that means exercise.

Yep...I hate the stuff sometimes. The old school Naturopaths were right...the key is finding something physically active that you actually like and enjoy, and DO it. 

Like I pointed out over on the "Vampire Diet" blog, speed, strength, and movement has always been part of the vampire lore and legend. The Twilight vampires played baseball. Edward loved to run. The Volturi were described as more vital than the Romanians who never seemed to move. Speed and strength have always been part of vampire lore and legend. They move. They exercise. To be healthy, so should we. 

I personally love martial arts, specifically Chinese styles like Wushu, and Taijiquan. (If you think tai chi isn't exercise - you aren't doing it right). Since having a stroke, this kind of exercise has been challenging, and damn near impossible. But you adapt. Whatever your ability, whatever your interest...doing something is way better than doing nothing, whatever your something may be.

It's martial arts weekend at our house. Our teacher will be staying here with us, so I'll be busy with other things for a bit. Regular posts will resume on Monday. Have a great weekend! I hope you get the opportunity to DO something you live to do.

Master Nick Gracenin will be teaching in Pittsburgh, PA on August 18, 2012

Two workshops will be available: Qi Gong at 10 am and Bagua at 11 am. 

Location: 1240 Washington Road, Mount Lebanon (Unitarian Universalist Church at Sunnyhill)

One workshop is $40, or take both for $70

Please call Dr. David Clippinger to register 412-480-9177

Master Gracenin is an internationally known martial artist. He has medaled in world competition as part of the United States Wushu and Tai Chi teams, studied at Beijing University of PE, and was named Inside Kung Fu's Hall of Fame Man of the Year among many, many more achievements. To learn more about Master Gracenin, please visit www.dctaichi.com.

2004 U.S. Wushu Union Internal Division National Champion Jon Snow, of Pittsburgh, will also be in attendance. To learn more about Coach Snow, please visit www.teamsnow.co

For a brief explanation of Qigong and how it can help health, please visit www.RondaSnow.com and click the "Qigong" link to the right of the home page.

Daily Meditation Tarot Reading - 5 of Swords

Mistakes are more often toxic when they are neglected: Communication, learning, and forgiving heals much.


www.modern-oracle-tarot.com

When psychics fail

n my experience, there are no magic bullets.

It seems like a huge paradox. All things are one, all things are a part of the greater cosmos. Yet, at the same time, there are no panaceas, no one person or philosophy that has all the answers.

I like to think of it like a diamond...all things are one. A diamond is interconnected at the deepest atomic level, a carbon lattice. But to understand it, to see and appreciate its deepest beauty, we humans carve it into smaller shapes we can handle...we put facets on the diamond. No one facet, no one point of view, understandable though it may be, gives us the full beauty of the diamond. Only by seeing it from different angles, seeing the play of light through the angles...only then we see how beautiful the crystal is.

The same is true of psychics and intuition. It works well...a lot. I know from direct, first hand experience that intuition and spirituality helps to deal with crisis and intense emotion.

I know, from direct personal experience that it doesn't cover everything. Sometimes life demands practicality, logic, and just plain hard work. Sometimes a "cigar is just a cigar" as Freud said.

Sometimes, something happens that is so large that it defies both sides of our brains, and our hearts besides.

And so it seems with the Japanese catastrophe. It tugs on our heartstrings longer than most sad news that we aren't personally involved with. The individual tragedies that touch us individually and personally are another matter. The science explains what happened and, on one level, why.

Religion, spirituality, intuition, flounder in the face of it all. The reason why terrible things happen to good people is a timeless, seemingly unanswerable question.

Sometimes psychics fail. Sometimes all our platitudes and spiritual principles fall mute and worthless in the face of pure dumb bad luck. Science can explain it, but does nothing to touch the heartbreak.

Sometimes, it seems, we are left with nothing but silent compassion. No facet on the diamond can explain or eradicate what happened. No one facet makes sense of it all.

Psychics don't have all the answers, no on does. If there is anything close to a magic bullet, it is simple compassion...a willingness to do what one can, and that being done, to send a healing intent and thoughts of healing light to site of tragedy, in this case to the land where Reiki was born.

Sending my condolences...

The Grateful Empress

If you are grateful for something, you care for it. That includes the Earth.

We are all part of this. You might not be able to wipe oil off a pelican, but everything you DO does contribute to the WHOLE. Everything you do to reduce energy use can be imbued with the intention of healing the Gulf and bringing the world, and society back into compassionate balance.

www.modern-oracle-tarot.com