Today's Tarot - 2 of Coins

"Work hard, play hard" isn't bad advice. It is balanced...especially if you add in a little 'soft' every now and then. 'Soft hard' would fit too, if you think of that as meditation. It doesn't get softer than letting body and mind be still for a time.


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Today's Tarot - 7 of Swords

Have you ever seen any of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies? If you have, remember Captain Jack's compass? The one that didn't point north...it pointed the way to his heart's desire, even if he wasn't fully aware of what that really was.


There are moments when we feel like that compass looks...spinning in all directions not sure what to do next.  Our usual 'compass' just doesn't work. Religion, psychics, tarot cards...nothing seems to help or just can't give the answer we feel like we disparately need. 


Which can mean a couple of things....


Maybe we are asking the wrong question. Maybe we are hanging our happiness on the wrong piece of information.


If you asked Jack Sparrow's compass "which way is north?" you'd get no help whatsoever. If you asked the compass WHAT IS your heart's desire...nothing. Ask it WHERE is your heart's desire...viola! A very precise answer is in your hands.


Psychics and Tarot work a little like Jack Sparrows compass. It can help...it can give you very valuable guidance, but only if you are able to understand the limitations and strengths its guidance can give. 


Asking what another person is thinking, or feeling or what they will do is like asking the movie compass which way is north...it just can't give that information, even though it has been made to look like something that can. Jack's compass was made to look like something that could show you which way is north, but it can't. Movies, tv, wishful thinking and fiction has given us the popular notion that psychics and tarot can predict the future or know other people's thoughts and intentions. It can't. 


Neither the compass or psychics/tarot can tell you what your heart's desire is. That is up to you to decide. But if you think about it, and get a clear idea of what that desire is (like when Jack focused on looking for the  "deadman's chest") then the compass (or psychic/tarot/intuitive work) does a better job of showing you how to get to it.


But, ask the right question...be open to the information the compass / psychics / tarot CAN give...and you get a real, helpful, inspiring answer. Do your part...think, decide what you desire, decide what future you want to create...then psychic tarot readings can give you advice about how to get to it. Psychic tarot can help you find the path to where you want to go. 


If someone stays focused on a "where is north" kind of question, then the magic compass will never, ever be able to help. If someone stays focused on knowing what someone else is thinking or feeling or will do, then psychic tarot isn't much help either. That is the gift and strength of psychic work: it shifts our thinking. It guides us to the 'out of the box' way of looking at things. You don't expect a compass to show anything other than direction, and it is infuriating if a compass doesn't tell you which way is north.  But if you think out of the box, and realize the magic it DOES have, then you can find treasure. It is frustrating, even infuriating, if tarot readings don't give you the answer you determined to find. But if you are open to the advice psychic tarot CAN give, and not just focused on the one thing you want or expect...then you can find treasure of a different sort. With a little out-of-the-box guidance, you might be able to find what your heart really desires. It may not be a "which way is north" kind of answer, but we can still learn valuable things in unconventional ways when we are open to what psychic tarot can and can't do.


www.ModernOracleTarot.com

Daily Meditation Tarot Reading - the Chariot

Freedom and leadership are close allies. Both require awareness, presence of mind, responsibility for oneself and courage.

Daily Meditation Tarot Reading - 9 of Wands

Human complexity can work in your favor. Intuition can guide the way when logic sees everything as being equal. Logic can guide when intuition is vague. Either way, persist in what you believe is the right path.




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Daily Meditation Tarot Reading - King of Swords

Good leadership and good communication often go hand in hand

Daily Meditation tarot reading - 8 of cups

Why not? Why can't the answer be "all of the above" or "none of the above"? Possibilities thrive outside of the proverbial box.

Daily Meditation Tarot Reading - High Priestess

"Cause and effect" can be magical, if you use it to take your fate into your own hands and make a better future.

Daily Meditation Tarot Reading - Page of Cups

The page of cups has been turning up like crazy lately - different people, different times, different spins and circumstances. Our Page is trying to get something through! Here is today's take on the card. 


Page of Cups: "Dealing with old demons" (Diane Morgan)....

"The distinction between past, present and future is only a stubborn, persistent illusion" 

- Albert Einstein

Remember yesterday's quote from Richard Bach? Only you can control what effect and how much effect the past has on you today.


Turn that around for a minute...if you want to make a change, the result you want already exists in one future path or another. To improve your chances of success, try to do things so you don't dissappoint that already-successful future-you.


Harry Potter is a good example, for those of you who saw the movie "The Prisoner of Azekaban". He stepped out and sent his patronus to protect his hours-ago self and Sirius. He knew he could do it because he already had. 


If you feel discouraged, don't give up, just remember, you can do this...because somewhere out there in the big old time-space continuum, you already have.


I love this idea - but it isn't mine.  Please read Richard Bach's "One" for more inspiration! Let me know if you are interested in other reading suggestions like this one.

Daily Meditation Tarot Reading - 4 of cups

"Still water runs deep" - just because you can't see or feel it right now, doesn't mean that there isn't any activity at deeper levels. The wheels of cosmic co-creation still turn, even if we can't see or feel it where we are now. Spiritual principles like the law of attraction don't always work in dramatic or obvious ways. The results are revealed with patience, and in their time, not ours.

Daily Meditation Tarot Reading - 5 of Cups

Keep a lively mind. Intellect keeps emotions in balance, just as compassion keeps logic from being heartless.

Daily Meditation Tarot - The Magician

The Magician: Positive thoughts are powerful things, especially if you take care to let the negative ones fade.


"To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders"....Lao Tzu


"The mind is everything. What you think you become" atr. to Buddha


"Be careful what you wish for...you might get it" adage, source unknown

Little Nudge vs a Big Whack

I kinda like the 3 card yes/no readings. 


I know that is a direct contradiction to my philosophy about "predictions". Readings really are food for thought, a way to solve problems more creatively, a way to ease stressful emotions.


The problem with readings and "predictions" is how seriously you take them. Sure they are fun when you are trying to predict your favorite hockey team (the Pens) will win the Stanley Cup against all odds, or that you'll get a date with your latest crush, or hoping against hope that you'll get that dream job...it's all good, until we make big, serious decisions based on readings. It can really ridiculous really fast. 


But for just yucks and chuckles, why not?


As I see it, these small, fun "predictive" readings can have a place too. Sometimes we need serious food for thought to whack our lives in the right direction, or something a little out of the ordinary (like an on-target reading) to get our attention so we can learn important lessons.


Other times all we need is a little nudge in the right direction, or a small pat on the back. That's where the magic-8-ball-paper-fortune-teller-gypsy-at-the-fair kinds of readings come in handy. 


Readings can be deep inspiration and communion with your personal spiritual beliefs. Or it can be putting a quarter into the Great Rigatoni machine at the arcade. All kinds of readings have value...it is just a matter of matching the right reading with the right person and situation...which isn't easy. People hate it when I tell them their fate is up to them...the future is decided by their choices, their actions control what happens... when all they want is a pre-packaged, no-brainer, easy way out.  


When it comes to whacks and nudges, I tend to get Confucian about it.


I've heard that one time Confucius gave two totally different answers to two different students who had asked him pretty much the same question. One student he told to act immediately. The other he told only to act after getting advice and permission from his father. When asked why he gave such opposite answers, he answered that each student had very different needs. One was very shy, and overly-reticent - that's the guy he told to jump in. The other one was impulsive, even reckless. That's the one he told to cool it. It was based on the needs of the situation, and the needs of the individual, not slavish adherence to principle. Luckily, Confucius wasn't a fundamentalist.


So why do I rant against "predictions" yet still enjoy "predictive" yes or no readings?


If the Confucian reason is too boring, think of it as the candy bar principle. The old candy commercial said "sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't"...when it comes to psychic intuitive and tarot readings...sometimes you need a whack, sometimes you don't (and a fun little nudge in the right direction will do just fine instead).


Ok, now...raise your hand if you have that candy jingle stuck in your head... 

Today's Tarot - 4 of Swords

Pragmatism is a dreamer's tool - it helps make dreams reality


Modern Oracle Tarot Blog is also on Kindle!

Three card reading about career change

Q. With the changes in the economy, I've taken my career in a new direction. It is a little un-nerving to start something new at my age. Am I headed in the right direction?

A. I've been working with my mentor, and re-reading some of her writing...I feel drawn to approaching this like a 'yes/no' reading, amped up a little bit. Adding a little of my own spin to her card lay-out, let's approach it like this. Three stacks of cards (like we've done before), but with the left stack being the main yes/no indicator, middle stack is cautions, things to watch out for, the right stack things you are doing particularly well or working in your favor. Ace is yes, no ace is no (easy enough, right?)

Things in your favor - ACE of swords

Cautions - Judgement

yes/no ACE of wands

The ace of swords is associated with the element of air, and the sword on the rider-waite deck is straight up. "Up" is a strong energy and concept around this card. Ted Andrews reads this a "Unique new rhythms of success" in his Animal Wise Tarot (www.dragonhawkpublishing.com). I think this speaks of two basic reassurances...that your new path is on the UPswing, and holds a very positive energy right now. I understand from my Mentor Joy (www.psychicjoystar.com) that the astrology right now is powerful and positive as well, which crosses right into the second point...good timing. Your natural rhythm is spot-on for switching...I 'hear' "good timing".

I picked up the "Animal Wise" cards since you've liked them before. In this deck, Judgement is associated with whales, who can dive to incredible depths, so it is read as "new depths of creativity". Does your new career use your creativity more than in the past? Often creative work is more free-form and less structured than more traditional, didactic jobs. The are also more insecure in a lot of ways. The caution here is in second guessing yourself. The first-impulse feeling I got from the card was "trust your judgment". I've heard self-employment is a big trend, and it feels like being "on a trapeze without a net"...but it is also a big opportunity to learn, and one of the big lessons is to hone your judgement, and to trust your judgement.

Finally...drum roll please...ACE of wands, so yes, you are on a good path with this choice. It is 'frog' read as "fertility and new beginnings"...perfect for what you are doing, and encouragement for your new beginning. The from on the photo is bright green...green is, remember, associated with growth, healing, and to some degree wealth. (not everyone uses green money...but there are traditional reasons, I suppose, that we chose that as the color of our currency...green, growing, is a good thing to associate with it anyway)

Like they say, it's all good. Hope this helps. Keep up the good work!

Today's Tarot - 10 of Coins

Today's tarot interpretation is inspired by Ted Andrew's "Animal Wise Tarot" available on amazon.com and dragonhawkpublishing.com.

Creativity is a kind of parenthood - you bring something new into the world. Just like there are many rewards to parenting, there are many rewards to being creative, or making your own thing / food / whatever. It is like Adam Savage said at Maker Faire..."we make because we can't not make".

For a few minutes of outright awesomeness and pure inspiration, I suggest watching the entire presentation. It made this geek girl's entire day...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_otrgJ8Lmx4

www.ModernOracleTarot.co

Daiy Meditation Tarot - The Hierophant

YOU are your own best priest, priestess, magician and pope. Seek truth, above all the truth you discover and know for yourself.

Quote Week!

Made a smidge more progress with the book proposal than expected yesterday, but it (and the family) still need a little extra attention, so-ooooo....

Quote week! Which means I'm phoning it in by sharing some more of my favorite quotes with you. "Today's Tarot" (daily meditation tarot readings) type posts will be back after Memorial Day holiday here in the U.S.

"Begin to see yourself as a soul with a body rather than a body with a soul" 

~Wayne Dyer

I picked that one because...YAAAAAY...they are making Stephenie Meyers' excellent novel "The Host" into a movie! (http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/thehost_movie.html). Don't see the connection? Read, read read the book...you're welcome.

Today's Tarot - The Star

Persist, even when inspiration isn't obvious. The stars still shine even when it is cloudy.

Doing a Psychic or Tarot Reading for Yourself

My friend and Mentor, Joy, has done it again. She really is wise, and a great writer, so I recommend her to you hands-down, full stop.

Her newsletter today (http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=3d2e4805e90d05c3a892356b6&id=cdd5d843d5)  really struck a chord with me. It is a little like that adage "physician heal thyself" And also another piece of genius excellence by Theresa Reed (http://www.thetarotlady.com/what-i-wish-my-tarot-clients-knew/).

It is true what Theresa said, that we readers do (or should do) a lot of self-care...and you should too because you deserve it. It is true too, what Joy said. It is possible to read for oneself...with a little detachment it works well. For me, the best way to gain that little bit of space is to use an oracle tool of some kind....tarot cards, "medicine cards" (by David Carson and Jamie Sams. I've had mine since '89 or so, but they are still around...http://www.amazon.com/Medicine-Cards-Discovery-Through-Animals/dp/0312204914/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337292547&sr=8-1), or another favorite...I Ching coin toss. The tangible results, the undeniability of the card in front of you, helps keep that step of distance to get the guidance you need, not the answer you want.

Do any of you read for yourself? Id be interested to know what you do to keep yourself honest, what you do to get to the root of the problem and the highest and best guidance for yourself when  a do-it-yourself reading seems the way to go instead of getting a reading from a trusted fellow-reader. What do you think?

Today's Tarot - 6 of Cups

The past is under your control: The good times are yours forever, the bad times are released in a heartbeat.