Asking About Life


The deck used here this month is the Wizard's Tarot by Corinne Kenner, a totally fascinating deck to me that appeals to the same side of me that just loves the Harry Potter books. Reading with this deck is a visit to Wizard's school where the Majors are your teachers and the Minors are the other students you'll interact with. The school itself is called Mandrake Academy, a old-fashioned school hidden away in a wooded area. The concept of this deck always appealed to me, as to me Tarot itself is very much a tool that can teach us so much about this magical thing that is life.

Something happened in my life that gave me the idea for this month's topic.  A short while back, I said something rather mundane to someone and got an answer that felt extraordinary to me. It was just someone on the phone whom I did not know. And at the end of the conversation I told them "Have a good day!" as I often do, and yes  I do mean it when I say it.

And this person said to me: "Oh yes, I am sure to enjoy it!:" And the certainty with which he said it really made me stop and think. Usually people just say "You too" when I wish them a good day. "Or sometimes they say ":I'll try" or I'll do my best" But the certainly of this person's answer, the certainty that they would enjoy the day no matter what it brought really made me stop and think.

To me, I really admired that. Just that certainty that whatever comes can and will be enjoyed for sure, before he could even know what was coming. While in theory I get it that in large part we choose our thoughts and our way of thinking that leads to our feelings, yeah sometimes I can feel somewhat unsure at what might come. When I know I could choose to embrace whatever does comes and be grateful for the learning experience it is.

And so in honour of him, this month I am asking....


What way of being inside leads to this attitude?


Card 1: flipped 4 of Pentacles

A flipped card is a card that flipped out of the deck during shuffling. It has an important message and is asking you to stop and think over what it is saying. When you get a flipped card, there is a depth to the answer and the more you think it over the more you may see in it. All 3 cards in answer to this question are flipped cards, which makes sense as it is a kind of philosophical question.

This card is from the suit of Pentacles, about the life goals you want to set. And I suppose that does require some thought. You have to know where you want to go before you can set the general direction of your life. You have to know the destination you want to arrive at before you can set goals on how to get there.

This is the 4 of Pentacles. And the 4's are about completion for me. The life student here has a circle on his head (the Pentacle itself), and that says that the path to arrive at this attitude (if that if where you choose to go) requires you to first complete your thoughts on what will make you feel most whole and complete inside yourself.

And the image shows the ground starting to freeze up and some snow is in the air, But that is behind the student here. He has put any "cold" memories behind him here as he looks towards the future, looks forward to the future.

 

 

Card 2: flipped 5 of Cups

  

 

 

 Here's the 5 of Cups. Cups are about of feelings. And for me the 5's are about our upbringing, how we were taught to think and feel about things and life, what is expected of us. what is socially acceptable and all that type of thing.

This card is says to find the answer to this question, whatever it is for you personally, you would have to stop and think on these things. This student is shown examining her feelings here, feelings that came from her past. And she is looking a bit unhappy, so let's say (given the question) that she is examining any feelings that she has that  the future may bring something she may not enjoy and where these feelings came from. She is looking inside and seeing where any concerns or expectations of this happening are actually coming from.

 

Sometimes in life we pick up our way of thinking from the others around us. From our family growing up, from our friends and teachers, and even from the world around us. This can happen without our thinking about it consciously or even really noticing.  If an attitude is prevalent around us we may pick it up and the feelings around it, whether or not it is true or accurately reflects our world or who we want to be in it. Or whether it is actually helpful or harmful to us to think this way.

 

The spilt cups in this image say that yes every life has a few spills in it. But our attitude towards them when they do happen is a lot more important than the events themselves when it comes to how we will view our future.

 

This card is asking you to stop and think a bit on what your feelings are about anything that has hurt you in the past. And then on where they came from in you, and how they are affecting your view of the future. Are they just attitudes you learnt to have growing up, that you just took for granted because everyone around you feels the same? IS it serving your best interest to be where you are now on this issue? And when you look back the harder times in the past,when you look can you see some good things that came from them? And can you expect more of them in the future and make that the focus?

 

 

Card 3: flipped Ace of Wands (reversed)

This is a Wands card, about what you want to create of your life and of yourself. A reversed Ace, for me, is about justice and fairness. It's about thinking over and figuring out which attitude that you could choose would bring out what is more fair to you and the others around you in your life. Because yes, we do affect the others around us by our attitudes and what we do with them.

This image feels perfect to me here. The image is one of summer and yet the Wand looks as though it were covered in autumn leaves. And that is just where we are now: leaving the summer behind and halfway between autumn and winter. And the electricity around those leaves represents the different energies you could choose to embrace on this issue.

This card feels like it is saying to me that now is a perfect time to practice/work on your feelings about the future if that calls to you right now. Here we are halfway between summer and winter. We can choose to think all that cold weather is coming that we will not enjoy and all the extra clothing. Or we can think of snow angels and skating outdoors. hot chocolate.and the like. We can think of the days getting dark early or all the beautiful lights that will light up the darkened sky. If we put our focus on what is enjoyable and look for it, it seems likely we will find more to enjoy/

Of course nothing is all black and white, and no thing is all pleasant or unpleasant. Everything has more than one side to it. We get to choose if we expect to enjoy what is coming or not. And I suspect that what we expect to feel will have  a big effect on what we do feel. Just as the Wand is twisting her from the energy of what is being created by the attitudes we choose