Angelic Guidance

Oracle of the Shapeshifters

A few days ago, I drew this card: The Golden Phoenix from the US edition of the Oracle of Shapeshifters (Beyond Words, 2013).  It's another of the cards which is different to the Oz edition, with a far smaller phoenix, and more of a close-up on a big-faced, big-eyed girl, rather than the somewhat waif-like figure on the Oz card.  Still, I like how her hair, lips and eyes echo the colours of the Phoenix.

Anyway, I was a little surprised by the title on this card: Something you thought finished bursts back into life.  Nothing sprang to mind straight away, so I decided to draw a Lenormand line of five to clarify, from the Mystical Lenormand (Königsfurt-Urania, 2004).  I left in the extra cards, and what I drew was: Cross, Fish, Mice, Paths, Angel.


How I read this was that copious burdens will be reduced by angelically-guided choices.  And with that, the previous card made a lot more sense.  Although I was originally thinking of a spiritual card for the day, this covers that and a lot more.

Mystical Lenormand (just realised the scan is back to front - doh!)

Over the last week, my son has been having some quite nasty health issues.  One of them is something that has been a recurring issue, but which he "officially" doesn't have.  They did a test on him back in 2010 which didn't show the problem, though even the technician who carried out the test said the way they tested was faulty and gave a lot of false negatives!  Anyhow, since then we have had one other time when this happened, but it was sorted by giving him antibiotics.  Then, we decided not to chase a correct diagnosis and just get on with things.  However, being faced this week with doctors telling us "Oh, well he doesn't have a history of this condition," has been extremely annoying, as well as unhelpful.

What I see the cards telling me, is that as this condition has become an issue again, I need to see it through to a proper diagnosis this time.  Although it will be stressful in the short term, it will reduce problems in the longer term.  My DH has been saying we should just not worry about it, but a voice in me says that it's better to cope with the hassles now than have this happening over and over.  So, I shall take the advice and push for a proper diagnosis.

What Matters?

On Sunday, I chanted along with Deva Premal and Miten to day 14 of their 21 day Mantra Meditation Journey, which was a chant they called "Buddha Consciousness" - Om Muni Muni Maha Muni Swaha.  They described it as a mantra seeking enlightenment: starting with ourselves, and for the whole planet.  After chanting, I drew this line of five from the Mystical Lenormand (Königsfurt-Urania, 2004).  I shuffled and looked for the Sun, but it was right at the bottom of the pack, the first card I saw, so instead of having two cards to either side of it, I just took the next four cards after it.

Cards on my altar

My first interpretation was that enlightenment burns away the clouds of confusion, bringing us to a place where we can rationally choose to commit to what we believe in.  I saw this in terms of working this week on a project that matters a lot to me.

However, things haven't worked out that way.  My son has been having several different health issues, and so I've spent the whole week so far either caring for him, taking him to see various doctors, or ringing and emailing different hospitals and our GP's surgery, as well as collecting and administering prescriptions.  In that light, these cards seem far more to say that happiness has been clouded, and I have had to take a rational, scientific approach to issues.  It has also required me to commit my time and energy to things that feel very burdensome, and yet which I also recognise as being ethically the right thing to do.

Coming back to the chanting, the chant I did on Tuesday was one for healing - Om Shree Dhanvantre Namaha (that's a link to youtube with Deva chanting it - lovely!).  Deva and Miten suggest that at the end of the 21 day Mantra journey we choose one mantra to chant for 21 days.  There were lots of mantras that appealed to me, and although I liked the idea, I felt unable to settle on one.  One I considered was Aham Prema - I am love.  Another was the Gayatri Mantra, or Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, or even the simple Om Shanti Om.  Now, though, I also see in these cards the idea of committing to a healing mantra - we could definitely all do with the energy here to blow away the clouds of ill health that have covered our son.  A rational choice, but a good one, I think :)

Transformative Journey

This morning, I drew a line of five from the Mystical Lenormand (Königsfurt-Urania, 2004), asking for a spiritual focus for the day.

This line (Snake, Ship, Storks, Bear, Tree), made me think about the transformative journey that yoga has been and continues to be in my life.  The Storks card is associated with change, but keywords also include flexibility.  And with Bear for strength and Tree for health, these are all things that I connect with yoga.

After drawing this line, I chanted along to another meditation mantra from Deva Premal and Miten.  It's been lovely taking part in their 21 Day Mantra Meditation Journey.  And later in the morning, I chose a mellow yoga practice as my exercise for the day.  I have been practising yoga for 23 years now, and never tire of it.  Though I'll admit my practice has changed over the years: I have to be gentle on my wrists, in particular, these days.  Both of these are parts of what yoga means to me - meditation, mindfulness, and a physical practice that stretches and strengthens my body in a respectful, gentle way.

I am glad the cards encouraged me to focus on yoga today, rather than doing some more energetic cardio exercise with a driving dance beat.  It was lovely to finish feeling relaxed and energised, rather than sweaty and buzzed, though that has its place, too :)

May New Moon Reading

Tarot of the Sidhe

For this new moon, I decided to draw two cards from the Tarot of the Sidhe (Schiffer, 2011) to represent what I need to leave behind at this time, and what I should move towards.  I received the Dreamer Prince and Maker Five "Winter's Bite".

As something to leave behind, I read the Dreamer Prince saying that I need to rein in my mind and my thoughts.  Especially critical thoughts, whether of myself or others.  As for Winter's Bite being something to move towards, I read this as needing to come to an acceptance of some difficult circumstances around my material and physical experience.  I notice the rays of sun peaking out from behind the mountain, which suggests that there is light on the horizon, an easing of these troubles.  Yet, those same rays appear to emanate from the Dreamer Prince's head, too.  This suggests I should not expect this hope to come from myself, but from the outside, from spirit.

Deciding to draw a line of three from the Mystical Lenormand (Königsfurt-Urania, 2004) to look at how I can best achieve these things, I pulled Snake, Fox and Rider.

This moon time, then, transformation comes through skillful forward movement :)  It will require all my skills, and a willingness to keep moving, no matter how much the road winds and turns.  Reading the cards from a different perspective, the Rider in the "future" and the Snake in the "past" suggests using athletic pursuits to leave behind intelligence (Snake) gone into overdrive (Dreamer Prince).  And working smarter rather than harder is suggested by Snake and Fox, which will bring movement (Rider) to my material situation (Winter's Bite).

Butterfly Frogs

Shapeshifters US Edition

“Yadda Yadda”!  That was my first response to drawing this card from the US edition of the Oracle of the Shapeshifters (Beyond Words, 2013).  This is one of the 18 cards that was totally re-vamped image-wise, and one of just two where every last thing seems to have been changed from the original version. 

When I first saw this card, I wondered why such a huge change had been made.  I liked the previous version, Poseidon’s Daughter (below from Blue Angel edition).  And the title and tag, talk about cliched!  You Are Unlike Anyone Else, a human snowflake, different but perfect in your own way, so don’t let anyone try to pigeon-hole you or tell you you’re wrong for being different, blah blah.  

Yes, of course I believe that to be true: that we are all unique, and that we have the right to not only be contradictory and different, but to express that uniqueness.  The companion book also says something along the lines of: if others tell you you’re neither this nor that (like the butterfly-frogs), and say you have to choose one or the other to fit their labels, tell them no.  All well and good, but that is definitely a hard place to be.  

Shapeshifters Australian Edition

And there’s the good bit about this card.  Though the artwork of this deck may be dreamy and “pretty”, there are some real messages here.  It isn’t easy to be considered strange, a freak, ugly, or just different.  Yet, that shouldn’t be reason enough for us to try to conform to other people’s expectations.

It’s funny, too, the way that everyone seems to have expectations.  In my day job, people expect rationality (I work with a lot of engineers and business types).  In the esoteric community, you’d think people would be more loosey-goosey, more open to difference.  Yet, my experience a few months ago was of being criticised in these circles for not being “traditional”.  

So, perhaps I do need this message that it’s okay to be neither this nor that, and just see where my butterfly wings will take me :D