Ask My Angels

Yesterday, I finally finished Deva Premal and Miten's 21 day mantra meditation journey, which has been a beautiful experience.  So, today I started my 21 days with Om Shree Dhanvantre Namaha - a mantra for healing.   I remember them saying in the introduction to this mantra that it is for all kinds of healing, not just the physical.  And boy, do I feel we are in need of that!  Both me personally, on a more emotional level, and my son in particular on a physical level.  To be honest, I think my DH could do with it, too, though he brazens it out more.  It's been a tough year.

Anyway, while chanting this morning and trying to focus on the healing we all need, I started crying.  Which may of course be part of my own healing - expressing the pain, frustration and sadness I feel right now.  With all that, I ended up doing two rounds of my mala beads - 216 repetitions.  I felt lighter at the end of it, though I'm not sure I'd want to blub every day.  We'll see how it goes tomorrow...

Done with my weeping, but still feeling in need of some angelic guidance, I decided to use a traditional Lenormand approach.  So, I shuffled and looked for the Angel card in the Mystical Lenormand (Königsfurt-Urania, 2004) to find out what the angels suggest to me this week.

Ring, Sun, Angel, Letter, Snake: the angels advise an energetic commitment to transformative writing.

Although I'm involved in a spiritual writing project, I associate that more with the Book.  Rather, what I see here is this blog.  After all, it is here that I feel I can write most anything I like.  It's funny, because several times I've thought about chucking this blog in: I spend time on it that I could spend on said writing project; it doesn't further my professional image; and I've only had a couple of reading requests through it.  But perhaps that's why I most need to keep it: it's just for me, rather than for anything official/work-related.  Here, I can write about my more negative thoughts, and blog any way I like, not worrying about whether I'm being consistent or putting on a good show.

So, although it may not be a worthwhile pursuit, nor make any money, nor help anyone else particularly, I shall keep writing here.  I hope some of you will enjoy the card readings, or the discussion of meditation practices, or whatever else.

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).