back to the cards

Have started using tarot again, doing a 4 card spread before I go to bed at night, or first thing in the morning. Instead of simply asking for a forecasting,  "what will the day bring?" type of question, I make a statement of intention, the kind of day I want to have. This is Jim Nammack's suggestion, and I am finding it to be a really powerful way to use the available energy to my best advantage and highest good.

I shuffle and double cut the cards 5ish times, sometimes six or seven, but always at least one more time than the number of cards in the spread. Fanning out the cards, the first card is at the top, and is the main card that the other three support. 

Today, the main card is Nine Cups...oh boy, the wish card! "you pamper and indulge yourself, and this is a good thing." The supporting cards are 8Pentacles,  which is about hard work and skill, the Star which is about the soul's true purpose and ability, and 9Pentacles, which is material and physical support. My intention for the day is to prepare for the coming week and going back into my routine with a positive attitude. So it sounds like taking care of myself appropriately today will give me the strength and courage I need to take on my responsibilities without fussing about it.

12/26

Today I used Carol Anthony's "A Guide to the I Ching". I threw hex. 2, The Receptive, with two changing lines, the 1st and the 3rd. It changed hex. 36 Darkening of the Light.

"A part of our receptivity is to let things happen by allowing ourself to be guided by the moment. We keep attuned to the 'openings', times of light when people are receptive, and to the 'closings', times of darkness when they begin to misunderstand and close themselves off. With the openings we advance, with the closings we retreat. In retreating we are detached and free. We proceed on our way, allowing others to depart. Indeed, receiving this hexagram is a challenge to perfect one's receptivity, humility and patience." (pp.9)

So this is not my strong suit, but I understand that this is what is required of me today. Yesterday, I put too much energy into fussing about how other people act and how I think they should; my drunk brother in law, or my friend who is not acting right, or my lost love, or my moody husband or my cranky children. Those kinds of thoughts were getting in the way of what I really wanted to do, which was spend time with my family, and be fully present to them. So today, I have an opportunity to do that.

In the first changing line,  I read;

"Hoarfrost underfoot. Hoarfrost refers to doubting the way events are proceeding. When we doubt the life process we begin to strive to divert the stream of events toward something more to our liking. We should cease resisting the flow of events and return to the path of humble acceptance and dependence on the Unknown." (pp.9)

In the second line;

"if by chance you are in the service of a king seek not works". "Reticence is an essential ingredient of receptivity and modesty. We lose our reticence when we get caught up in the egotistical enthusiasm of having an influence. We relish being recognized as "having the truth" and forget to give others the space they need to perceive things for themselves. In making this mistake, we soon find ourselves isolated, and our influence undermined."  (pp. 10)

I understand this to mean that there are certain relationships  that I must let go entirely. The hard part for me, in this letting go, is not cutting off. I am working on how to let my friends and loved ones go their own ways without interfering with them, or letting them interfere with me, which doesn't have to mean never seeing them again, or some form of punishment or "last word" from me. In some cases, it does mean that in the present moment I am not spending as much time with them, either energetically or live. In other cases, it means that at present we are not communicating at all, and may not ever again. But it's not for me to determine when or whether they will or will not accept me, understand me, or see my side of our story, or I will see theirs. And if I am sincere in my determination to accept them on their own terms, that means I "seek not works". All of our stories are ever-unfolding. Nothing I say or do will change that, and I might as well be Receptive, and allow myself to be led by Divine Will.

The second hexagram, "Darkening of the Light" advises me to remember that

"...all changes are like streams that travel a long way underground before they come to the surface. We need to remember that we cannot attain a clear view if we confine ourselves to observing the external situation; similarly, we cannot see with clarity if we fail to quiet the clamoring inner voices. We need to disengage from looking at the situation. Disengagement is made difficult if we fail to give up feelings of resentment, hostility, or frustration. For the time being, we need to accept the situation humbly, as it is." (pp. 170)

Usually when I receive this hexagram, I immediately feel all the frustration and anger that whatever the issue that I am querying I Ching about bring up for me. Today, I understand it to mean that this is always a choice, but it's not a requirement. Like suffering, frustration is an option, not a mandate. So. More waiting, more minding my own business. Maybe I should take up knitting, so I can have something else to do with my hands when they want to mess with things.

dec 25

Hexagram 45 "Great sexual intensity comes into play. You have the magic touch and change lead into gold. You wonder if you are doing the right thing." changing line 3 "you must strive for total mastery, to become the best there has ever been at something" and top line "You must expand your focus". Hexagram 59 "the emanations of something stir your soul. You must do something that you would rather not. Inhibitions are overcome". Hidden hexagrams, 62 "A mystic connection is involved. You must not fight or resist something. You enrich or empower others." and 22 "something has sound qualities. You must go with the flow. You must put your total focus on the end results you desire, not the problems that seem to stand in your way."

I am getting some configurations of "go with the flow" "let go of your inhibitions" and mystic connection or magick over and over for weeks now. I am pretty sure I know what this means, but am not at all sure how to go about doing what needs to be done around this. More specific divination is needed on that question and questions related to it, obviously. But today's divination is very obviously advising me to get a-goin'.

so maybe not *every day

But not too far off...

The purpose of this blog is to share my daily divinations, to show how I use it as a tool for daily connection and teaching with Higher Power, Godself, Particular Divine Entity, or whatever you want to call It. The point is to explore the various ways to get there, and receive the information available to us from the Universe. Divination helps us do this by showing the way with the signposts provided by our own self-created mythos, and helping us to understand our internal weather report, and prepare appropriately. In this journal, I will primarily be using dreams, I Ching and tarot, but you never know what will turn up.

I did an I Ching divination, before I went to bed last night, using James Nammack’s Primordial I Ching; this work is unpublished, but you can learn more about it on paganspace.net, where he has a discussion group.

My divinations for the past several days have been a lot about going with the flow and adapting to the needs at hand, and also doing inner work. Last night, I received hex. 53 "you must not withhold from yourself the experiences you need for your personal growth. Things do not go exactly as planned, but you do make substantial progress. You effectively apply one principle to something else" I got two changing lines, line 2 "you shine a light into the darkness" and line 4, "something is number one, supreme over all things". the next hexagram was 22, "Something has sound qualities. You must go with the flow. You must put your total focus on the end results you desire, not the problems that seem to stand in our way." The hidden hexagrams were 15, "You achieve something reach a goal. You get at the very core or essence of something. You accomplish something with lightning speed" and 1 "something is number one, supreme over all things, but you are out of touch with how things work in reality. You run into a restriction or limitation of some kind."

Today, while I would like to get a little break from all that emotional and psychic slogging, it does not seem to be the way things are unfolding. However, I am able to be flexible, positive and centered in my own flow enough to have fun and get a lot out of the day, which really is the most I ever hope for. I have been getting hex. 53 and 15 quite a lot lately, not just in my dailies, but in specific questions as well. This is showing me that I have a lot of work to do in accepting the changes I need to make in my life and having the courage to do so.