I’m at Lakeside Retreats in Beamsville, ON, to teach a first degree reiki course this weekend. Before I left Toronto, I pulled my card for the day from the Voyager Tarot — the 5 of Worlds. James Wanless, the deck’s creator, keywords this card “setback”. Among the ideas I jotted in my journal about this card were:
- Adjust professional circumstances
- Change financial expectations due to shifts in my work
- Ask myself, “What’s the opportunity or gift in this setback?”
Someone called to say they can’t come for the reiki training this weekend. Setback, shifted work, less money coming in this weekend. Where’s the opportunity? My friend Jennifer, a level three practitioner, is helping out this weekend. So, without the other attendee, there’s an even number of people here. I like even numbers of participants/attendees because they can partner up and I can remain focused on guiding the process without having to be distracted by doing the activities. This might sound silly to some people, but for me it’s a huge help to have the even number. So there’s one gift in the initial setback. Another gift in this could be that each person who IS here this weekend gets a bit more personal attention. This too is a very good thing.
- What’s your most recent setback?
- What’s the opportunity or gift for you in this experience?
- What’s the opportunity or gift for someone else in this experience?
- Remember a time when you encountered a sudden change?
- What creative, innovative thing were you able to do in order to adapt?
- What resources and strengths did you discover in yourself as result of this experience?
Please let us know. We’re listening and we want to learn.
I did a reading with these questions and was amazed to see that my recent setback of the last 6 months is similar to one I experienced 16 years ago.
The past one was a pivotal time in my life and I wouldn’t change it for anything – the gifts were HUGE!
Now I’m ready to embrace this recent passage, thank it and open up to its bounty.
Gracias,
Martha
You’re welcome, Martha. It’s remarkable that we repeat ourselves. The beauty of catalysts such as questions, cards, dreams, symbols, and so forth is that they’re always pointing out these patterns to us. Sometimes the catalyst needs to be more in-my-face for me (and many of us) to get the message. How great that you explored the questions in the blog entry through the tarot. You’re an inspiration!