Poems, Mastermind, & Tarot Class

A miscellaneous mix of thoughts today.

A.  Two poems, the first one from looking at my dining table while journalling, the second from a ‘phone call I received from Dad to say that Auntie Alice in Vancouver died this morning.

 

dining room table –

vase full of chestnut blossoms

irish breakfast tea

smiling at the sky

sipping dry spanish white wine

cigarette in hand

 

B.  Wednesday’s Mastermind meeting was great!  Five of us gathered in my home and supported each other with resources, feedback, and appreciation.  Watch for things I’m inspired to do — a great June tarot special, events called “Meals That Matter”, and other terrific offerings.  We, naturally, concluded our time together with food.  The best way to ground after any gathering.  If you need a boost in your business, or spirituality, or anything else, I highly recommend calling together a Mastermind group, a sort of think-tank, collective source of guidance, personal board of advisers, or professional cheerleading squad.  You’ll be inspired!

 

C.  Last night’s tarot class was fun.  I offered three activities that I’d experienced at the Readers Studio a couple of weeks ago.  Some intuitive reading of tarot, some creation of an alternative tarot reader persona, and some working with archetypes to address a specific issue in one’s life.  A good way for me to solidify some of the material and a means to keep the energy of of the Readers Studio rippling out into the world.

 

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Five-Year Mandala Addendum

Earlier this evening, I took the Five-Year Fantasy Mandala (see previous entry) a bit further.  On a full page of my journal, I created a composite colour drawing of symbols that stood out for me in the cards in my mandala.  I got out some crayons, poured some tea, and sat down with the pattern in front of me.  Then I just started drawing and colouring until I had a circle of images.  Tomorrow, I’ll photocopy it and place copies of it on my fridge, on my shrine, inside my journal cover, on the side of a bookcase of tarot decks, and wherever else I’m likely to see it.  It will give life to remembering my goals and the energy behind them.

My next step will be to create a set of brief poems to encapsulate the essence of each goal/vision.  This is getting more creative and fun each day!

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Five-Year Fantasy Mandala

Last night, both Steven and I were a bit tired.  He’d been out biking during the afternoon and I’d been out walking.  After a lazy dinner at Craft Burger at Yonge and Bloor, we arrived home and he went to bed to read.  I sat at our dining table and decided to set some longer-term goals, so I lovingly took down a copy of Mary Greer’s Tarot For Your Self, opened it to the Five-Year Fantasy Mandala, took out the International Icon Tarot, opened to a fresh page in my journal, and got to work/play.

Mary lays out the process beautifully in her book.  I began by selecting a card from the face-down deck to represent me creating my fantasy in the present moment (2 of Cups — lovingly; in partnership with others; from a place of emotional balance).  Then I chose pairs of cards from the face-up pack to represent my ideal vision of various aspects of my life five years hence — accomplishments, work/profession, something exciting in my life, talents & abilities I’ve mastered, and my home environment.  Then, from the face-down deck, I picked cards to give me insight into creating other aspects of my life — intellect, creativity, love & sexuality, breakthroughs in consciousness, and money & power.  The final card drawn was for my Ideal Self (6 of Cups — generous in giving and receiving on all levels; kind; reliable; a lover of life’s pleasures).  After laying out all the cards in the star-like pattern (seventeen cards for the 17th Major card, the Star), I wrote a journal piece that describes my ideal life five years from now.

I’m thrilled with the vision I’ve created via the cards and the journal.  The last time I did the Five-Year Fantasy Mandala (several years ago), many things began to happen for me in less than five years.  It’s a great way to set and achieve goals.  Please do get a copy of Tarot For Your Self and experience this activity.  You, and those around you, will be glad you did.

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Meeting the Inner Card Characters

This morning, I did a reading with a client using the Voyager Tarot.  We used my own version of the celtic cross layout (the so-called Wellsian Celtic Cross).  In this version of the spread, the far left card represents “what’s appropriate to leave behind or release” and the far right card (of the cross portion of the layout) represents “what’s appropriate to move towards or embrace”.  It felt important for the person who was with me to really experience those two polarities, so I invited her to close her eyes and picture herself having a certain conversation with the self the one card represented, then to converse with the other one.  An amazing dialogue unfolded and the two characters found peace with one another.  I find that this really brings a reading to life.  Do try this at home!

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Revisiting Osho Zen Tarot

I’d forgotten how much I like the Osho Zen tarot deck.  A client I worked with over the ‘phone this morning chose that deck for her session.  Our dialogue over the Osho Zen images was fruitful and yielded interesting insights and helpful actions.  It’s good for me (and for all of us practitioners) to use a different tool or try a different activity from time to time.  It keeps me fresh, in a state of beginner’s mind.  Feels good.

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Marketing my Tarot Biz

I’ve spent a good chunk of time since I’ve been back from the Readers Studio getting back to marketing my tarot counselling business.  All of us who are self-employed visionaries, counsellors, healers, intuitives, creatives, etc. rely on word-of-mouth referrals to keep our work alive so that we can be of greater service to our world in this time of changes.  Two of my favourite resources of late are a book and a website.  Respectively, these are:

BOOK.     Becoming a Life Coach by David Skibbins.

WEBSITE.     www.marketinggoddess.com (Elizabeth Genco Purvis)

Both remind us of the simple and superb ways that we self-jobbers can thrive while enjoying what we do.

My Voyager tarot card for today, pulled for the question, “How can I succeed today?” is the Four of Cups, subtitled “anger” by James Wanless.  I’m called to notice something in the world that ticks me off, then do something about it through the services I offer.  What I noticed today was a brief newspaper article about people who quit their jobs because of dissatisfaction, regardless of the perceived economic recession out there.  It ticks me off that offices, companies, bosses, etc. treat people like chunks of machinery so that their souls feel depleted and they hate what they do.  What I intend to do about it is be here for people in career transition, through tarot counselling, personal coaching, and the offering of reiki for peace.  Perhaps some helpful combination thereof.  If you’re feeling like you need to make a shift, or if you’re in the middle of one, please contact me.  The motivational listener is in!

For a description of my ideal client, see this earlier blog entry:  https://jameswells.wordpress.com/2009/02/25/please-send-me-my-ideal-client/

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Good to Be Home

Arrived in Toronto mid-afternoon.  Made a yummy pot of pasta e fagioli for Steven and me.  Went out for a walk around the neighbourhood — the trees are springing awake beautifully and the gardens are looking more lively, full of purples, yellows, reds, and much green.

My card for today was the Sage of Crystals (Knower) from the Voyager Tarot.  A good day to share knowledge and wisdom.  A fine time to speak the truth as I see it.  Right now, my truth is “There’s no greater sanctuary than home.”

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Back From My Tarot Adventures

Got back to Ontario from Newark this afternoon.  It was a mercifully uneventful drive back (unlike last year).  The Readers Studio was fantastic!  I’ll give a few highlights in the form of quotes from each of the three main presentations.

GERALDINE AMARAL.

• An oracle reconfigures the connection between the conscious and the unconscious.
• One develops intuition by having clear intent when opening and closing the reading, by giving up the need for confirmation, knowing what kind of receptor one is (clairvoyant, clairaudient, clairwhatever), by quieting the outer self, and by being open and flexible.
• Staying present is important.
• A reading is a study of energy.

JAMES WANLESS.

• Picking cards from a face-down tarot deck frees/liberates us from our projections, expectations, and pre-conceived notions.
• Tarot is a wholistic map.
• Life experience + empathy + skill = being a good tarot reader.
• Getting stuck in our familiar boxes is “death by comfort”.
• Tarot consultants carry archetypal medicine.
• To be authentic means to be the author of one’s own life.
• Not only is the whole deck a map, each card is a map in itself.  Turn each card symbol into a question.

RACHEL POLLACK.

• The High Priestess represents esoteric/inner teachings and the Hierophant represents exoteric/outer teachings.
• Tarot is a method to know our true selves.
• The soul is the sun shining in one’s heart (from the 7 of Trees in the Shining Tribe Tarot). 
• Imagination and play can take us to deep truth.

My own Friday evening study group went well.  By mingling tarot with conversational processes such as PeerSpirit circle methodology and World Café, people responded to questions that took them beyond themselves, connected them to the needs of humanity and the larger world.  The actions people committed to were beautiful.  It was a pleasure to offer this process to them and I plan to offer it to any groups that would like to host it.

I did tarot consultations for several people on Saturday.  Lovely to share their stories over the cards and to let whatever insight that needed to come emerge.  Thank you for this privilege, dear readees!

I purchased some new tarot decks, including:

• The Mystereum Tarot by Jordan Hoggard
• The Mythical Goddess Tarot by Sage Holloway and Katherine Skaggs
• The Fifth Tarot by Martien and Teressena Bakens

There were informal gatherings of old friends reminiscing, crying, and laughing together (the devil card pose involving a set of ice tongs and some chest hair is memorable as is the brother-sister manicure team of Ching and Ting).  There were new friendships forged.  And a sense of a real tarot tribe was present.  All in all, a joy!  Next year’s key presenters will be Robert Place, Mary Greer, and Elinor Greenberg.  Promises to be great.

Thank you to Wald and Ruth Ann Amberstone of the Tarot School for yet another tarot-ific triumph.

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