Everyone suffers, or has suffered, from worry and anxiety. Some people live in a constant state of fear of what might happen – even if it never does. I have learned over the years that worry is a complete waste of energy. Especially in difficult times. I have a little technique that goes, “Right where I am, in this moment, nothing is wrong. Nothing needs to be fixed.” I say this to myself anytime one of those cold tendrils of fear slides anywhere near me.

Tarot is always a great comfort to me in times of stress and I like to pick a Major Arcana card at random when I need reassurance. These are the messages each card offers to me, personally.

Images from the Osho Zen Tarot

Continue reading →

The Hermit

I admit that I enjoy solitude. Always have since I was a child. I felt awkward and shy in company, especially large gatherings. I overcame that fear later, so that I didn’t actually develop into a social misfit. Nevertheless it’s always a relief to come home, to withdraw and become peaceful once more.

When I first became hooked on tarot, it was interesting to discover that my birth card is 9 – The Hermit (add the digits of your full birth date, for example 01.01.1968 becomes 1+1+1+9+6+8 = 26, 2+6 = 8 Strength. Some will have two birth cards).

That made perfect sense to me and I feel a strong affinity with the Hermit card. The idea of being completely alone is a very seductive one. However, I’m also a bit Queen of Pentacles, so it’s not an option right now 🙂

I felt inspired to put together a study of the Hermit today. You can read it here.

The Hermit

The card shown here is the Hermit from the Rohrig deck. It’s one of my favourites – the images are all striking and give extra insights. Look at that glorious void-filled mask superimposed over a Rider-Waite Hermit.

It’s quite a hard deck to get hold of these days, though I have seen a few bargains on eBay and Amazon.

Anyway, treat yourself to a Happy Hermit Day soon!

Just lately I am loving being at home. I decided that our home has been too neutral, colour-wise, for too long. A few years ago we tried to sell our house, right on the brink of the financial collapse and the subsequent lull in the property market. Needless to say, we gave up after a few months and are still here. Consequently, our home has been suffering from the dull dressing of cream and magnolia that the style gurus advise to adopt when selling.

I’ve also been spending way too much time on Pinterest, where colour = life. Slowly, slowly, the urge to create a ‘pinteresting’ life seeped into my soul.  I drew a tarot card:

The World. I needed to ponder. Here’s my world:

I have broken through my magnolia apathy and am all fired up for a colour revolution. Our living room is turquoise with acid yellow-green accents, my kitchen is now sporting hot pink walls and the dining/sewing room is about to go deep yellowy-orange. Yum.

Here’s an in-depth look at The World.

The school break is in full-swing. I could use that as an excuse why I haven’t posted, but it would be false as we home-educate and use the current six-weeks to withdraw and relax at home away from the madding and maddening clamour. Pretty soon our beach will be ‘ours’ again; high streets will be less busy and outings will be a pleasure. Meanwhile, we are focused on doing stuff at home and in the garden. I have finished a huge king-size rag quilt, painted the shed, nurtured my plants (I haven’t got very many yet) and concentrated on staying cool. The pergola is going up this week and I will start painting the living room any day now.

With all that domesticity dealt with, I have also published a new article: The Tarot Moon. The moon fascinates me. It is part of that magnificent set of ‘random circumstances’ that make this planet the perfect place to exist. Any closer and our tides would be so dangerous, we’d have to all live on mountain peaks. Any farther away and our oceans would be dead ponds. The moon governs cycles of all kinds. It protects us – look at all those craters and it provides endless speculation. Go read it now.

Me, well I’m back to my domestic pleasures — my daughter has requested a quilt for her birthday. Really, I need to get myself a copy of the Housewives Tarot! That woman there… she needs one of my quilts!

Do you treat the tarot as a sacred oracle? Do you respect it? Use it carefully and appropriately? Do you surround your readings with gravitas? Or do you see it as a part of your everyday life? Perhaps you whip out your cards at the drop of a hat, a question might occur to you and you think, “I know, I’ll ask Robin (Wood).”

I used to fall into the first category but over the years, I have changed my view. They are just cards. Really. They do not care about incense and candles. The important component in any reading is you. The rituals are necessary if you believe you need them. However, if you trust your ability to decode the message offered, then you can dispense with all the rigmarole and go right to the reading.

That’s not to say that formal readings don’t have their place. There is a wonderful shiver of anticipation when preparing for a ‘special’. Perhaps you have a ceremonial New Year or birthday reading, or if you read tarot for others, you feel more confident if you have a set ritual to get you in the right frame of mind.

Nevertheless, one of my missions with this blog is to encourage you to make tarot your go-to resource when you have any question.

Today is the men’s semi-finals at Wimbledon (tennis). British hopes are pinned on Andy Murray, as we haven’t had a British winner of the Men’s Singles since Fred Perry back in the thirties. Andy plays the Pole, Jerzy Janowicz. It should be exciting. I know, let’s ask ‘Robin’ if Murray’s going to have a good result this afternoon.

The Sun. Wow! Okay, firstly, it looks like the heat might be a factor today, as temperatures are set to reach the highest for the year, so far. The Sun indicates a victory for Murray, perhaps after losing his way slightly. In the quarter-finals, he came back from two sets down to win.

I’ll come back and update later, if I remember.

Update: well, Andy did win after dropping the first set. He was beaming as he rode off the court on his little white pony. Well done.