The Pentacles, of course, are the suit of things material.  They’re about work, finances, career.  The Three’s grow out of the Two’s.  The Two come together to produce a third, so the Threes are about birth, creativity and growth.  In the Rider-Waite deck, the Three of Pentacles depicts an artisan showing his work to possible patrons, so it indicates possible growth in business.

Which is a very apt card for today.  Over the weekend, I sent out my first ever press release announcing the opening of my new Virtual Assistant business.  I found out this morning that the main local newspaper picked it up for an article in the business section.  So, it’s very possible that I will soon be seeing some actual clients for my business.  I’m so excited I can hardly sit still *laughs*.

Today’s Goddess Card:  Artemis

Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo, the Sun God, and a strong protector.  This card signifies protection for you and your loved ones, that your needs will be met, and that your future is safe and secure.  It echoes the strong feelings I’ve had lately of security and optimism.  It’s funny that in letting go of my strong need for the security of employment, I feel freer and more secure than I ever have.

Remember, if you’d like a free 3 card Tarot Reading, just leave a comment here or send me an e-mail.

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Tarot Card of the Day: 3 of Pentacles

The Fours in the Tarot deck are about holding on to what you have.  The Four of Pentacles is about holding onto your wealth, prestige, career, whatever it is that you value.  It’s the card of the miser, who loses everything holding onto his wealth.  This card is a warning against fighting change to your own detriment.  Don’t be so tied to what you have that you don’t see what else is possible.

This is a good card today.  My husband and I have decided to start our own business.  He will do application development and hardware support; I will provide virtual assistance and MS Office help.  With the economy the way it is, this is actually a good time to move to support small businesses.  They can’t afford to hire personnel, so will be looking to outside companies to help with support.

My problem is that I tend to be really attached to what I have.  I not only really like my current job, but I’m really attached to the security of having a job (I think I mentioned that before).  But the way I’m currently working (I work 4 – 10 hour days), it leaves me time to work on the side.  Eventually, if we can work things to where we together make enough to equal a full time salary, then I can quit to work at our business more hours.  In the meantime, I have this job to keep body and soul together.

Goddess Card: Butterfly Maiden

The Butterfly Maiden is a Hopi Native American kachina.  She is a spirit of Springtime, ensuring the crops grow and a bountiful harvest.  Spring is a time of transformation and growth in the world.  Her message is one of letting the old fall away and embracing the new.  We are part of a cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth.  We must embrace the change in our lives if we are to grow and be prosperous.  A very appropriate card to go with the 4 of Pentacles, isn’t it?

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Tarot Card of the Day – Four of Pentacles

First Card – Five of Pentacles

The first card, representing the past of the situation, is the Five of Pentacles.  The pentacles are an earth suit representing that which is tangible: finances, health, job, etc.  The Fives are the proverbial fly in the ointment cards.  It’s a card of difficulties, which is quite appropos, since the reason I was available for this job was that I was laid off from my previous job and was unemployed for almost 3 months.  It was, indeed, a time of financial difficulties.

Second Card – Ace of Wands

The second card, representing the present, is the Ace of Wands.  The Wands are the fire suit and represent passion and energy.  The Aces are about potential, starts, energy that can be directed.  Again, it’s an apropos card for this reading.  I’ve just started taking tech support calls in my job, which is something I really love doing.  I enjoy it and I’m good at it.  Before this, I liked the job, but it was just another job.  But now I’m getting to do several things I really enjoy including tech support and web design work, and I have more energy to apply to my work because I love what I’m doing.

Third Card – Ace of Cups

This is the meat of the reading, the card representing the future, the Ace of Cups.  As I said earlier, the Aces are about beginnings and the energy that goes with them.  The suit of Cups is under a water sign.  The Cups are expressive of emotions and spirituality.  This particular card, in the Rider Waite desks, is usually pictured with a Chalice overflowing, representing abundance and wishes granted.  This card also is often interpreted as the beginning of relationships, whether love or friendship.  It’s a time of blossoming.

I can interpret this in various ways.  My dream of becoming an employee here coming true and providing abundance of…well…everything for me.  It could be the blossoming of friendships here at the job (which really, I’d have to be working here for those to blossom, just not necessarily as a full employee, I could still be a contractor).  It could be indicating a relationship at a new place of employment, again somewhere my passions can blossom.

I’m hesitant to reach too far with my intuition on this one because it’s easy, when reading the cards for yourself, to let your desires color your interpretations.  And I try not to do that.  I must say, though, that I’ve had a very good feeling about this job since it first became a possibility, and it’s only gotten stronger the longer I’ve worked here.  I guess this is just going to have to be one of those wait and see times.  Whatever happens, though, it appears that it will be a time of growth for me.

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Tarot Reading for Employment

The Queen of Cups, as a person, is creative and intuitive.  A person more comfortable in the spiritual world at times than the physical.  In a reading she can refer to a specific person or to the qualities of that person.  In this case, I feel like it’s the qualities that are being called to here.  Somehow, my intuition is important today.  I need to be open to the needs of myself and those around me in order to provide the answers that are needed.

Goddess Card: Maeve

Maeve is a Celtic Goddess associated with the feminine.  In this deck, she represents cycles and rhythms, both physical and emotional.  Her message is to honor the cycles of your body, accept them, in some ways cater to them.  Railing against them is to no avail.

So, are these cards giving me different messages, or are they related.  My only question in pulling these daily cards is, what do I need to know about today?  Well, my intuition, as provoked by the Queen of Cups, tells me that they are related.  That I need to train my intuition on my own physical needs today, and give what my body needs.

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Tarot Card of the Day: Queen of Cups

I’ve been somewhat pagan for years, and been a practicing pagan for about 5 years. In that time, I’ve connected had face to face interactions with other pagans maybe 3 times. Everything I know and do and practice is self-taught in a vacuum. I went to on-line communities and met a wall of “you’re not doing it right”. Well, that’s one of the biggest reasons I stopped being a Christian. I don’t believe there’s just one way to do things. We each have a path to follow, and must follow that path.

It’s been so frustrating for me because I *like* celebrating the divine in community. It’s the one thing I miss about being Catholic, having a community to celebrate and worship with.

How does one find a guide and teacher in the pagan world when everyone is underground and the only ones you can find are the ones that want to control your path?

So I keep stumbling around in the dark, hands outstretched searching for…something…I’m not sure what. I assume that when the time is right I’ll find what it is I need. Until then, I’ll continue groping uselessly.

So, I did a simple 3 card reading on my problem of finding a community.

First Card: Five of Cups

The first card, indicating the past of the issue, is pretty appropos.  In the Five of Cups, you see the figure obsessed with the cups of spilled wine while ignoring those that are full.  Let’s face it, I have a really good life spiritually right now.  I feel more in tune with the divine than I ever have, am finally becoming comfortable with more feminine expressions of the divine, and practice energy work much more easily than I thought would ever be possible.  But I concentrate on the loss of a spiritual community, when honestly, that community was never very accepting of me (I was a liberal feminist with pagan leanings *laughs*, so I didn’t fit in very well with the traditional catholics I tended to worship with).

Second Card: The Moon

The second card, indicating the present situation, is also rather appropriate.  I’ve always been one to let fear override need.  It’s something I always struggle with.  I think, what if they don’t like me? I know, that sounds silly and juvenile, but when you aren’t exactly brimming with self-confidence, it’s a thought that holds sway over you.  I also wonder if I’ll have the energy to be able to work regularly with a group.  Ritual takes energy, and for someone with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, energy can be quite hard to come by.  Add all of that to being a really serious introvert, I’m afraid that even if I do connect with a group, I won’t be able to maintain membership.

Card Three: The Tower

The future of my issue…The Tower.  *sighs* I really wasn’t ready for that one.  I don’t really want to have a major gotcha moment that changes my life and perceptions.  Have I mentioned that I’m not thrilled by change.  I guess my only choice here is to stay as grounded as possible and open to the movements of Fate in my life.  We’ll see where it goes.  Maybe I need to do another reading to clarify this card a bit.  For those who don’t know the cards, The Tower is about false structures that get struck down by truth.  But what structures are false, and what is the truth.  I think I’m afraid to find out.

Goddess Card: Eireen

On the upside is the Goddess Card I pulled for this reading.  Eireen, who is a Greek Goddess who brings peace to all who call on her.  This card urges us to hand over our worries to the Divine and to practice those things that bring us peace.  So I guess that’s my answer for now.  Let go of worry, what will come will come.  Continue as I have, following my path, and let the Goddess guide me.

Post from: Maritzia's Thoughts

Finding a Community

Monthly Cards:

• January – Knight of Cups
• February – The World
• March – Queen of Wands
• April – Two of Wands
• May – Six of Pentacles
• June – Knight of Swords
• July – Justice
• August – Seven of Pentacles
• September – Ace of Swords
• October – The Chariot
• November – Ten of Swords
• December – Queen of Pentacles

Card for 2009

• Page of Cups

I’ll be revisiting this list at the end of each month to review the month just passed and look for guidance for the month to come.

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Tarot Reading for 2009

Wow…this card just keeps coming up again and again.  I think it’s the 3rd time I’ve seen it in the last month or two during my daily card pulls.  The Star is a generally positive card.  Things aren’t going to miraculously change overnight, but over time, what you need will be there.

Goddess Card: Yemanya

Again, a card that I’ve seen more than once in the last month or two.  Yemanya is an African and Brazilian goddess who is credited with creating the sea.  This card usually indicates an opportunity which must be embraced.  However, just as the sea comes and goes in the tides, so do opportunities come and go.  If one is missed, another will surely come.

I must admit to starting to feel impatient.  All of these great cards keep coming up again and again.  Everything’s going to be great, prosperity will come, opportunities are available.

Maybe I need to do a reading specifically about these opportunities and prosperity, hmmmmm?

Oh, by the way, I’ve had a couple of people ask for free tarot readings.  I’ve been a bit busy, but I’ll be getting to those this weekend.  So, don’t despair, I haven’t forgotten you.

Remember, if you’d like a free 3 card tarot reading, reply here or send me an e-mail.  Don’t forget to tell me what you generally want the reading to be about (details aren’t necessary, just a general idea to help me focus).

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Tarot Card of the Day: The Star

But it’s also been a year of great happiness.  We found the most lovely woman to officiate at our wedding, and the whole ceremony was such a wonderful expression of who we are and what our relationship is about.  We had our family all around us (including our pets), and it was a lovely time to renew our love for and commitment to each other.  It was everything we dreamed it could be.

At this time last year, I did a tarot reading for the year.  It’s interesting to look back now at the cards I drew and how they’ve played out during the year.

The Card for the Year: The Star

The star is a positive card for what was, over all, a positive year.  Always, when things seemed darkest, hope shined through and in the end everything worked out.  When I was laid off, I found another job.  When the money wasn’t enough, I got a raise.  When Amber hurt her back, our vet was wonderful and encouraging, and we discovered that even if she hadn’t gotten better, we more than have it in us to care for a special needs pet.  Amber was blessed with an almost total recovery, but at least we aren’t afraid if it happens again.  We know what to do and how to do it, and we know we can handle whatever comes.

The Month Cards

1. January was the King of Wands – He’s about inspiration and ideas, motivation to move forward, find your passion, and take charge.  This was the height of the time I was working in foster care, and both Mark and I hoped we would be able to move into the work full time.  Working with at-risk youth is such demanding, but can be such rewarding, work.
2. February was the Princess of Hearts (aka Page of Cups) – Ahhh…the cups…the suit of emotions.  And the Page is the very emotional one.  And it was an emotional month.  I was accused at work of doing something underhanded (which I didn’t do), and it was made clear to me that we would not be allowed to continue in foster care.  My heart was truly broken.  I was sad and angry and hurt.
3. March was the Ten of Pentacles – The Tens are completion cards, the ultimate, transcendant completion, and the pentacles are an earth sign dealing with physical and financial matters.  While our finances went down this month without the foster care work, this is when I was inspired to start my most recent blog, Administrative Arts, which I believe is going to be my most successful one.  It hasn’t brought financial security yet, but it is definitely progressing well, and I’m excited for the future with it.
4. April was the Tenof Wands – The Ten of Wands is about struggle, ultimate struggle with that which consumes you.  This was a really hard month.  Finances became really bad, I was struggling with both work and the blog, still feeling angry and sad and hurt about work issues.  Yes, a really bad month.
5. May was the Four of Swords – A time of relief after strife.  And May was that.  I started letting go some of my anger and pain from work.  And Mark’s immigration was moving forward, so we started planning the wedding.  It was a good month.  A peaceful month.  It was some down time that I desperately needed.
6. June was Nine of Hearts (aka Nine of Cups) – Like the tens, the nines are completion cards.  With the cups emphasis on emotion and relationships, this is a great card.  Wishes will come true, relationships will reach a pinnacle.  This month we received Mark’s fiancee visa, and we could finally start concrete plans for the wedding.  This really was a great month.
7. July was The Hanged Man – A time of suspension and sacrifice, of making choices.  We were married on the 5th, and on the 6th, Amber hurt her back and was paralyzed.  Time pretty much stood still for us while we took care of her.  Worries about work, immigration, and money were put aside.  We just took care of Amber.  In return, though, we received great insight that we can do whatever is necessary to take care of our babies.  No challenge was too much where they are concerned.  And the puppies learned that as well.  They know they’ll be taken care of no matter what.
8. August was the Four of Hearts (aka Four of Cups) – HAHAHAHA….stagnant relationships….that’s funny.  As Amber improved, I was getting very dissatisfied with my job.  I was looking constantly for something else.  Fate took a hand, though, and I got laid off.  So much for stagnation.
9. September was the Ten of Swords – Yes, an untimely, violent end.  Hitting rock bottom.  I was laid off with no warning, lost my health insurance, was getting no replies to my many resumes.  Yes, things did indeed look quite black this month.  At the same time, though, it really wasn’t that bad, because I was away from that awful job.  In some ways, it was a relief.  I felt like the world was opening up before me.
10. October was The Hermit – A time of introspection as well as searching.  It describes October well.  I was spending a great deal of time thinking about not just employment, but what I really wanted to achieve.  Did I want to keep doing the same things I’ve always done or branch out into something new.  This month was about finding opportunities, which I eventually did.  I started my new job this month.
11. November was the Ace of Hearts (aka Ace of Cups) – A new beginning with love, joy, and compassion exultant.  Yes, Barack Obama was elected President of the United States of America.  We have had much exultation and excitement and hope.  Almost two months later, and I’m still filled with hope and excitement, despite some setbacks (can you say Rick Warren?).
12. December was The Devil – A card of temptation and excess.  The Devil is a card of warning.  Don’t fall back into habitual negative behaviors.  If you want to reach the pinnacles, you must move forward, embrace new ways, shed inhibitions as well as excesses (for inhibitions can be as excessive as any addiction when taken to an extreme).  This month I let go of the idea of material security.  I’ve always been a very habitual person who craved normality and security.  I would stay in a job I abhorred rather than move to find something less secure but more satisfying.  This month was about letting go of those things that chained me down and moving forward with the goals of what I really wanted in life.

All in all, 2008 was a difficult but very satisfying year.  I hope 2009 is a happy and prosperous year for us all.  Blessings, everyone.

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2008 Retrospective

This is a propitious card for me to draw today.  The Wands suit is about your passion, career, and/or creative endeavors.  The Page, of course, is a messenger.  And today I’ve been working on a new creative pursuit.  It’s an idea I had a while back, but yesterday I just really got inspired to start forward with it.  I’ll announce it here as soon as I get it off the ground.

This card is a good indicator for success for this endeavor.

Goddess Card: Lakshmi

Lashmi is a Hindu Goddess who brings abundance to those who call for her help.  These two cards together seem to be telling me to stop worrying and let good come to me.  My endeavors will pay off in the end.

Remember, you can still get a free 3-card tarot reading.  Just send me an e-mail or leave a comment here.

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Tarot Card of the Day: Page of Wands

Today, I specifically needed to make a decision about going up to White Rock tomorrow so Mark can get a refill on his blood pressure meds.  We’re supposed to get more snow tomorrow, a storm even worse then earlier in the week (6-15 inches they’re predicting — egad!).  But so far they aren’t predicting snow before early evening.

The card I pulled was the Eight of Swords.  In this card, a woman stands blindfolded with 8 swords around here.  There is an impression of being trapped.  But is she really trapped?  She can move away from the swords, she just doesn’t know it.  To me, this card is about self-knowledge.  Look at what’s around you and make a decision.  And I guess that’s what I need to do tomorrow.  Check the conditions and decide if we should move forward, or find another solution.  Either way, we aren’t trapped.  We have options.

Goddess Card: Yemanya

Yemanya is about opportunities.  Walk through the door that is open.  Take advantage of what is available to you. 

Remember, if you would like a free 3 card tarot reading, leave a comment here or send an e-mail to me.

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Tarot Card of the Day: Eight of Swords