17: Pathfinding… cutting through

I had a dream last night that helped me greatly in progressing my project. The dream was about the Tarot and I was looking at various Tarot spreads. Someone gently whispered to me: “The Tarot is all about the story you see unfolding before you. All you need to do is to tell the story of what you see. Nothing more.” Well, that cut right through all the muck, didn’t it?

So when I got up this morning, I had my cup of coffee and returned the cup to the sink. I then opened the refrigerator and noticed that the top shelf was quite sticky. Ahhh! My husband was making jelly (jello for those in the US) and spilled one before it had set. He cleaned it up as best he could without stripping the shelf and, overnight, the jelly had set and, as jelly is mostly sugar, the shelf was a mass of sweet stickiness. So, I began stripping the shelf to find that I would have to do the same all the way through the refrigerator as the jelly liquid had dripped at the back all the way down through the other two shelves into the vegetable drawer. What a fun way to begin the day! As I was washing shelves, my hand encountered a knife in the sink and I cut my middle finger. Immediately, my mind went back to my dream and the way it so clearly cut through my dilemma. I finished my project and then bandaged my finger.

Simplicity cuts through confusion. It is simple to think that all I need do is tell the story. Tell the story… just tell the story. I was caught in that ancient but effective trap of making things harder than they need to be. I was worried about the finite detail and I was being reminded to just tell the story. Getting the story down will enable me to go back and fill in the gaps. Simple, simple, simple!

Today, I have drawn the 2 of Swords – Peace. I am using the Thoth Tarot illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris.

This is the first time I have looked at this card and really focused upon it. Immediately, I see two crossed swords. They cross through a blue rose. The origami windmill-type figures symbolise the movement of air and the two swords (one at the bottom and one of the top) represent the moon (top) and Libra (bottom). On the guard of the two crossed swords are to figures kneeling in prayer and in the centre of the guard is a dove.

This card is about peace and balance. It is quite appropriate to today as it takes swords to cut through the muck to attain the simplicity of peace and balance.

(My husband just cut his middle finger on the same knife I did… go figure!) So, it looks like we are both being reminded to cut through the muck and to stop making things harder than they need to be. If we are successful, we will find the peace and balance of simplicity. What could be better?

Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

12: Pathfinding… mapping and planning

I am starting the process of mapping and planning the framework that will guide me through to the completion of the book. I have the characters fleshed out – nearly 100 of them – and I am now faced with creating the world in which they will exist and interact. It’s exciting, daunting and supremely creatively exhausting to figure this bit out! It’s also so fantastically rewarding when it’s finished as it makes writing so much easier as you know how you will move forward and laterally when needed.

Have you noticed that stories aren’t singularly focused on one event? Stories are interlacing relationships that happen in interesting places through remarkable scenes that help the reader focus on the main event at hand. They provide all the background colour and noise, texture and possibilities that make the main event credible, plausible and infinitely interesting.

Storytelling is in our blood. It is profoundly human. It is what holds the entire world together. Most of us are ritualistically inclined to look for and expect traumatic drama that demands our attention. We have been conditioned for this through sensationalist propaganda through media outlets. Simple, loving, good news is almost unpalatable because we are so conditioned to the harsh, bloody taste of news that tears us apart and wears us down.

So, how to tell a story that is riveting – a story that lifts the spirits and touches on the reality of a life and continues to find an interesting thread that pulls everything together into a palatable morsel that leaves us wanting more? That is the priceless question that is as elusive as anyone would want it to be.

Today, I have drawn the 8 of Wands – Swiftness once again! I am using the Thoth Tarot illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris.

This card is a fabulous card to draw on any day! I am delighted to have it re-visit me so often. So, what can I take away from this card today? What is it trying to help me see?

It seems that the Universe is offering the support and encouragement I need for this project and I am overjoyed with the prospect of swiftly making my way through this mapping exercise. Whether or not it is absolutely perfect is not an issue today. Like all things, I am cognizant that change does happen and I am certain that amendments to the book, the characters, the plot, the storyline and the final product will take place until I decide to birth this project and let it breathe on its own.

This card offers me the energy to make thought matter. To take my thoughts and assemble them in such a way that the book will actually begin to come to life. This is a card of communication, of dynamic energy, of movement and of blending and mixing in a harmonious manner! This is a card of directed energy and new enterprise, creativity and industry! This is a card of bringing creativity to life! Wow! What a way to start a day. <whew>

Now, as the Universe is calling me to work, I must leave you until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings! How will you use the energy of the day?

 

10: Pathfinding… next steps

I have finished fleshing out nearly 100 characters for the book I am writing and it is now time for the next steps. How do I determine the interactions between these characters? Are there common threads that would pull these individuals together? Geography? Occupation? Occasion? Genealogy? Circumstance?

There are times in our lives when we are thrust into situations where we inevitably connect with someone. This can be through celebration or tragedy, a purpose, an interest, a person or just as a matter of serendipitous consequence. How do you interact with others in your life? Is your connection due to something in particular or just out of serendipitous consequence? Is your connection through someone else? How has your story evolved over time and how have the people in your story evolved over time? What brings people together?

To write a book about relationships is not an undertaking for the fainthearted. To be credible, it must be done with great care and consideration. So, to write a book that brings nearly 100 people together is a daunting task. I have my characters, each have their own lives, their own families, their own quirks and these characters have to mesh with the others in a realistic and plausible manner. Perhaps the card I have drawn today is quite fitting.

Today, I have drawn the Hermit IX. I am using the Thoth Tarot illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris.

This is quite the card! It is full of hidden details. The hermit himself is depicted as an ancient ibis (look at his head). The only other body part on the card is his hand which is holding a lamp that, at its centre, houses the Sun. He is surrounded by heavy-headed wheat ripe to harvest and these heavy-heads shafts suggest sperm. You can see the orphic egg wrapped by the serpent and you can also see the sperm (a Homunculus) with the fetus appearing in its head coiled up in a fetal position. The three-headed dog Cerberus also makes an appearance here and he is associated with Mercury/Hermes who tamed him to rescue Persephone from Hades. Cerberus guarded the gates of Hades.

The Hermit is about practical planning, searching within and reconnecting to Source. He is a solitary and withdrawn figure who ponders life’s mysteries and searches for inner understanding of deeper truths. This is a time to be introspective and think about how to proceed, to plan next steps and be truly considered in thought and decision. It is about looking for inspired spirit and seeing clearly how to proceed. It is about looking forward to what is on the horizon, much as the Hermit is looking at the orphic egg. I take heart as this card suggests that the savage beast of confusion has been tamed and, though still on my heels, I choose to stay clear and level-headed as I progress.

With that my good friends, I bid you a productive and clear day. Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

7: Pathfinding… answering the call

I find I am very restless today as my book is ‘calling’ to me to begin the task of putting into words what I have learned thus far and to expose places that need more information and research. So, today I will do a ‘brain dump’ and flesh out the beginnings of the book I ‘need’ to write to exorcise it from my very being. This is the same ‘calling’ I get every time I do a creative work. Inspired by a dream, the seeds are planted and I am driven to pull all the elements together and allow my hands to ‘channel’ what comes to the atmosphere of my mind through my inspired spirit. Amazement follows as I look upon the final piece of wondrous art that has me absolutely perplexed as to how it arrived. The ingredients, the colours, the textures, the fine detail, the abstract look, the ‘secret’ that is buried but remains obvious to see, if one really looks – all come together in a graceful fluidity of spirit, mind and hand that is a true miracle to behold. How inspired works are created… What is your calling and how do you create?

Today, I did not draw a card. Three cards fell out during shuffling and turned themselves face-up to be seen. I will use these three cards for my draw today. Today, I have drawn the 6 of Cups – Pleasure, the Lovers VI and the Queen of Wands – Reversed. I am using the Thoth Tarot illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris. What do these 3 cards tell me about my day?

	I think I want to stop with this card. The 6 of Cups is the card of beginnings/commencement of pleasure, of well-being, harmony, ease and satisfaction. It corresponds to balance and this is the card that helps us see balance in our emotions as we move from a tumultuous 4&5 of Cups forward. We get a grand respite that allows us pleasure. However, this is a commencement card, a beginnings card and reminds us that we can’t rest of our laurels just yet.So, I choose to see this card as a messenger of a pleasant day as I begin my work on my book. It reminds me that today will be a day of ease, harmony and well-being if I allow it.
	What a another wonderful card to draw for today! It demonstrates the Lovers but the card is not really about the Lovers but the child of their union. It is about the orphic egg, the essence of all life. This is a fabulous card for creative process.I choose to see this card demonstrating to me that not only am I doing what I love to do, the child I am bringing to life is beginning to take shape and come together.
	Whereas the upright version of the Queen of Wands demonstrates a woman who is enterprising, good willed, nurturing, a good businesswoman, economical, virtuous and the all-round ‘super woman’ we aspire to today, the reverse isn’t the opposite but is more extreme. The reverse is about extravagance, manipulation, inflexibility, difficult, and feverish in endeavours.I choose to see this card as a reminder that, though my day is full of pleasurable growth and development of my book, it is also possible to become focused on one thing only and thus impede my progress. It is a reminder that I should stay open and consider my goal for today in a more knit 1, perl 2 sort of way so I accomplish something in a balanced fashion.

Overall, today is about enjoying the process of beginning the book. It is about being cognisant of becoming too focused on any one thing and taking pleasure from keeping everything balanced and in good order. Perhaps this is a way of saying, just write what you know and then go back and identify gaps for further research. It isn’t imperative to try to ‘research’ today. There is always tomorrow.

I hope your day will be as pleasurable and balanced as my day is appearing to be. Until tomorrow… Love, light and blessings!

6: Pathfinding… creating

I create. Pictures with paper, paint, gems, clay, words, string, glue, tiles, stones, wire and anything that can be contained, constrained, contorted or consumed. I create chaos and peace. I create method and madness. I create. I create through inspiration, impulse, instruction, introduction, informality, intuition and in ways that are unimaginable. I create. What and/or how do you create?

The Tarot creates through providing ‘triggers’ that send impulse to our intuition and our need to create order and tell stories. We are shown cards with pictures, symbols, colours, words, faces, seasons, animals and clues that engage our imagination. We call upon our need to make sense of what we are shown and craft stories from what our senses tell us. It is not just about what we see, it is about how we feel. Visceral flashes of smell, taste, sound, light, dark, positive and negative collide and help us as we look for patterns, links, sequence and logical strands that inform our story to an acceptable conclusion.

Books tell us what we ‘should’ be seeing. Courses and groups tell us what we ‘should’ be doing and learning. We tell ourselves what we are seeing and learning. How we do, how we learn, how we see is an individual choice that, once we recognise it, is irrefutably the ‘way’ we always use regardless of how much we might try to conform to how things ‘should’ be. Embrace your ‘way’ of doing, learning and seeing! There is no right or wrong way with the Tarot. It speaks to each of us differently if we are prepared to listen.

Today, I have drawn the 8 of Disks (Reversed). I am using the Thoth Tarot illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris.

This card represents Prudence. Using Tarosophy, this is the coming together of money. However, it is reversed and this indicates financial affairs coming apart.

This can also be interpreted as focus and material so today may be a day of lost concentration or property or material things coming undone.

I choose the interpretation that today will be a day of lost concentration of material things I am working on being interrupted and somewhat chaotic. I choose to create today space and time and practice patience and letting go.

It is not a day to start anything new but to just relax and take things as they come and know that tomorrow will bring renewed energies and focus.

With that… until tomorrow, Love, light and blessings!