Life has been beautifully busy for me. It might seem strange to celebrate being busy (or not, afterall, I think we know what quarantine and a restricted life feels like now.) but I didn’t have much of a life before COVID19- it was mostly stay-at-home mom stuff, which is busy, but in a very routined, limited way. It wasn’t terrible, but after several years of it, I was getting bored, and felt called to do more. So while life can be stressful at times, hectic and busy- I always remember that it's what I wanted, and that all this work and energy is going to something that will better myself and my life.
These days, I’m working on my coursework for both the Spiritual Direction program and for the Community Ministry program, as well as enjoying the summer with my family. We’ve been camping, and traveling a lot this summer and it’s been amazing. In between those things, I’m trying to blog, keep connected to my own spiritual work, and create my own heart-based business. It’s a lot of reading, writing, exploring, meditation and sometimes, a lot slower than I want it all to be. This week, on top of my weekly discussions for my spiritual direction program, I have at least 2 reflections to write (or record) and I have to write a 2000 word essay on defining and exploring my own theology. Phew! That’s a lot of work! However, things will change once my kids and husband return to the academic year, and I feel like I will be less distracted by the outside world and traveling.
One of the things I have done recently is starting a tarot journaling class. Two things I love and that naturally work well together. Getting to know your tarot cards beyond the “standard” meaning is a great way to be a better reader and diviner. It’s an intuitive process where you literally sit and write about each card, one at a time. I keep each class to about 5 cards. We’re currently making our way through the major arcana.
While this is easily done alone, it has a certain appeal to do with a group. Not only are you gaining your own insight to your cards, you can also hear others' insights. We all have different decks, and each deck seems to display a different meaning at times. Colors, themes, and symbols- they are all different. Sometimes what calls to you will vary. It's important to developing your tarot reading skills to develop your language and intuition. And it's something you can do if you have more than one deck of cards, as well as your oracle decks!
Of course, the other step to all of this is discernment and listening to what resonates with you. Sometimes what a card says to another doesn't resonate with me at all. Sometimes even the most basic of meanings doesn't resonate, and that's when I have to sit down and meditate one the card and the question I'm asking. I can't count how many times have I pulled cards asking about a situation and the card initially doesn't make sense. It's something I've learned to do- sit and let the card speak. Let my eyes go over the card slowly, let something jump out, let my inner self do the listening.
For example, my King of Wands car from the Crow Tarot by MJ Cullinane has a male lion, a wand with a red rose, a salamander, the sun, a crow with a crown above him and the infinity symbol. Depending on the situation, the question and the message, one symbol might call to me more by standing out. My eyes are instantly drawn to one of the symbols. It is in this way that I am listening to my intuition. Divine powers are pulsing within me, telling me “Hey! Listen.” (Nerd references, I love them.) Getting to know the cards, getting to know what each of the symbols, and colors mean to me beforehand makes for a smoother reading.
It’s nice, I think, to be able to get together online with people. While I have a large community of friends, all of them are scattered across the world- I live in an area far from my closest friends, and the people I call my tribe. It can be hard, sometimes lonely, but I am grateful for the fact I live in a time where I can still see their faces over the internet. Being able to offer classes to people online is also really special.
If you want to learn more, follow me on FB: Liminal Raven and join our group. I’ll be posting links, discussion questions, journaling prompts, and more. I’m still learning how to run a website, so I apologize in advance if I make errors, broken links, etc. And don't worry if you've missed a class- you can easily catch up with the cards we've already gone over!
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