Lesson 9: Communing with Nature

Recently I did a reading where I pulled the High Priestess as my significator (that's the card that represents the person asking a question).

The High Priestess is a guide to those who are willing to venture deep within their minds to discover the true powers hidden inside each of us. If you accept the Shadow within you, its powers will be open to you if you wish to use them.

In most people the Shadow (or subconscious) side is passive, but no less powerful, and the Priestess advocates a need for passivity in a situation or in your life at a given moment. It is not always necessary to act; sometimes goals can be realized through inaction.

The High Priestess represents the mysteries of the unconscious and the Inner Voice, and her appearance is often a sign that your own intuition is trying to send you a message. The unconscious often speaks to us in symbols, so be alert around you for anything that seems out of the ordinary. This said, if you have an important decision to make when the Priestess appears, this is often a sign that the answers will be revealed to you, if you are patient and open to the whispers from within. You simply have to wait and be receptive to inner messages.

I chose this particular card for its artwork because it was the first High Priestess card I found with the priestess surrounded by nature. Most High Priestess cards have the priestess either in a temple or under the moon, or both. The moon represents the feminine and all things of the night. But I am more interested in the High Priestess of the Nature Goddess, so I wanted to find her in nature, rather than sequestered in a temple.

On Thursday morning, my daughter and I are going to a secret cabin in the mountains in southern Colorado and we'll be there for a week. I'm only going to take one thing for my mind to focus on: The Magical Diaries of Lilith Fyerider. I have to read through the manuscript again and prepare more submissions. Then I can mail them when I get back in a week. With zero distractions I can finally get my head into it.

Basically the idea is to go deep into nature, be quiet, commune with nature, listen, let my senses come alive, become more perceptive and receptive, more intuitive and imaginative, clear out distractions and focus.

Lesson 8: Playing a Role

One of the skills that don Juan teaches Carlos is is to stalk himself. An aspect of stalking oneself is to take on different roles. The purpose of this is to keep us from getting too attached to one way of being and taking ourselves too seriously.

By staying fluid, the warrior-sorcerer is able to stay grounded and centered in any situation. So we step into different situations and roles intentionally in order to practice being fluid and flexible.

Of all the cards in the tarot, the Fool represents that way of being the best. The Fool is the first card of the Tarot deck and its essence is about doing new things. Often we get stuck in routines and old patterns, which no longer suit us, but we hold onto them because they bring us a feeling of safety. This card is about mixing it up a bit and perhaps doing something a little daring!

Notice the imagery in this particular Fool card I chose. She's wearing the jesters hat because the Fool is a playful jokester, an entertainer. There are also a couple of masks in the picture to show how comfortable the Fool is with playing different roles. I like the way this character is in a flexible position, like she's beginning to do a back flip.

The reason I've chosen this subject for today (aside from the fact that Uranus is the ruling planet of the Fool in tarot-astrology) is because I've begun to realize that it's time for me to put my full focus back on Trinity and Journey to Artemisia. I need to get completely into the character of Trinity.

She's going into the world of the magical forest beings. In that world, her perceptions are different from the human world. Even her body begins to change, taking on a blue tint and she stops wearing clothes.

I'll probably make one more blog post, then go off-line for a while so I can quiet my mind, completely immerse myself in nature and become Trinity.

Lesson 7: Inspired Like a Child

I'm still working with the energy of the 5th house Sun, and Uranus in Aries (my solar 5th house). Each day I will incorporate a tarot card, either one that represents the subject of the post, or a card that I pull randomly from the deck.

Today I'm working with the Princess of Wands. This picture is from the Fairy Tale tarot by Lisa Hunt. I'm always looking for new and unusual artwork in the tarot. I really like this one because in this picture I see Trinity, the main character of my latest novel, Journey to Artemisia.

Unfortunately I've been having a bit of writer's block with that novel for a few weeks now. I think it's because I've reached the part of the novel where she enters the magical world. My creativity and imagination really need to kick in now and instead I'm stuck with some old rough draft pages that are not inspiring me at all.

It's probably fear that's blocking me. I want to create a world for her that is very magical and fantastical, but not so far removed from our reality that readers won't be able to relate, and I sure as hell don't want to do a Harry Potter rip-off.

The upside is that I've been through writer's block before and it doesn't last forever. So for now, I'll play around with the ideas that have been sparked by this tarot card.

The Princess of Wands represents the brief creative spark that comes to you, suddenly and unexpectedly, and starts you down the road of a new creative vision. She has a vivid and childlike imagination. Her ambitions are high but not unattainable; she will challenge herself but probably not overstep her limits unless pushed to do so. She accepts change because she is the agent of change, the catalyst and the creative visionary. As a lover, she has almost unlimited passion and enthusiasm.

When the Princess of Wands appears in your life she often comes at a time when you need her passion for life and her total fearlessness. Her greatest power, in fact, is the power to deal with fears by facing them and seeing them for what they are. She is the catalyst that provokes changes that might be impossible in any other situation.

I just need to let this energy flow through me and the story will come alive again.

Lesson #6: Playing is My Career

I think I've figured out the riddle. Since Uranus in Aries is affecting my 10th house of career and my 5th house of play, that must mean my career is playing! Plus the Sun, natural ruler of the 5th house, in my chart is the ruler of my 2nd house of resources and earned income. It also just happens to be my time lord for this month, and it's currently in my 12th house of arts and mysticism.

So today I'm going to talk about the Sun in tarot-astrology and more about what playing for a living is about. In astrology, the 5th house is ruled by the Sun.

This is the House of creation and recreation. It is about how we express our creativity: art, music, dancing, acting, writing, poems, songs, stories, athletics, craftsmanship, putting our personal style into what we make or do, creating beauty in any material form or in any mental or physical activity, how we appreciate creativity in others, how we enjoy art & music, how we find joy through the perception of beauty in any form. It is also about romance, courtship, love-making, and children, our personal creations, and how we seek recreation: games, sports, pastimes, hobbies, concerts, theatre, gambling, dating, child-like play, and playing with children.

I don't know if it's true of everyone's career, but certainly mine is based on creativity. Work and creativity are intimately tied together. If I'm not creating, I'm not working. But it also needs to be playful. If I don't enjoy what I'm working on, nothing happens. Nothing gets done.

Most importantly, I can't imagine it any other way. I tried it the other way and was miserable. I could rarely get to work on time because it was (almost) the last place I wanted to be.

Now when I wake up in the morning, there is a playful calling, a call to adventure that is enticing me. The sun says, "Come on, get out of bed. You have this glorious day to live. What wonderful things will you do today?"

What I struggle with, though, is the voice in my head that demands productivity. I'm often at war with that part of myself. So I need to see how I can make friends with it.

Lesson #5: Life is Lila

Yesterday I was writing about feeling overcome by playful, childlike energy and wondering what to do with that. I always have this voice in my head that tells me I'm lazy (thanks Mom! :D hehe... just teasing). But if I say that out loud, someone always points out to me all the things I've accomplished and therefore I can't really be lazy.

Yet, lately, when I started feeling like I didn't want to do anything that might vaguely resemble work, it made that "you're lazy" voice in my head a little nervous. I could feel it trembling inside, looking around and thinking, Should I say something about this?

But I've trained myself to allow some time for observation before I freak out. It's a necessary life strategy. Otherwise, I'd be freaking out all the time.

One of my intentions was to create a magical life where I didn't have to think about money anymore and I created that. The Universe/ Spirit/ Intent/Goddess/Source/Providence/ the Elusive Unnameable has kept it rolling in and finally I realized, like a light-bulb turning on, that I had achieved that intention. In other words, I was fully aligned with Intent.

The reason I wanted to create a life where I didn't have to think about money was because of the other intention I originally wrote about in this same blog back on March 21st, 2009, titled "The First Step": http://thefoolsjourneyamemoir.blogspot.com/2009/03/first-step.html

I said, "Every decision from this point on will be based on love, not fear." One of the things I discovered was that if I didn't trust that my needs would be met, it was very difficult to live such that all my decisions were based on love rather than fear. So really the first step was to create a life where I trusted that all my needs would be met. And recently I've come to see that I achieved that intention.

So I haven't completely figured out yet how to work with this playful, childlike energy. I'm just going to surf it for a while and see how it goes. One of the things I did was order The Ultimate Anti-Career Guide by Rick Jarow from the library. I want to listen to it again because this is the sort of thing he talks about.

He says, "Imagine your whole life as Lila, the play of the Divine."

Here's a basic definition of Lila from Wikipedia: "Lila is a way of describing all reality, including the cosmos, as the outcome of creative play by the divine absolute....It is created out of Bliss, by Bliss and for Bliss. Lila indicates a spontaneous sportive activity of Brahman as distinguished from a self-conscious volitional effort....The basic motif of an unfolding or flowering cosmos is expressed here specifically in the relation of male to female, as well as in terms of consciousness and intentionality....the all-comprehensive Divine Being in its cosmic aspect of playful, aimless display (lila) - which precipitates pain as well as joy, but in its bliss transcends them both."

"Lila is comparable to the Western position of pandeism, which describes the Universe as God taking a physical form in order to experience the interplay between the elements of the Universe."

Boiled down to its simplest form, life is play. We're like children in the cosmic playground. Most of the time we're alive in the bliss of play, but sometimes we bump our heads, like when I was in preschool. Standing on top of the fort, a boy told me, "Stay here. You're my prisoner." But when I saw my mom walk onto the playground, I rushed to the slide. On my way down I saw the little boy standing at the bottom with an angry look on his face. I slipped straight into his fist in my gut.

I sure hope things go better for me now. :D

Lesson #4: Surfing the Weird Energy

I've been feeling weird lately and I don't quite know what it is. I'm going to guess it's the shift of Uranus into Aries tonight. This planet shifts signs every seven years, so when it makes a shift, it's a major event.

I was looking forward to it, but now I feel sort of "out of control," like I don't want any boundaries or restrictions on me. I just want to play all day. That's why I think it's caused by Uranus moving into Aries because Uranus is the planet of lightening bolts and revolutions. This planetary energy wants to break boundaries and restrictions. Aries is firey energy, a youthful ram, ready to run at the world, spontaneous.

It's effecting two houses in my chart, two areas of my life, the 10th house of career and the 5th house of play. So it's no wonder that all I want to do is play. Oh my, what am I going to do with this playful, childlike energy? I don't know yet. Right now I'm just surfing it to see what it feels like.

Here are a few links if you want to learn more about the effects of Uranus in Aries:

http://www.lynnkoiner.com/astrology-articles/the-great-jupiter-uranus-conjunction-of-2010

http://www.theastrologyblog.com/2010/03/uranus-in-aries.html

http://www.facebook.com/notes/astrogrrlcom/uranus-in-aries-may-27-to-august-13-2010/425500570954

Lesson #3: Acting Without Expecting Anything

This is one of the teachings that is very difficult for many people to grasp, especially in our culture. Living in a capitalistic economy we tend to turn everything into a commodity. Labor is a commodity, so when we do anything, we Americans want to feel we've gotten our money's worth. The idea of acting without expecting anything in return is a foreign concept and yet it is essentially the warrior-sorcerer's way of life.

Only when you act without expecting anything in return are you free. If you are attached to expectations of a return, you become a slave to that expectation and to whomever has the power to fulfill that expectation.

Now, if you're not yet an impeccable warrior-sorcerer, then I'm not suggesting that in the course of ordinary transactions and relationships you should never expect anything. The irony is that one who has stored up personal power never seems to have problems with this. That's one of the mysteries of the sorcerer's power.

It has to do with a deep knowing. For example, if you know you deserve to be treated with respect, somehow it just happens. But if you're not yet a sorcerer, then you can clearly state your expectations and call on intent.

Let's say you're engaging in any kind of relationship; if you aren't yet a sorcerer and you meet someone who doesn't treat you with respect (see, if you were a sorcerer, this would never happen), then just state your expectations clearly. Intent requires that we make a clear statement. By standing up for your rights, you empower yourself. This is the same as storing up personal power. The more personal power you store up, the more you become an impeccable warrior-sorcerer.

Most of the time when people expect things, they are just being narcissistic and self-absorbed, playing the victim, not taking responsibility, feeling self-important, and hence "slighted," and in this way they leak personal power. An example might be getting cut off in traffic and seeing yourself as a victim, wasting enormous amounts of energy telling yourself and anyone who will listen about how you were victimized.

Why not just give it up and save all that energy? There are always going to be rude people in the world, including rude drivers, those petty tyrants. When you get into a situation, take responsibility for everything that goes with it, including rude drivers. If you waste any energy getting upset over it, you're draining away your personal power, making yourself weak. It's not worth it. Storing personal power and becoming an impeccable warrior-sorcerer is far more important. Then when you really need that power, when it really matters, it will be at your fingertips, and you will be astounding.

In other words, pick your battles very carefully. If you can always act without expecting anything in return, and take 100% responsibility for everything that happens to you, you will store up immense amounts of energy that would otherwise be drained out through agonizing, feeling angry and confused, feeling like a victim, telling your story to whomever will listen, feeling self-important and righteous. Complaining is one of the worst energy drains ever created by humankind. If there's a problem, don't complain. Take action.

Start by getting over yourself. Lose your self-importance. That's the first step to becoming a warrior-sorcerer. And the more personal power you store up, the more you become an impeccable warrior-sorcerer. Then you discover something truly amazing: you never get cut off in traffic anymore; you never get disrespected. I can't explain how it works. It just does.