Hello Family! Welcome to “Tarot the Day!” Let’s get into it.

I have a confession to make. I’m a Pollyanna. It’s true. I am. I’m that person who always tries his best to stay positive. I’m that guy that gives people the “benefit of the doubt”. I’m the one who’s up to his ears in lemonade because he keeps on turning lemons into it. I’m the person you can count on to look for the silver lining in every dark cloud. Someone who’s always looking for rainbows immediately after a storm. I’m the guy who always has a smile on his face. A positive word to share. Arms outstretched to give a hug. Yeah. I’m THAT guy.

And you know what family? I don’t apologize for it. I make no excuses for my sunny disposition. I never explain away the “Aaww shucks, it’ll get better!” punch to the arm attitude I have. It’s simply who I am.

I have no explanation of where it comes from, this positive attitude I embody. I couldn’t tell you why I refuse to give in when giving in seems like the logical thing to do. I don’t have an answer as to why I roll with the punches when the punches keep coming fast and furious.

I guess if I were to really think about it, it comes from my mother. Children are so impressionable. SOAP BOX MOMENT: Be careful what you say to your kids because the younger they are the more likely they’re to believe and hang onto every word you say. SOAPBOX MOMENT OVER. I was no different as a child. My mother would always tell us kids, “You can do anything! If you can see it, you can be it!” (No, I don’t think she was a “Rocky Horror” fan. Although if she were that would explain a lot.) And I believed her.

And that belief has carried me through many a dark time in my own life. Yes family, your friendly neighborhood tarot reader/spiritual adviser has been through the mill and back. And I’ve lived to tell the story. But you know what? I’d rather not tell the story.  At least not now.  (I've got a helluva lot more living in me before my memoirs are written.  In trashy romance novel style, of course.)  Because while it’s sure to have a happy ending (all romantic comedies and musicals do, after all) I refuse to dwell upon it. Yes, my life has had it’s share of ups and downs. I’ve had many “dark nights of the soul”. There have been many a time when I’ve been down and out and felt like giving up and french kissing the business end of suicide. And during those times no one would have blamed me one bit if I had.  But instead, I kept on pushing on.  I had to.  It was just in me to do so.

To be sure family, it’s not been all gloom and doom. For the record, I’ve also lived a life of incredible highs as well. Where it seems life is firing on all eight cylinders; everything is working out to my advantage; everything I touch turns to gold and I’m on top of the world. It’s at those moments where I’m standing on a railing of a ship with my arms outstretched and the wind blowing through my hair that I take a moment to appreciate what it’s taken to get me to that moment in time. And I REVEL in it, family.  I eat up every delicious morsel of happiness and sop up the gravy with a biscuit.  And when the moment is over I guess I take a little bit of that “I’M THE KING OF THE WORLD!” feeling with me as I step down from the railing and prepare for the iceberg that’s gonna hit. Because icebergs will hit. They always do.

While writing this blog I kept on thinking about the tenth tarot card in the Major Arcana, The Wheel of Fortune. But much like the Wheel of Fortune card - here brilliantly interpreted by HegedusRoberto over at deviantart.com (check him out) - sometimes the cards are in our favor and sometimes they’re not. Sometimes we’re on top of the Wheel screaming "RED 21!  RED 21!" and everytime that ball bounces into Red 21 bottles are popped, casino managers are looking pressed, hookers get new clients, and all is right with the world.  Sometimes we’re right side up, building our way to a glorious peak. And sometimes we’re flat on our back in the reversed position while the house hauls away all our chips, casino managers are breathing a sigh of relief and hookers are moving on to the next john while we're sitting down on the sidewalk looking broke down and busted (because we are!) trying to figure out exactly where it all went wrong.

What I’ve found is it’s our attitude - both when we’re on top and when we’re on bottom - that determine our spiritual evolution. There are lessons to be learned as the Wheel keeps spinning. There is progress that can be made if we’re in the right frame of mind. There is peace and yes, even zen, regardless of where we are currently on the Wheel of Fortune.

Which brings us back to the title of this blog posting: “Why Rainbows and Unicorns KICK ASS!!!” Other than the obvious (rainbows and unicorns kick a TON of bootay!  They really do!) what do I mean by rainbows and unicorns punting posteriors? Quite frankly I think it all boils down to this: What's our attitude?  And regardless of our present circumstance, where do we choose to focus our energy?  What’s the attitude we have when we’re on top of the world and where are we choosing to focus our energy when we're on the bottom of the ocean?  Are we learning from the highs of success and outrageous fortune?  Are we focusing on the lessons we can learn when we're at the bottom of the trash heap?  Or are we too caught up in either scenario to really focus on our spiritual evolution, regardless of our present circumstance?

And by the way, being a rainbows and unicorns kind of a guy doesn’t mean I’m in a sea of denial. Nothing could be further from the truth.  Reality refuses to let me get away with burying my head in the sand.  Instead I’m actively pursuing ways to be positive. I’m actively seeking ways to make things better. I’m actively going out of my way to make other people’s lives better. I‘m doing everything in my power to make this world a better place.  (Please click on that link. It keeps me humble.) And not only that but it makes the times when I’m being crushed by the Wheel of Fortune a little more bearable. Because in the back of my mind, no matter how bad things get, I keep on thinking “Things will get better. They have to. How can they not?”

Now family if I’m being completely honest, that Mary Poppins way of thinking can get lost in whatever bad thing I’m going through at any given moment. Sometimes I’m all but overwhelmed by the cards the Wheel of Fortune has dealt me this round. But that Mary Poppins point of view is always there. It may be just a whisper. With the constant roar in my head of all the horrendous things I’m going through at any given moment, that chorus of “Everything’s going to be okay” may be so silent as to become just a feeling I get every now and again when I allow it real estate in my mind. But it’s always there. I can always count on it.

And that, dear family, is what being a rainbows and unicorns type of person is all about. It’s not just putting on a happy face and hoping no one notices the pain we’re going through. It’s not about laughing instead of crying (although I’ve been told that can relieve a LOT of stress). It’s about saying - and believing to the bottom of our hearts - that whatever we’re going through “this too shall pass” (originally taken from Persian Sufi poetry and also appearing in Edward Fitzgerald‘s writings and a speech Abraham Lincoln gace in 1859) and "joy comes in the morning" (taken from Psalms 30:5.)  It takes strength to believe.  It takes courage.  It takes faith.  It takes an unwillingness to give in to our present circumstance - WHATEVER it may be - and to learn from it regardless.  It takes believing in the "kickassery" - NEW WORD! - of rainbows and unicorns.

And that's why, dear family, rainbows and the unicorns that frolick, trot and gallop across them kick bodacious, bountiful, beautiful, bubblicious butt.

Until next time family, be blessed.

Hello Family!  Welcome to "Tarot the Day!" for Tuesday, May 20th, 2014.  We're about to take a left turn in these posts from here on out, so brace yourselves and let's go!

 If you’ve been a constant and loyal follower of my sometimes, every now and again, whenever the mood hits me, blog, “Tarot the Day!”, thank you. (No seriously, THANK YOU!!!) And if you’ve been a constant and loyal follower, you’ll see there have been some changes afoot for a little while. I’ve spent a lot of time this year thinking about what “The Traveling Tarot” (and additionally, “Tarot the Day!” should ultimately be about. And I’ve come to some conclusions.

1) From the very beginning I’ve made it one of my goals with “The Traveling Tarot” and my business as a whole to get people to live the best life possible. To give people permission to take control of their own lives. To give people permission to kick ass and take names. To get people to control their own destinies. To that end, at least as far as me going out and building this business, I feel I have succeeded. However, when it comes to my blog, I don’t believe “Living Your Best Life” has been taken as seriously. And that’s my fault, I suppose. I’ve created a blog where up until recently I’ve completely depended upon Tarot as an entry-point into discussing what may or may not be “in the cards” for you, my dear readers, on any given day. I really wanna change that from here on out.

2) I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: “I’m not a walking Magic 8 Ball.” Yes, I do read cards. Yes, I do give people guidance about how their lives will turn out if they continue on the path they’re on.  (And in fact, if you check the front page and "Upcoming Events" page of "The Traveling Tarot" you'll see I'm doing a lot more radio gigs where I have no choice but to be that "Walking Magic 8 Ball'.  But those are radio events.  And I don't have an hour with everybody that calls in, so by its nature it has to be "assembly line" readings.)  But at the end of the day, notwithstanding the immense pleasure I get from my time on radio shows (especially my new family over at PPRN - "hey boo!") if all I am is someone you can grab hold of with both hands and ask a question while furiously shaking the hell out of me in hopes of me farting out an answer, as funny as that imagery is, I don’t feel I’m living up to my greatest potential. Nor do I feel by farting out an answer "assembly-line" style everyday am I serving you as best as I possibly can. That’s part of the reason why I’ve been so remiss in giving you daily blog updates. Because truthfully, I started to feel like Zoltar from the movie “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J62jciQ1PbY" target="_blank">BIG“. Certainly ZOLTAR was effective, and through the magic of Hollywood it all worked out in the end, but HOW he was effective in the movie was in a way that isn‘t necessarily what I want from this blog or from “The Traveling Tarot“. I want YOU to take control of your OWN destiny and create your OWN path, with the empowerment I try my best to give you permission to tap into.

3) If you, my dear readers, were to come to me in a one-on-one capacity and we sit down for an hour and I read your cards, odds are within the course of that hour I’d talk to you about where your life is now and where you’d like to see your life be. Again, it’s SO much more than you asking a question and me being a Magic 8 Ball with all the answers. It’s about creating a starting point wherein you can live the best life possible. Tarot, if used in the way I’d like it to be used, is merely the jumping off point. Where you, the querent, asks a question, and Tarot takes us on a journey. We’re in the driver’s seat, but Tarot is providing the scenery. We’re always in control. We can speed up, slow down, go this way or that, stop to smell the roses or go full speed ahead. The choice is ours, and ultimately yours, when you leave a one-on-one session to decide which way you want your life to go. If you like the landscape Tarot has provided for you and are comfortable with the ride, fantastic. GO FOR IT. If not, guess what? YOU CAN CHANGE IT!

And truthfully, that’s really what I’d like to see for this blog. A place where I present a scenario or talk about a quote I've found or a life event I've read about or experienced and encourage you to take the information provided and live your life to the fullest. Will Tarot be the “jumping off point” for all future blogs? No. Because as effective as Tarot is, there are other philosophies and thoughts and just plain ways of being that have nothing to do with the Tarot that are equally as valid. I want this blog to be a place wherein you, my dear readers, can come and read juicy goodness from all sorts of different sources.  And if you so choose, apply the lessons therein to your own life.

Will I abandon Tarot as a subject matter for my blog all together? No.  After all, the name of the blog is called “Tarot the Day!". Every now and again, I will find a piece of Tarot artwork that will move and inspire me and I will simply NEED to share it with you. Or I may find something the Tarot ties into neatly and incorporate that into my blog posting. Or I may just get a hankering to do a “Week of Tarot” or something equally as cheesy.

But from here on out, “Tarot the Day!” will focus less on the lessons of Tarot and focus much, much more on the new and improved tagline: “Sometimes this blog is all about Tarot... Sometimes it's not... Mostly it's about living the BEST LIFE POSSIBLE... And being a BAD-ASSED MOTHERFUCKER while doing it!”

Until next time family, be blessed.

Stephen Dillard-Carroll

The Traveling Tarot

http://www.travelingtarot.com

[email protected]

Friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheTravelingTarot

Follow me on Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/TheTravelingTarot

Hello Family!

I came across this website called Vision of Humanity.  It's a website and a think-tank filled with people WAY smarter than the average bear who've come up with a way to measure peace.  Taken from their website:

"The GPI (Global Peace Index) measures the state of peace in 162 countries. The index uses qualitative and quantitative data to gauge internal and external levels of peace. The GPI Report provides an analysis of the data, identifying trends in peace over time, as well as the key drivers of peace and an economic calculation of the impact of violence to the global economy."

So what IS peace, anyway?  Again, taken from their website:

"The GPI defines peace as: “the absence of violence and the absence of the fear of violence”, which is commonly understood as negative peace. The GPI report now includes a Positive Peace Index, which measures the strength of the attitudes, structures and institutions that move a society away from violence and towards peace."

Okay, so how is that measured?  Once more we look to their website:

"The GPI is a composite index, comprised of 22 qualitative and quantitative indicators. The indicators were selected by an international expert panel and are reviewed annually. GPI indicators can be classified under three broad themes: ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security and militarisation."

Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict

•Number of external and internal conflicts fought

•Number of deaths from organised conflict (external)

•Number of deaths from organised conflict (internal)

•Level of organised conflict

•Relations with neighbouring countries

Societal Safety and Security

•Level of perceived criminality in society

•Number of refugees and displaced people as a percentage of the total population

•Political instability

•Political Terror Scale

•Terrorist activity

•Number of homicides per 100,000 people

•Level of violent crime

•Likelihood of violent demonstrations

•Number of jailed population per 100,000 people

•Number of internal security officers and police per 100,000 people

Militarisation

•Military expenditure as a percentage of GDP

•Number of armed-service personnel per 100,000 people

•Volume of transfers of major conventional weapons as recipients (import) per 100,000 people

•Volume of transfers of major conventional weapons as supplier (export) per 100,000 people

•Financial contribution to UN peacekeeping missions

•Nuclear and heavy weapons capability

•Ease of access to small arms and light weapons

I found all of this to be interesting and informative.  Plus it's fascinating to me that people - MUCH smarter than I could ever dream of becoming - has come up with an actual way to measure peace.  Fascinating. 

Currently the US ranks at #99. In other words, the United States is smack dab in the middle.  To be sure, e're not the WORST country as far as peace is concerned, but we're not the best either.  Not by a long shot.  We're right in the middle.  And that got me to thinking:  What are WE doing to create peace in our homes? In our neighborhoods? In our communities? In our cities? Our counties? Our states? Our country? Our world? If we're being completely honest with ourselves, are we truly being the change we want to see in the world?  If not, maybe it's time for us to pay more than just lip-service to the notion of peace.

Until next time family, be blessed.

Stephen Dillard-Carroll

The Traveling Tarot

http://www.travelingtarot.com

[email protected]

"LIKE" Me On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheTravelingTarot

"FOLLOW" Me On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tarottraveler

Vision of Humanity's website: http://www.visionofhumanity.org/#/page/indexes/global-peace-index

Hello Family!

I've been away for a while, but I'm back.  And better than ever.  Let's get into today's blog which, interestingly enough, doesn't revolve around a specific Tarot card at all.  Let's dig in!

I'm finding in my readings for people a sentence is coming up time and again. In fact, it's coming up so often nowadays I feel comfortable with sharing it on my blog page, newsletter, and facebook and twitter feeds without jeopardizing the confidentiality of my clients. The phrase that's coming up over and over again is this: "The Universe is waiting for YOU." So I decided to post it to my facebook page to ask my family, "What's the Universe waiting for YOU to do?" Is there a higher calling you've been dismissing? Is there a passion you've put on the back burner? Is there somebody you've forgotten you were that is BEGGING to come out and be free?

I say this time and again: While the Universe is waiting for you to make a move it puts everything else behind schedule as well. We are INTRINSICALLY tied to one another. We are NOT alone. We are in this thing together. So when one person holds back, it gums up the entire process. And the Universe can't evolve as quickly because somebody's sitting on their thumbs. Waiting. And while we're waiting, the Universe is waiting on us.

As it is above, so it is below. If we subscribe to the theory we are ever evolving spiritual beings here on earth, then it stands to reason the Universe is ever evolving as well. To be sure, the Universe has been around a LOT longer than the sum of it's parts (us). So it's got a leg up on the whole "evolution" thing. It's been doing this for a while. However, the Universe needs US to continue to evolve so that WE can add to the "collective evolution" of the Universe itself. So when we don't actively pursue our own spiritual evolution, (HOWEVER that may manifest in our lives), it slows the Universe down.

I can already hear some of you grumbling. "You don't know me, Stephen! You haven't lived my life. You don't know what I've been through. You don't know what I can and can't do. The truth is, this 'higher calling' I've supposedly been called to? Guess what? I can't do it." And you know what? You're right. You're absolutely right. If you've already determined in your heart, and even through the compelling "evidence" of what's happened in your past you've determined you can't do it, guess what? You can't. There's nothing I can say or do to make you feel otherwise.

But before you click the red X, let me give you a couple more things to think about. 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV) states: "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." So God doesn't put anything on us that we can't handle. So first of all, if you're saying, "I can't" it's YOU that's saying "I can't" and not God. God believes in you. Do you believe in yourself?

The other thing about 1 Corinthians 10:13 that can sometimes go unnoticed is what's BETWEEN the lines of the verse. I've always felt the other thing implied in that verse is this: "You Are Uniquely Qualified For The Specific Job The Universe Sent You Here For." Let me say that again: "You Are Uniquely Qualified For The Specific Job The Universe Sent You Here For." One more time: "You Are UNIQUELY QUALIFIED For The SPECIFIC JOB The Universe Sent YOU Here For." Now whether or not you BELIEVE that is up to you.

So I ask my family again: "What is the Universe waiting for YOU to do?"

I wish us all nothing but blessings as we figure out and ultimately embrace what the Universe wants from each of us.

-Stephen

The Traveling Tarot

http://www.travelingtarot.com

[email protected]

"LIKE" Me on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/TheTravelingTarot

"FOLLOW" Me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tarottraveler

Hello Family! Welcome to “Tarot the Day!” for Friday, March 14th, 2014. A great card for a great day, so let’s get right into it!

Today’s artist is Laura Freeman. There’s not a lot of “bio” stuff about her, but the stuff I found was interesting. She doesn’t make her living as an artist. Instead, like most of us she has a day job. I don’t know what her day job is, but if she’s like the majority of the world it probably looks a little something like this.  But what she does have that I find fascinating is “a small flock of sheep and goats”. Yes ladies and gentlemen, in these United States in the year 2014 there are still people that tend to “a small flock of sheep and goats”.  And brace yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, but in these United States, in the year 2014 there are still people that tend to “a LARGE flock of sheep and goats”!  I KNOW! I wouldn’t have believed it either had I not read it on her bio page. But it’s true.  So in between tending to her “small flock of sheep and goats” and her day job every once in a while she finds time to do artwork. And it’s FANTASTIC!.  So I encourage you to GO to her website, check out her gallery and BUY HER SHIT!!!. Let’s get into today’s card.

I actually like today’s card. And I love Laura’s interpretation of it. It’s the 10 of Cups. Here’s how Laura broke it down:

Without looking at her deviantART page, can you guess what family you’re looking at?  Anyone?  IT’S THE WEASLEY FAMILY!  Now usually I don’t feature fan art on this blog but the Weasley Family from the Harry Potter books (and movies) PERFECTLY sums up for me what the 10 of Cups is all about. So let’s dig in, shall we? As per our usual we’ll slice and dice the picture up, say “Expecto Patronum!!!”, put it back together and see how we can apply it to our lives today.

So, who do we have in this lovely family photo? Ten points to you if you can name everyone in the picture without looking it up.  Any guesses?  All right, I'll break it down for you.  Top row going left to right we’ve got Charlie, Arthur (Dad) Molly (Mom) and Bill. The middle row has Fred (twin #1), Percy, and George (twin #2). And in the bottom row of course we’ve got Ginny and Ron. Ten MORE points if you can put all the children in birth order. GO! (Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny) IT’S THE WEASLEYS!!!! Red-headed, freckled faced, and “pure-blooded witches and wizards without an ounce of Muggle in them” (but don’t let Mama Weasley hear you say that!) A lovely portrait of a happy family.

So how does all this tie into the Ten of Cups? And more importantly, what can it mean for our lives today?

The Ten of Cups has historically pointed to a happy and fulfilled home life. Where people get along and the love between the members of the family is so strong nothing can break it. And that’s why I love the Weasley family for this card. They are a family above anything else. They may not have much, but they have each other. And that’s the most important thing of all.

The Ten of Cups is in the upright position today, so I wonder if family and family matters are paramount on our minds today. Are we wanting to start a family? (The number 10 is all about fulfillment and re-starting the cycle, so it would be very apropos if we were at the beginning stages of starting a family.) Are we trying to figure out the best route to take when starting a family? Are we planning how we want our family to look, behave and love? If family, and the starting of our own family, is first on our priorities today, the Ten of Cups denotes success in that endeavor.

Also, the suit of cups is intrinsically tied to our emotions. It’s very interesting the Ten of Cups, although denoting a successful and happy home, does not at first blush denote a particularly wealthy home. Again, that’s why I absolutely LOVE that our new friend Laura has chosen the Weasley clan (Pop quiz: Who’s missing from this picture?) for the Ten of Cups. For those of you not steeped in the mythos of “Harry Potter”, let’s just say that Arthur (Dad) works for the Ministry of Magic and the department he works in is severely under funded. Therefore the salary he takes home, spread out over seven children and a wife, is stretched paper thin. Consequently the Weasleys don’t have the finer things in life. They don’t have the mansion on the hilltop or the Maybach car (although their enchanted car is pretty awesome) or lots of money in the bank. But be that as it may, this family loves, loves, LOVES each other. So if this card is coming up for us today it may indicate we should find our happiness in the ties that bind us together in love rather than how much of the “finer things in life” we can afford. After all it was another child who herself came from very humble beginnings, who reminded us all after her adventure over the rainbow, “There’s no place like home.”

The Weasley clan also reminds us we should enter relationships for the right reasons. Again, the Weasleys aren’t the richest family on the block. And they’ve been through their fair share of hard times and incredible loss. But through it all they remain a strong unit. They remain a family. That, dear family, takes commitment. Not only does that take enjoying and celebrating the good times with wild reckless abandon, but it also takes digging our heels in when times get rough and making the decision to work through it no matter what. That takes committing to loving each other no matter what. Money comes and goes, but love stands the test of time. Hard times come and go, but love gets through it. Incredible misfortune and embarrassment of blessings ebb and flow, but love is the constant. Let’s make sure we enter into each relationship with that in mind.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention there may be some who are reading this blog who may not have come from the happiest of homes. Or those that may currently be in home life situations that may not be full of love, support, caring, kindness and joy. Sadly, the truth is homes like the Weasley household seem to be few and far in between. Or maybe we just don’t hear about them often enough. In a world full of “if it bleeds, it leads”, those that live in a stable, happy home may find themselves not necessarily the center of attention. But regardless of whether or not the former or latter are true, all too often we hear of families that may not be a Norman Rockwell painting come to life.

If that is our situation today I would strongly urge us to consider that sometimes the families we create ourselves can in fact be stronger than the families we’re bound to by DNA. For way too many of us the old adage, “Blood is thicker than water” doesn’t hold even a drop of water itself. If that’s the case for us today, the Ten of Cups encourages us to get out there and find like-minded people. Create bonds with people that have the same interests, past times, hobbies and passions we do. And from those bonds real friendships have the opportunity to grow. And those friendships, if tended to and cultivated, can last a lifetime.

Only ONE MORE DAY to take advantage of the above offer.  For more information, and to book your appointment before time runs out, click HERE.

Until next time family, be blessed.

Stephen Dillard-Carroll

The Traveling Tarot

http://www.travelingtarot.com

[email protected]

Friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheTravelingTarot

Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tarottraveler

Hello Family! Welcome to “Tarot the Day!” for Tuesday, March 11th, 2014. I’VE MISSED YOU GUYS!!! I’ve missed writing to you! I’ve missed hearing your feedback! (Even if the feedback full of shade) But you know what? If I’m telling the truth some of the shade, though legendary, was well deserved.  Including the shade I felt when I missed yesterday’s post. I felt it yesterday, truly I did. And like I said before it was well deserved. But I’m back, baby!  And I’m better than ever!

One last piece of business before we get into today’s card.  Remember when I said I was thinking about doing a “Tarot the WEEK-END!”? and ended up doing only one - so far.  Well I’ve been thinking about it and what I’ve decided to do is instead of making it a weekly thing is to make it a monthly thing. It’ll still be called “Tarot the WEEK-END!” and it will still cover the week-end ahead, but you just won’t get it every week-end.  See, the truth is, thanks to you I’ve become quite busy. THANK YOU! Where once I was waiting for the phone to ring and waiting for people to book appointments, nowadays I’m “scheduling” people. Which is AWESOME! I have a schedule!  THANK YOU!!! So I’m still going to do “Tarot the WEEK-END!” but it’ll be the first week-end of every month. So with that piece of business taken care of, let’s get into today’s card.

Today’s artist is an artist I found on deviantART.com  His name is Paul Parkes and he’s from Thornton, England. Aaaand…. That’s all I know.  Seriously. That’s it.  I suppose I could stalk him on twitter, but that’s creepy.  So I really don‘t know much about our artist today except his work which is REALLY GOOD.  Oh and he has prints for sale.  So I encourage you to GO to his deviantART website, check out his gallery and BUY HIS SHIT!!!  (But please don‘t stalk him on twitter.  Seriously. That shit is creepy.)

Today’s card is The Fool. Here’s our new friend Paul’s interpretation of this card:

Pretty cool, huh?  As per our usual, we’ll slice and dice the imagery into tiny pieces, take a look it from the inside, sew it back together, take a look at it and see how we can apply its lessons to our lives today.

Paul’s interpretation of this card, at first glance, is a pretty straightforward kind of interpretation. We’ve got a light at the end of a tunnel that sprays out like rays of sunlight. In the middle of a tunnel we have a man who’s completely encased in shadow because of the bright light shining through the tunnel. But the question is, is this guy going towards the light or away from the light? Is he coming toward us or walking away from us? Who IS this guy anyway?

Full disclosure: When I first started reading Tarot I HATED the Fool card.  For real. HATED IT. 1) I’m not a fool. 2) See #1  And when it came up for people I would read for, again, 1) They’re not fools. 2) See #1  I felt it was insulting. I was up high, high, HIGH on my high horse thinking I could NEVER be a Fool. And I thought much more of the people that came to see me to ever question their state of mind and how they’re living they’re lives. We all have our journeys we have to take. We all have unique problems and unique solutions that propel our existence to a higher plane. So how could we be fools?

But then I started to really think about it.  Historically in the Major Arcana, The Fool starts us out at 0 and ends us up at 21. Then the cycle is repeated at 0 up to 21 and back again. The first lesson of the Fool is he (we) is on a journey that takes him (us) to several stops along the way.  On those stops there is an opportunity for growth and positive change.  Once he (we) reaches the last stop of the journey (the 21st card in the Major Arcana), the Fool (us) repeats his (our) journey.  Hopefully he (us) has learned the lessons he (we) needed to learn and when he (we) goes through the journey of the 21 Major Arcana, he (we) is better equipped for the journey and is open to new lessons and life experiences. There are a few lessons in that cycle I’d like to explore.

The first is, of course, life is one big cycle. There are beginnings. There are endings. There are roads that are smooth and even and we can see for miles ahead. Then there are roads filled with potholes and roadblocks and twists and turns we could never anticipate in a million years. But it’s all part of one big journey we’re on. And it ends when it ends, only to start back up again. We have absolutely no control over that. But we do have control over how we live while we are here.

Sometimes we can get the untrue notion running around in our heads that “things will get better when…” or “If I can only get XYZ my life would be SO much better…” or “If I had ABC I wouldn’t have to deal with the things I’m dealing with today.” Maybe. But maybe not. I believe one of the lessons The Fool has to give to us is enjoying where we are now. Yes, we’re all on a journey. Once we make the decision we will make Earth our classroom for however long we’re here, we start that journey. We set the wheel of life into motion and step on it. But out attitude while we’re on that journey makes all the difference. Take a look at the Fool in the classical Rider-Waite form:

See the joy in his face? See the wild and utter abandonment of worry and care in his countenance? He knows he’s on a journey and he’s happy and grateful for it. Which is the second thing I’d like to discuss. The Fool teaches us to be grateful for this life we’re living. Not necessarily because it’s all wine and roses, but because it simply is. We have life. We have the opportunity to live. But not only do we have the opportunity to live but we can live abundantly. What a blessing that is! Each morning when we wake up this side of the dirt is another opportunity to start fresh. To start new. To change our attitudes and our lives for the better. We have that choice. We have that privilege. We have that opportunity to let go of the things that may be making us miserable. We have the chance to look at our current situations and improve upon them. We have the responsibility to make our own lives the best lives possible.

Does it make everything better? It can.  It can be a HUGE burden lifted off our shoulders.  But does it make the bad stuff we’ve experienced magically disappear? Of course not. To be sure, there are consequences to the choices we’ve made up to this point. Some may be easier to handle than others, but there are consequences. We’re constantly accumulating and getting rid of karmic debt. Hopefully on our journey we’re accumulating much more good karma than bad.

But even THAT’S beside the point. In the imagery of the Rider-Waite deck, the Fool doesn’t know where he’s going. The Fool doesn’t look like he necessarily has a plan. The Fool doesn’t know where the road (or lack of a road) will lead. He’s completely and utterly within the moment. He’s not concerned with the future. The future can take care of itself. And although he’s moving forward, he’s as grounded, centered, and Zen as one can possibly be. He’s right now. And that’s a lesson we could all learn from time to time.

Even within the imagery of the picture our new friend Paul has created, there’s a sense of adventure. A sense of mystery. A feeling of, “I’m not at all sure what lies ahead but I’m moving forward anyway.” Which begs the question: Do we worry too much about the future? Are our lives planned out to the nth degree with no room for variation and unforeseen circumstances? Are we so busy planning our future we’re missing out on the blessings of the here and now?

And yet, we do in fact have responsibilities. We may have life, careers, families, that need to be taken care of. We have bills that come due each month that we have to stay on top of. We have to somehow live in this world each and every day and do our best to survive the best way we know how. So with all the pressures of a world that could really care less about the “personal spiritual journey” we’re on, how do we manage? How do we cope? How do we survive? How do we take the lessons of the Fool and apply them to our lives when it seems the outside world has little regard for “fooling around”.

Another reason why I love Paul’s interpretation of the Fool is because there’s movement within the card. We don’t know where our hero the Fool has been or where he’s going. We just know he’s on the move. Have we been stuck in a rut? Have we been spinning our wheels and getting nowhere? Is the fear of the unknown gotten us to a place where we’d rather stay in one place than actually move? Is there a big leap we’ve been wanting to take? An adventure we’ve been itching to try? A journey within the larger journey of our lives we’ve been living to embark upon? Why are we, to look at the darker side of the coin, “fooling around”? Why haven’t we taken that first step? What’s holding us back? What’s keeping us from living our lives out loud?

Faith and courage. They’re the last things I want to talk about today. They’re the reasons why I finally fell in love with the Fool. Regardless of what anyone will tell us, it takes a helluva lot of faith to go out into the big wild wooly unknown without a safety net. Without knowing what the outcome of our adventure will be. It takes an almost Herculean strength to say, “Regardless of the outcome, this is what I’m going to do. This is what makes me happy. This is what makes me fulfilled. And dammit, I’m gonna do it! Right here, right now!” Something about that sings to me, ladies and gentlemen. To have brass balls the size of coconuts is what I aspire to shlep around in my pants everyday.

The other thing about being a Fool is by and large people will not “get” us. They will look at us with “WTF” written all over their faces. They will question our every move. Every step we take we can be sure somebody’s clocking. They’re always looking over our shoulders, or hiding behind bushes, creepin’ and peekin’, trying to see what we’re up to.  The thing about being a Fool is we’ll never be left alone.  Because somebody somewhere will always be checkin’ for us because they don’t understand us. It's for that reason it takes courage to keep on doing what we’re doing day after day, because people just won’t let us be.  So when we’re going through those times where people won’t let us be even when we’re trying our best to let them be we should take comfort in what The Fool (and Mama RuPaul) teaches us: “What other people think of me is none of my business.” and keep it pushing.

See, here's the thing: REGARDLESS of what we do there will ALWAYS be haters. Always. I’ll say it again: REGARDLESS of what we do there will ALWAYS be haters. Always.  Once we get it out of our minds that we must please everybody and start pleasing ourselves, things will start popping off for us in a positive manner. See here’s the thing: When we spend all our precious time and energy trying to please the haters in front of us, what we don’t realize is there are 20 more haters behind us hating that we’re bending over backwards trying to please the other 40 haters in front. So regardless of what we do, we must always make sure what we’re doing is right for us.

I may get in trouble for the last thing I'm about to say, but it needs to be said. The last thing I want to address today about faith and courage is contrary to popular belief throwing caution to the wind and having a “devil-may-care” attitude is not for everybody. No it’s not. While the Universe expects a certain degree of faith and courage from all of us, it doesn’t expect each and every one of us to throw caution to the wind. If we all did, there would be chaos. But at the same time, I encourage each of us to look inside ourselves and determine what amount of “faith and courage“ is a tolerable level and what amount of “caution” is necessary to keep things moving in an orderly fashion.

See I have the sneaking suspicion once we dip our toe in the waters of faith and courage and see how warm and inviting it is, we’ll eventually dip another toe. Then another. Then our foot. Then our ankles. And before we know it, we’re splashing around and diving head first in the waters and loosing ourselves in the joy and freedom that comes with living a life the way the Universe wants us to live. And how the Universe wants us to live is different for each and every one of us. We all have a journey in life we must complete. We all have a set of tasks we must finish before our time is through. What are those tasks? Only we can answer those questions for ourselves. No one else can. And that splashing around with wild abandonment in the waters of faith and courage will look different for each of us.

But first we must take that chance and dip that first toe in. Not worrying about tomorrow. Taking it for granted the Universe will adapt and adjust accordingly when we do what we’re called to do. And if we should ever worry, should we ever fret, all we have to do is look over our shoulder. The Fool is there. He’s got out back. Encouraging us to live life abundantly and freely. So lets embrace the Fool in all of us. He’s there to support us and lead us into a life that is full of faith and courage.

For more information on the above offer, click HERE.

Until next time family, be blessed.

Stephen Dillard-Carroll

The Traveling Tarot

http://www.travelingtarot.com

[email protected]

Friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheTravelingTarot

Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tarottraveler

Hello Family!

This is a quick update to let you know "Tarot the Day!" will not be broadcast this week.  I have some important issues I have to attend to this week and I simply will not have enough time to devote to giving you the best damned daily Tarot blog this side of the Universe.  Granted, I could put up substandard "cut and paste" spirituality shit, but I know you expect better from me.  And quite frankly, I expect THE BEST from myself.  If I can't give you 110% of my blood, guts, sweat, tears (and a couple farts) on this blog on a DAILY basis, I'd rather not do it at all.  And since I know for a fact you REQUIRE the good shit, I'm gonna come back next week with that BOMB ASSED SHIT you've come to expect from me here at "The Traveling Tarot" and "Tarot the Day!"

But hold up, wait a minute...

Just because I'm not giving you a blog on a daily basis this week doesn't mean I'm gonna leave you high and dry for the next seven days.  Come on now.  I wouldn't do you like that, baby!  I got you!

I will be posting something uplifting and inspirational (and sometimes downright funny) to my facebook page and my twitter feed EVERYDAY.  I encourage you to click the links below and  "Like" my facebook page and follow me on twitter.  That way when I do post the good shit on my facebook and twitter pages this week (I PROMISE to post AT LEAST once a day) you'll get the juicy goodness sprayed all over your body!  (Just the way you like it...)

Thank you for your understanding about my in-depth blog, "Tarot the Day!".  I PROMISE "Tarot the Day!" will be back and BETTER THAN EVER next Monday.  In the meantime family, I encourage you to live the BEST DAMNED LIFE EVER!!!

(I know last night, I did.)

For more information on the above offer, click HERE.

Until next time family, be blessed.

Stephen Dillard-Carroll

The Traveling Tarot

http://www.travelingtarot.com
[email protected]

Friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheTravelingTarot

Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TarotTraveler

Hello Family! Welcome to “Tarot the Day!” for Friday, February 28th, 2014. LOTS to celebrate today, including, well, IT’S FRIDAY!!!  Even if that’s the ONLY THING worth celebrating today, LET’S CELEBRATE IT!!!

Today’s artist is in fact, a Tarotist himself. (Side note: Say “Tarotist” without sounding like you’re activating a sleeper cell. IT CAN’T BE DONE!!!)  His name is James Ricklef.  I absolutely LOVE the quote on his very first page that says, “The Tarot can empower you to create the future you want and transform your life by providing you with insights about yourself and the world around you.” It seems that great minds really do think alike because I pretty much say the same thing on my “About Us” page. You can find a lot more information on James on his website, but one particular page I want to bring your attention to is his “Tarot Ethics” page. This is how I know he’s the real deal, ladies and gentlemen. He lays his code of ethics right there on the line in black and white for ALL to see. All it takes is a click of a mouse and a few minutes of your time to read to know EXACTLY where he stands on reading the Tarot. Sort of like the “Rights and Responsibilities” page they give you when you go to see the doctor. This tells me that James is on the up-and-up. And that is SO IMPORTANT when going to ANY sort of psychic for help. All to often the business James and I are in gets a bad rap from people who are only there to make a quick buck off someone else’s vulnerability. Because we have so many of these “snake oil salespeople” in our industry, sometimes the good people that are trying to make a positive difference in people’s lives get thrown in with the bad.  That's why it’s so very important when you go to a psychic to use common sense and trust your gut. Your instincts, as we learned at the end of yesterday’s blog never lead you astray.

Now I can already hear some of you shady bitches say, “But Stephen, where’s YOUR code of ethics?”  Good question.  My code of ethics is something I give people when they book a private session with me, either in person, over the phone or online. I call it my “Ethical Spiel.” Everybody gets it at the beginning of their session with me. But you have to book a private session with me in order to hear it. Can we get back to James now?

In his own words, our new friend James is: “…a Tarot reader, lecturer, and writer. I’ve been a frequent workshop presenter at the annual Los Angeles Tarot Symposium as well as a guest presenter at the New York Tarot Reader’s Studio and the San Francisco Bay Area Tarot Symposium. I have written several Tarot books, including the award-winning Tarot Tells the Tale (re -released as Tarot Reading Explained) and the follow-up book, Tarot — Get the Whole Story. I have also created a Tarot deck: Tarot of the Masters deck.” It’s from that deck we’ll be getting today’s card. So I encourage you to GO to his website, check out his stuff and BUY HIS SHIT!!!

Let’s get into today’s card which is the Nine of Cups. As per our usual we’ll take a chainsaw to it, look at the innards, take a rusty needle and frayed thread and sew it back up, and then look at the final product and see how we can apply its lessons to our lives today. Here’s James’ interpretation of the Nine of Cups:

If you were paying attention to the “IT’S FRIDAY!!!” link above you’ll see an obvious trend in today‘s topic: NEKKIDNESS!!! YYYAAASSS!!!!  Of course it’s more to it than just that. (Although that part is AWESOME!) It’s about the deeper meaning behind the celebration. We’ll get to that in a minute, but first let’s talk about all the naked shenanigans going on in this picture. We’ve got our hero of the Nine of Cups, BUTT ASSED NAKED in the middle of the picture. He’s sitting on a log with a cloth underneath him to protect his ass from splinters. He has the traditional fig leaf covering his fig and berries. His left foot seems to be rubbing the belly of the family dog. To his immediate left, we have another BUTT ASSED NAKED gentleman, polishing off what’s left of what we can only assume is mead in the jar. He’s unhinged his jaws and tilted his head back and he’s CHUGGED FOR HIS LIFE!  (Random observation: Have you ever noticed how nakedness and regret ALWAYS seem to happen the morning after blackout college frat parties? Something to contemplate as we continue on…) To the immediate right of our Nine of Cups hero, we have the ONLY person with the sense to keep some damned clothes on. Of course it’s a woman. But before we give her a pass, we should note she’s aiding and abetting in the debauchery by pouring another round for our “too drunk to care” hero. I say that because there’s yet ANOTHER naked person in the bunch. And he’s lapping up the mead that’s spilling out of our hero’s chalice. Now some of you might say he’s a “little person”. I don’t think so. I actually think that’s a kid. And that’s not funny. (Okay, that meme is funny. But little kids drinking? NOT FUNNY.  In fact, that baby drinking is part of the deeper meaning we’ll be delving in a little bit later. Above it all we have nine chalices. So what does all of this mean for our lives today? Well let’s take a look.

Traditionally, the Nine of Cups means everything’s coming together in a good and positive way. We’re getting everything we want. There’s an embarrassment of riches. Blessings are coming down in such a way in fact, we don’t know what to do with it all. So we’re all up in da cluub getting turnt up, poppin’ bottles, and celebrating life to the fullest while we dip it down low. What a FANTASTIC place to be in, right?

Right. And far be it from me to kill ANYBODY’S high.  If the Universe is showering down gifts on us, there’s no better way to thank the Universe for the blessings its given to us than to celebrate. So if that’s our situation today, let’s do some SHOTS!

But while we’re doing shots let’s talk about the responsibilities of the Nine of Cups. The Nine of Cups, although a wonderful and life affirming card also reminds us to take care to not OVER indulge. Are there areas of our lives where we’re engorging ourselves? Are there areas of our lives where even though we have had our fill we keep begging for more and more and more? Are there areas of our lives where we could push away from the table of blessings and allow the blessings we have to digest a little bit? If so, the Nine of Cups may be telling us to slow down a little bit and back away from the blessings table.

Also while we’re licking the blessing table clean, we might take a moment to see if we’re being as responsible as we could be in the moment. Remember the little boy that was drinking the spillage from our hero’s cup? Yeah. Him.  If we take a look at all the adults in the picture, not a one of them is paying any attention to the mischief this little boy is getting into. The first knee-jerk reaction to that is wondering if we’re neglecting our parental responsibilities. Are our children paying the price for our partying lifestyle? Are we not giving our children the love, nurture and care they need? If so, maybe it’s time we took a real good long look at our priorities.

Speaking of priorities, I think the little kid getting drunk is more a message of “Take care of ALL your responsibilities.” rather than “You’re a bad parent.” Like I said in the above paragraph, not one of the adults in the picture is paying any kind of attention to the kid. Are there areas in our lives we need to focus on? Are there parts of our lives we’re neglecting because it’s easier to “numb” ourselves with food, drink and merriment? Are there problems we’re putting firmly in the “denial” column because they’re just too hard to deal with? If so, maybe it’s time for us to reprioritize.

And I get it. Life is far too short and can be most difficult. Responsibilities of families, friends, outside commitments, bills piling up with us not knowing how we’re going to keep our heads above water for another minute, let alone another month. So I get what’s going on with some of us today. We just need a moment to pretend. We need a moment to pretend we don’t have a partner. We don’t have kids. We don’t have a mortgage. We don’t have a car payment. We don’t have an extended family. We don’t have a boss breathing down our necks at work. We don’t have mountains of bills piling up by the day that scream “PAST DUE” or “FINAL NOTICE!” If that is what we’ve been experiencing this week, I get it.

But instead of pretending those problems don’t exist for us, let’s instead remember we’re uniquely qualified to handle whatever situation is coming our way. I know that may seem trite, and it may be hard to see how we’re “uniquely qualified: to handle the situation we’re in ESPECIALLY when that situation repeats itself over and over again in our lives, but it happens to be true. Think about it. Who else but us can handle what we’re going through? Who else has the strength, the dexterity, the presence of mind to do what we do? No one.

Let’s end this week on a high note, shall we? Let’s say we’ve worked our behinds off. Let’s say we’ve been through the mill and back and have the scars to prove it. Let’s say we’ve worked our fingers to the bone for the blessings we’ve begun to reap. If that’s the case for us, then let’s take some time tonight and this week-end to celebrate. To be happy. To lead a happy life is what the Universe wants from us. So let’s acquiesce and make this week-end the BEST week-end EVER!

For more information on the above offer, click HERE.

Until next time family, be blessed.

Stephen Dillard-Carroll

The Traveling Tarot

http://www.travelingtarot.com

[email protected]

Friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheTravelingTarot

Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tarottraveler

Hello Family! Welcome to “Tarot the Day!” for Thursday, February 27th, 2014. A really cool card for a really cool day, so let’s get into it.

Today’s artist is Vince Packard. His bio page comes complete with a riddle. I KNOW! How many other bios come with a riddle?  Exactly.  None.  How cool is that?  Here’s his: “The year I was born is exactly the same upside down. The whole year. As in 1001, 1691, it doesn't happen again until the year 6009.” If you guessed he was born in 1991, WRONG!!!  Go to the back of the classroom. There’s a DUNCE cap there with your name on it. (Don’t worry, I’ll be joining you. I thought it was 1991 too.) And for those of you who got the right answer - without looking it up - you get this. Our new friend Vince was born in Kentucky but grew up in Akron, Ohio. His dad was an artist and even had an art gallery in Akron. But much like Rob Ingram from Monday’s “Tarot the Day!”, Vince, in his own words, “came to trust my child's eye that I never wanted to go the boring, elitist, academic route.” (Side note: Okay, I know I just went in on all things higher education with all the friggin‘ memes. But truth be told, I really don’t have a problem with higher education.  What I DO have a problem with is educators getting off on telling young people “you’re wrong” or “you’re not doing that right” or “this is how it SHOULD be done”. It stifles, and in a lot of situations downright stomps to death creativity in children and young adults. THAT’S what I have a problem with. And by God, it needs to STOP!  *sigh* Let‘s get back to today’s artist.) He’s actually a man after my own heart. Rebellious. Punk. Underground. DILLIGAF kind of guy. He’s led quite a life, actually. From growing veggies and milking goats to building a solar powered cabin, and environmental activism.  Along his odyssey, he started working as a tattoo artist selling design sheets and the such, eventually faking his way into tattoo shops. He seems to be living the good life nowadays up in Kent, Ohio, in his words, “doing wonderful fun projects with Jexo at Standing Rock Cultural Arts. My work with the kid's plays, my art shows, mask workshops and puppets at the North Water Street Gallery and the friends, family and community have kept life good.” I really like this guy. A redneck hippie. What’s NOT to like?  So therefore, as I do EVERY DAY for the artists that REALLY TURN ME ON, I encourage you to GO to his website, check out his gallery, and BUY HIS SHIT!!!

Let’s get into today’s card which happens to be The Moon. Let’s see how our new friend Vince interprets The Moon. Check it out:

Pretty cool, huh?  As per our usual, we’ll slice and dice, chop and make secret sauce (ELEVEN HERBS AND SPICES!) outta the motherfucker. Then we’ll put it back together and see how we can apply it to our lives.

The first thing that jumps out at me is, of course, the moon. Iridescent. Glowing. Full. Beautiful against a cloudless nighttime sky. Framing the full moon are two buildings, one on either side of the moon. The buildings seem to be genuflecting towards the moon. Like if the Leaning Tower of Pisa actually bent in the middle. In the middle ground of the picture we have two dogs. They’re emaciated and starving. They’re skin and bones. Their ribs jut of from their bodies, barely holding their internal organs in place. One dog howls forlornly at the moon as if to beg it for a blessing of a scrap of food. But look at their faces! Don’t they seem to have human faces?  The roman numeral 18 is framed by the crayfish claws of the human girl who is floating out of the shimmering pool of water below. Our girl has a pretty red bow atop her pageboy cut black hair. Her eyes are HUGE, but the other thing of note is they seem to be red and bloodshot. Her skin is white and luminous like fine porcelain. Her cheeks have a slight pink blush. She’s wearing a white nightgown with black trim and a red bodice in the middle. The upper half of her body has risen completely out of the pool, while the lower half is still submerged. And again, she has multiple arms that have taken lobster-like form.

I know what your thinking, so let me explain. The Moon card has long been associated with dreams. You know, the shit that happens inside our brain when we go to sleep. You know. The fucked up shit. The wacky shit. The cool shit. The weird, wild and wonderful journey our spirits and minds take every night. The things that have us waking up laughing, crying, rubbing our nips and shitting bricks all at the same time. Yeah. Those things.  So it’s quite natural Vince hasn’t painted a bowl of fruit. Instead, he’s taken the theme of the inner workings of our minds and committed it to canvas in a way that KICKS MUCH BOOTAY! So what can The Moon teach us today? Well let’s dive in and take a look.

Since one of the things The Moon card has historically dealt with was the realm of dreams, one can only wonder if we should be paying attention to our dreams? Have we had recurring dreams lately? Nightmares that wake us up in the middle of the night, and then when we’re brave enough to fall back asleep pick up right where they left off? Have we been alternately tormented/delighted in the journeys our spirits and minds take every night? If so, The Moon card is advising us to wake up and pay attention.

I’ve said it before that I have a special affinity for dreams. They tormented me as a child. In fact, even today if I go a month without having at least one nightmare I’m doing well. Because dreams of every shape, size, and topic (apparently NOTHING is off limits when I’m asleep) have been my reality and norm all my life, I’ve grown accustomed to waking up in the middle of the night in a puddle of my own bodily fluids.

I’ve also said before I have a head made out of quick-dry cement. So it’s hard sometimes for the Universe to crack my skull open and scream, “HEY! I’M TALKING TO YOU!!!” I try my best to be open and receptive of the communiqué the Universe is sending my way. Really I do. I do my very best to “get the memo. But every once in a while the e-mail gets lost or the memo gets shredded and nothing - and I do mean NOTHING - is coming across my desk. So when that happens, the Universe sends me messages via dreams. Yeah they’re usually embedded in code, but they’re there. It’s sorta the last straw the Universe has before shit gets real. So when I have dreams that wake me up in the middle of the night, floating in my own fluids, I try my best to pay attention.

What about you? Do you pay attention? If not, maybe it would be a good idea for you - hell, it would be a good idea for ALL of us - to pay attention. There’s this thing called a “dream journal”.  It doesn’t have to be as “FANCY!” and embellished as the one I linked to. In fact, it could be regular notepad paper and a pen we keep beside our beds. The way it works is when we have a dream, immediately upon waking, we roll over, turn on the light, grab our dream journal and start word vomiting. Write anything and everything that comes to our minds. When we think we’ve written enough, we put it away and go back to sleep. We don’t read what we’ve written because odds are it probably won’t make any sense anyway. (Plus we have to get up in the morning and go to work!) The next morning and throughout that day, unless the dream won’t leave us alone, we do our best to not dwell upon it. That evening before going to sleep we pull out the dream journal and read what we wrote the night before. Upon contemplation it may make sense. Or it may not. Either way, we should spend some time thinking about how we felt about the dream (write that down - very important), and if it makes sense or not (just as important we write that down too). If it makes sense, great! If not, put it away, roll over, invite God (or whomever you call your Higher Power) to speak to us again that night if it’s important and s/he‘s trying to get a message to us, and then fall asleep knowing our Higher Power will speak to us if it’s important enough. And when s/he does, we should make sure to repeat the above. The only difference this time is after word vomiting, we ask if there’s a connection we’re missing and if it’s connected to the dream from the night before. Eventually a pattern will make itself known. Sometimes sooner rather than later.

The other thing The Moon card is associated with is the realm of psychic phenomenon. When The Moon comes up in a reading I often ask people if they’re experiencing any weird coincidences (there are no coincidences, btw) or any type of déjà vu. If so, then it could be The Moon card is trying to get those psychic talents and gifts to come to the surface. I encourage people who have these kinds of occurrences happen in their lives not to be afraid of them. All too often I head people say, “Well, I don’t wanna know.“ And you know what? That’s valid. There is a responsibility in knowing that most people don’t want to necessarily take on. However, I’ve said it time and time again the Universe never EVER gives us more than we can handle. So if we are indeed experiencing things that can’t be explained away, maybe we should take stock of what we REALLY can handle and what is an unfounded fear.

Another thing The Moon card can denote is an opening of ones mind to the possibility that “there’s something else out there”. Quite often it can mean a willingness to broaden our spiritual horizons. To explore “new age” philosophies. Again, if there is a fear of “the unknown” either because of what we’ve been conditioned to expect or because we’re just out and out afraid of it all, there’s no reason to fear. Especially if The Moon card is coming up in a reading for us. The Universe, in its own gentle way, is encouraging us to explore. To dip our toes in the water. To see what spiritual journey we can go on all on our own.

The last thing I want to address is actually the dogs in the picture. In Tarot, dogs are associated with instinct. And it’s interesting in Vince’s picture the dogs have human faces. Is there a part of us that is ignoring our instinct? The dogs in the picture are starving to death. Are we starving our instincts? Are we going through life in neutral? Are we just coasting through life? Not making much of any kind of waves? Are we not being true to our true selves, our true nature? Do we go through life second-guessing ourselves even though we KNOW what the answer to our questions are? If so, we are absolutely starving our instincts. Time goes by so slowly for those who wait. Are we sitting on our hands and cooling our heels? If so, why? Why aren’t we making the choice to live a fuller life? A more productive life? A happier life? Perhaps the starving dogs are begging us to follow our instincts. To trust that “sixth sense”. To do what feels right and natural. Let’s not have our spiritual instincts die of starvation.

For more information on the above offer, click HERE.

Until next time family, be blessed.

Stephen Dillard-Carroll

The Traveling Tarot

http://www.travelingtarot.com

[email protected]

Friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheTravelingTarot

Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tarottraveler

Hello Family! Welcome to “Tarot the Day!” for Wednesday, February 26th, 2014. It’s hump day! Only two more days to go until the week-end! Can we hold on that long? I bet we can. And maybe Tarot can help along the way. Let’s get into it.

Much like yesterday’s artist, I don’t know a helluva lot about today’s artist. (“Covering Your Ass” Marketing Note to artists: Put your name - your REAL name - on everything you create, along with the date you finish your piece. That way people know it’s you. They can contact you. It makes it easier to hire you for commissions. And if your shit’s any good, they can’t steal it, call it their own and make “dolla dolla” bills off it. Why? BECAUSE YOUR NAME’S ON IT!!! “Covering Your Ass” Marketing Note over.) The only thing I know about today’s artist is she’s female and her deviantART page says she’s from the United States. She has a livejournal page that has some serious medical stuff on it I’m not even gonna joke about. (One word: OUCH!) But other than her favorite movies, tv shows, music, games and Photoshop, I know nothing about her. (Aspiring artists, see “Covering Your Ass” Marketing Note above.) But she does have a fantastic gallery on deviant ART. So I encourage you to GO to her website, check out her gallery and BU… wait… what? You’re kidding. Really? You mean she doesn’t have anything for sale? Oh. Okay. Well her gallery is awesome. Check it out and if you have a deviantART account, drop her a line to let her know her art KICKS ASS! Tell her Stephen from “The Traveling Tarot” sent you, and he knows good art. Sorta. Sometimes. Well he knows what kicks his ass and she kicks his ass and you can tell her I said so. Let’s get into today’s card. It’s the Five of Swords. Here’s bloopyfish’s (not her real name) take on that card:

Creepy, huh? It actually fits really well with where we’re going with the Five of Swords today. Random true story: Clowns don’t creep me out. I know that puts me in the minority nowadays, but seriously me and clowns are cool. But you know what clown does creep me the hell out? Pennywise the Dancing Clown.  Not necessarily the Tim Curry version, although he did have his moments. No, I’m talking about the book itself. The real deal. The piss your pants (You ain’t cool unless you pee your pants!) stay up for nine days straight cause you’re too afraid to go to sleep Stephen King novel.  Yeah. THAT one.  I tell ya family, I have never been more afraid of a book in my ENTIRE LIFE! And yet I couldn’t put the damned thing down! But when I finally finished it, my mattress looked like this.  Only bigger. So I know what having the shit scared outta me feels like. It sorta feels like Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

And it sorta looks like our Five of Swords today. So without further ado, SPOILER ALERT!SPOILER ALERT!SPOILER ALERT! let’s shoot rocks and battery acid (#asthmainhaler) on our clown/spider, growl “THIS ISN’T OVER”, rip its heart out, and see what’s left once the dust has settled.

So we have a clown - hell, let’s just call him Pennywise - and he’s dressed up in clown make-up. The bald head with the bushy red hair line crowning the base of his head right above his ears. The pasty, white clown make up used as foundation. The blue make up that frames his eyes and shoots up like two swords far beyond his forehead. The black painted in eyebrows that cris-cross the top of the blue blades. The dark, almost black, gleaming, sinister eyes that pierce through the white make up and shoot straight through your soul. The red, blood-red makeup that colors his nose and oversized mouth that forms a devilish grin. The oversized golden clown suit with a monstrous pleated white bib surrounding his neck and red poufy balls going down the front. In his right hand he holds two bloody blades. And his two victims lie prone below him. One with a knife in the back and one with two knives in front. His face, with that evil clown grin seems to be saying, “Oh look! I have two more knives! Come on in and we'll find room for them… IN YOUR NECK!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!” Shit! Maybe I am afraid of clowns!

So what - other than running for our lives - is Pennywise trying to tell us today? Well all kidding aside, I think what Pennywise is telling us has a LOT to do with what we discovered on Monday. Remember in part of Monday’s "Tarot the Day!" we discovered that we really don’t get away with anything nefarious? That there’s always somebody, somewhere watching us? We may think we’re making out like bandits, but in fact karma is just biding her time. And when the time is right - it’s NEVER on our schedule, btw - karma will bite us on the ass.

Is there something we’re DESPERATELY trying to get away with? Are we trying to hide something? As we’ve learned before, the Swords suit REQUIRES we tell the truth. So I wonder what it is we’re sneaking around about. Are we lying in order to get ahead? Are we “fudging the truth” a little bit in order to keep afloat? Have we gotten so caught up in “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” down the street in our own neighborhoods that we can barely pay the bills? When we go out and front  and floss like we have something going on in our lives when everybody knows we ride the pole  Monday through Thursday to go clubbing on Friday and Saturday, trust and believe that kind of lifestyle eventually catches up with us. If we’re trying to get away with something, if we’re not living our lives as openly and as honestly as we possibly can, then that kind of activity is bound to be our eventual undoing.

Also, is there something in our lives we feel is unfair? When the Five of Swords comes up in a reading it could point to the inner workings of our own lives and our perceptions of what’s fair and what’s not. Alhough for the purposes of today’s blog I’d like to set a different scene: What if the unfairness we’re experiencing in life right now are the direct consequences of the life choices we’ve made up to this point? Everything has a consequence. There is nothing we can do - or not do - in life that doesn’t reap its own reward. All too often when “bad” things happen to us it can be because we’ve set into motion a series of events that lead to where we are now. And the thing about consequences is they can manifest in our lives YEARS down the line. Very rarely does instant karma happen. (Although when it does, it’s usually HIGH-larious!  Typically we don’t see the fruits of our labors (or lack thereof) until months, sometimes YEARS down the line. The problem is, sometimes when we’re paying the price for what we’ve done, we can’t see the long view. Sometimes we don’t even realize the shit we’re going through now is a direct result of the shit we’ve put into motion EONS ago. If that’s the case and we’re going through a tough time now, maybe a smart idea would be to take a long view and see if there’s anything - ANYTHING - we’ve done to create the situation we’re in now. If so, the Five of Swords is advising us to learn from those mistakes and move on in a more positive direction.

The flip side of that is sometimes things really don’t work out the way we plan. No matter what. We’ve dotted all our I’s and crossed all our T’s. We’ve been honest with ourselves and the people around us. And we’ve requested, and received, the same in return. But for some reason or another things just aren’t working out the way we planned. Well when that happens it’s always smart to realize we are on the Universe’s time and not the other way around. All too often we want the Universe to bend to our schedule and when we want things to happen. And when it doesn’t we may have the tendency to shake our fists at the sky and scream, “WHY?!?!?!?!?!?!”  We’d be smart to remember the Universe is on its own timetable. It has a lot of moving parts. It’s not only focusing on us and making sure we have the best lives possible, but it’s also working on every other living thing, trying to ensure the same for them as well. And sometimes the Universe is moving chess pieces around to make our lives easier that we don’t even know about. So again, maybe the “unfairness” of things not working out exactly as we planned, when we planned and how we planned is simply a limited perception on our parts because as humans we have a limited vision.

Its during those times our mettle is tested. It’s during those times the Universe is saying, “PLEASE don’t give up! I’m REALLY WORKING on your behalf back here! And if you throw your hands up in defeat ALL the work I’ve done that you have NO CLUE about, will be for nothing. And we’ll have to start again from scratch.” I’ve given this quote before but I think it’s REALLY apropos for today’s situation:

“Many of life's failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” - Thomas Edison

All too often the perceived “unfairness” of life will cause us to give up. It’s in those times where we’re almost ready to give up, success will show itself. And again, it’s not by accident. The Universe is working - HARD - to create circumstances in our lives that will take us to the next level. But if we give up, we end up throwing all the hard work of the Universe out the window because we’re too short-sighted to stick to it. As our good friend Thomas Edison once said:

“The three things that are most essential to achievement are common sense, hard work and stick-to-it-iv-ness”

Finally, and I really must leave room for this, there are times when we’ve done absolutely NOTHING to deserve what we’ve been given. It’s not usually the case, but every once in a while we’ve done nothing to warrant the outpouring of shit that is hitting us all at once. I only have one answer for that and it doesn’t make any shitty thing we’re going through at any given moment any better: It’s our life path. It’s what we have been sent here for. It’s the process we decided we would go through this time around LONG before we came bursting from the womb. It’s our lesson. It’s our journey. It’s ours and no one else’s. Does it make the pain go away? Nope. Does it make it any better? Probably not. But if there is comfort to be found in the pain we’re going through right now is if we come out the other side better people for having gone through whatever shit storm we’re going through, we can in turn make other people’s lives better as well. Yes I beat this drum loudly and repeatedly, but it’s true. We’re all in this thing together. If by pointing to our own lives we can make the life of someone else better, it’s a life well lived. It’s worth going through the unfairness of what we had to go through. If we can tell someone else, “I made it, and so can you!” then we have fulfilled part of the task we’re all sent here to do: Make life better for each other.

For more information on the above offer, click HERE.

Until next time family, be blessed.

Stephen Dillard-Carroll

The Traveling Tarot

http://www.travelingtarot.com

[email protected]

Friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheTravelingTarot

Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tarottraveler