Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
GETTING TO KNOW THE MOON
The moon affects everyone and everything on the planet. If you don’t believe me, think of the high and low tides of our oceans.
Beyond this, women’s menstrual cycles are connected to the moon.
Go one more: We refer to the maiden, the woman, the crone. The maiden is the newborn crescent moon. The mature woman is the full moon. The waning moon represents the crone.
Speak with policemen, emergency medicine employees, warmline workers, and you’ll hear how people act differently during the time of a full moon.
The moon focuses on dreams, feelings, instincts, and intuition. Sometimes, you may focus on your rational mental activities, ignoring your inner feelings. Problems occur when you ignore the things that the Moon finds important.
When this happens, the Moon brings things to the surface. While this may be painful, it can also be healing. One thing for sure – the intuition the Moon sends you is a strong message that you already know the answer to your question.
However, overthinking as well as other thinking can cause more questions – especially as you travel into the unknown future which causes disorienting perceptions. What happens is this: the situation is not really changing. What is changing is your perception of reality.
When you realize that you cannot return to the world you once knew, you can be shocked – to say the least. You cannot see your life in the same way again.
This is big stuff and it’s also scary. The Moon brings you front and center with low self-esteem, your oppressive background, sexual identity issues, and everything else you’ve been taught to run from. PTSD, past traumas, mental illness, drug addiction, disabilities, gender issues, and anything else that needs a slow approach, and nonlinear healing.
The message of the Moon: Do not be afraid of the dark. After all, we’re all part of it. The Moon card is emotional, intuitive, and healing.
Reach beyond your fears. You are safe.
Explore your subconscious while you find healing in your shadows.
If the influence of the Moon seems to be too strong, some grounding exercises can keep you in your body. If you don’t know any or if they don’t seem to be what you need in the situation, then Reiki is a reliable option.
A STORY
Dr. Longmore, an Emergency Medicine specialist, had an office in Woodstock located in the little group of offices across the street from the Playhouse. He practiced by himself, without a receptionist or nurse. His patients included every category of residents in Woodstock: the elderly, the rich, and the homeless. Artists, local residents, musicians, and writers anyone else in between.
They went to him with their health issues and he treated them with dignity and respect, whether or not they had money. Most of the artists had no money so, when he treated, they brought over paintings.
Dr. Longmore finally had one of the best local art collections in the area. Then the paintings and sculptures, given to him over the years by artist patients with no money, disappeared from his office after he was arrested.
On the street, the real story remains a mystery. The FBI report referred by hydrocodone. The stories in the paper didn’t read like a whole story or even a piece of a story.
Dr. Longmore and I knew many of the same people. He healed them. The food pantry fed them. Even without trying, I knew more or less who was on what. How could I not know? I saw them every week under fairly intimate circumstances. Faces, gait, arms reveal much. Hour-long waits in a crowded hallway reveal much more over time.
I only knew two people on Oxycodone. And, one of those two was trying to sell the stuff. So they can’t blame Dr. Longmore for that.
He got six months house arrest, three years probation, two hundred hours community service, and fined $200,000.
The real punishment went to the poor in Woodstock who now have nowhere to go for a doctor. It puts a lot of pressure on the Healthcare as a Human Rights group.
His office sat empty for the longest time, the building at 104 Mill Hill Road. I think of Dr. Longmore every time I pass by. I remember his beautiful art collection, all the people he served, all the good the man did for the people of Woodstock.
The first tenant was a beer hall: Reynolds and Reynolds served specialty beers and delicious, locally sourced foods.
The current tenant offers yoga, IV vitamin therapy and wellness promotion.
For me, it doesn’t matter. The building is a monument commemorating those in Woodstock who unfailingly give of themselves.
While the Moon Card doesn’t land on every reading, it does show. In Woodstock, many people are in the lineup. Each time I pass by the building. I’m reminded of yet another person who qualifies for commemoration for giving lifestyle.
Many Woodstockers are remembered for giving much, asking for nothing. Recognition for a job well done does not always happen with the Moon. People should be honored in some way for a job well done – even if only in memory.
Even with the Moon out there, names and faces bubble up from my memory. They ride in on their own energy, as if the people are volunteering or working once again for the community and those in it.
When I see the Moon Card, I offer gratitude. My community is what it is today because of the individual efforts of each person I remember, plus of the efforts of many people I never knew.
We are not alone in our pain
FOCUS IN
Your journey can nourish and heal. Meditate, journal, practice yoga or Tai Chi, foster interconnectedness with others.
Place your hand over your heart and offer soothing touch and forgiveness.
MEDITATION
Go to a quiet place, one that is private and safe. Sit in a very comfortable position. If you want, light a candle, play healing music, or place a favorite stone or rock in your space.
Focus your attention and awareness on your breathing. Become aware of your inbreaths as they bring healing and positive breath to your lungs and body. Notice the outbreaths releasing toxins and stress.
Follow your inbreaths and outbreaths as you become more peaceful and relaxed.
As this happens, you come to understand that you have power and energy to conceive and create your life. Your reality is your reality.
You understand that it’s not important to worry about what others think of you. Your self-acceptance and self-approval begins within yourself. You know that your own path is the one that is right for you. This happens with your open mind and clear conscience.
You see that you are free from the past as you live in this present moment.
Self-love and unlimited potential create your reality. Self-love and unlimited potential build your outward reality.
You no long allow negative and limiting thinking.
At this time, you accept joy, happiness, and unlimited love.
Relax now, for a few moments as you follow your inbreaths and outbreaths. Feel how the healing, relaxing energy fills your consciousness.
You take your journey inward and connect with your inner healer.
After experiencing a few more inbreaths and outbreaths, you know it is time to return to your day. You know you can return to this meditation any time you want.
Thank you for reading this article!
Interested in finding out more about Woodstock, NY, the most famous little town in the US? This show is all about Woodstock!
Find this book at www.Thurmangreco.com
Thank you for reading this article. Please share it with your friends and family. Forward it to your preferred social media network.
Manifest Your Goals
The Magician specializes in manifesting reality. He takes you by the hand and moves you along toward your life direction. This can sometimes be an inch-worm process through your adventures.
This is a beginning class that shifts your perspectives.
If you allow him, the Magician can influence you. You may think of him as a teacher, guide, mentor, counselor. Whatever word you use, what he does, actually, is heal.
Healing is magical.
The Magician’s apprentice program teaches techniques you can use to reach your goals. This work is sacred. God touches you in all sorts of ways as you find wonder in the ordinary. You learn to work with reality using your intellect, intuition, talent, and day-to-day skills.
When you focus on your goals and ideals mentally, reality follows. This may not be so easy at first, but with the Magician’s help and your good intentions, you can manifest the reality you need to control your own life.
STORY:
When Donald Trump was elected President of the United States for the first time, I contacted a small number of my Reiki students and offered them a complementary Reiki Master Teacher training class. I set my limit at four students.
Four Woodstock students showed up at my home for the first class. I explained to them that I felt the most effective thing I could do for my community at this time was train a few Reiki Master Teachers. I charged no money for this class. Their newfound skills would be my contribution to my community.
I was paying the debt forward, I explained.
Karen was one of the students. She not only attended the three classes, she copied class materials and prepared certificates for signing. Karen was in charge of handouts.
We were in. Because a Reiki Master Teacher needs some time to incubate the new skills, I felt there would be little impact over the next year.
It wasn’t long, though, before Karen found students. I made myself available to support her in any way possible.
Most of Karen’s students were local but her reputation spread quickly. It wasn’t long before she was teaching Reiki to people who lived outside Woodstock and beyond Ulster County. Karen was teaching people and building a reputation for herself and her classes.
Then came the Pandemic. Karen continued to give Reiki sessions, teach classes, and attune students in the outdoor park area near her home.
As far as I can tell, neither Karen nor her students cared whether it was hot or cold or raining or whatever. They practiced and learned Reiki.
Using Reiki, Karen connected with a divine order, aligning the physical and sacred selves.
As Karen offered Reiki and extended blessings her circle widened. She sought no gifts or thanks for what she shared.
FOCUS IN
Be ready for creativity coming your way. Keep notes on every idea coming to mind. Do you have a small notebook ready?
MEDITATION
Remember a recent very busy day in your life. Think about the rushing around, the hassles, of your hectic schedule, and the stress of it all.
Now, leave that day and its pressures behind you.
Let them go.
But how?
You encounter balanced energy throughout the day. As your day progresses, the energy moves in streams.
Somehow, the energy flows in unexpectedly. Often, the source is unexpected.
Giving and receiving are the healing activities which balance the flow.
There are many ways to give: time, money, talents, activities, prayer, yourself.
There are many places to send your generosity: family, friends, neighbors, people throughout the planet, both known and unknow. Further, you can send your gifts to living being both on this planet and beyond. You can send your gifts to places, plants, the past, the present, and the future.
Every time you give of yourself, the universal energy bank returns your gift. The more you give, the more you receive.
Giving and receiving are both healing.
So, take a few moments now to sit or lay down in a quiet, private, and safe place.
Light a candle, or turn on your salt lamp. Play your favorite healing music. Place a special stone nearby. OR, do nothing beyond sitting and relaxing in this special place.
Breathe in and breathe out naturally. Use whatever breathing pace is the most comfortable for you.
Be aware that your inbreaths uplift, balance, and heal. Your outbreaths release what needs to go.
Now, for a few moments, reach out in love to a soul. This soul can be anyone or anything that you feel needs your touch.
Ponder for a few moments the generosity, blessing, and healing that you give and receive in your daily life.
Notice how you feel at this moment.
You know that it is time for you to return to your day.
Take several more inbreaths and outbreaths now. Know that you can return to this space of generosity, love, awareness, and healing any time you want.
Thank you for reading this article! Please forward it to your preferred social media network and share it with friends and family.
A healing book you may find interesting:
A Tarot Book you may find interesting:
When Belief Becomes an Experience
The Hierophant shows up in your life when you become personally aware of God. The Hierophant offers spiritual growth, a starting point for when you realize all your questions don’t have automatic answers.
You initially seek out a Hierophant to learn, receive sacraments, therapy, and for marriage counseling. This instruction connects you with traditional spiritual beliefs. The Hierophant shares spiritual wisdom and unlocks mysteries.
When you study with a teacher, mentor, priest, or therapist, the Hierophant helps you explore guidance on the spiritual meanings you find in life. The Hierophant understands your higher nature, an essential element of spiritual healing. He helps you deal with old wounds or trauma you experienced in a situation that no longer works. The Hierophant offers the experience of organized religion.
When studying with the Hierophant, expect to be honest with yourself and others. Expect to be responsible for your own actions. You should be exposed to traditional attitudes, ideas, and methods.
Expect to find the Hierophant in a community church, temple, or congregation. You will find a higher purpose represented by organized religious, philosophical, educational, and spiritual institutions.
The Hierophant is powerful. He shapes who you are and what you will become. He tells you what your world looks like. The Hierophant presents his students and clients with a choice. You will build a foundation focusing on history and tradition
Through his teachings, you will come to accept your own spiritual beliefs and truths.
Through the Hierophant’s teachings you begin to know your own spiritual beliefs and truths. You may see a need to learn from the more orthodox experiences.
If you feel disconnected from faith altogether, the teachings of the Hierophant can be comforting during difficult times because of his offerings.
When you go to the Hierophant, he passes down spiritual wisdom and unlocks mysteries, religion, rites, dogma, and doctrine.
This is a meaning-of-life experience.
STORY
I met the Hierophant when I was in Austin, Texas, and engaged to a Catholic man. I was preparing to experience life in a different way:
I certainly wanted things to work out right because this was my M.R.S. degree in action. So, I met with the Catholic Priest in Austin, Texas.
“You’ll need to convert to Catholicism before the wedding and you need to take marriage classes. You can practice birth control for a year to solidify your marriage before the children start coming.”
The young priest was definitely the Hierophant in my life. I received marriage counseling, life guidance, the sacrament of Baptism, and learned everything he had in his training manual to become a successful Catholic wife in Texas in the ’60s.
There does not always have to be a Hierophant as a go-between to embark on a spiritual quest but this slight young man in a black cassock took his job as a guide to help me in my journey into spousehood and motherhood seriously.
This Hierophant/priest felt his connection with traditional spiritual belief was crucial to my success. His job was to pass down spiritual wisdom and unlock mysteries for me.
I came away from those sessions believing that the family is a spiritual unit and that one was to engage with and interpret the sacred for my children. The young man in the cassock and I dealt with the importance of education, indoctrination, and spirituality in my family.
He taught me to be aware of a larger, mysterious order of things that sometimes exceeded our control. He explained that I didn’t have to fix every problem in life that I might encounter.
FOCUS IN
Journal about a time when you did what was expected of you.
MEDITATION
Find a safe and private space.
Get comfortable now; the goal is to be so comfortable that you can become unaware of your body.
Take a deep breath. Hold it for a moment and then release it. Repeat this several times. As you exhale, you release tension. Continue this until all the tension is gone and you are relaxed.
As you continue breathing, you see a light coming toward.
As this light approaches, it surrounds you and the space where you are meditating. It further relaxes your entire body – relaxing your muscles. Every muscle and nerve in your body relaxes. As your muscles relax, stress is replaced by a light.
This relaxing light fills your muscles, nerves, and energy with love – the love of God for you and your love for others.
This light protects you from negativity and harm. This light becomes a wall of protection surrounding you.
When you include your friends, relatives, and loved ones, this light protects them also.
This light sends love as it shines through. Physically, mentally, and emotionally, this love shines on.
As you feel relaxed, you are protected, healed, and loved.
Now, slowly, you begin to return to the awareness of now. You feel physically, mentally, and emotionally relaxed.
Your muscles and nerves are relaxed, loose, and refreshed.
You open your eyes and look around. You know you can return to this space any time you want.
Thank you for reading this article. You can find out more about Thurman Greco at www.Thurmangreco.com
Please share this post with your friends and family. Forward it to your social media networks.
Subscribe!
Your Past Creates the Present and the Future
Judgement focuses on concepts that are grounded in both religion and practicality.
Judgement focuses on your awareness of your higher self within.
Something has happened – and you are being called to make changes reflecting who you truly are. At this time, you are being asked to become comfortable with a new you. Actually, this is who you have been all along. Except now, you have an opportunity to enliven yourself. You now have the freedom to be yourself.
Judgement is the experience of regeneration and rebirth as the present and the future meet up with the past. This is liberation and completion.
What’s happening is this: things are ending in your life. They include doubt, indecision, depression, despair, and fear. Much of this is happening under the surface. You are liberating yourself!
This is a big deal – an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start over.
Archangel Gabriel blows his trumpet! Accounts balance, self-appraisal processes, and your accomplishments are evaluated. This is the final settlement of the matter.
Judgement pays off old debts and sets the stage for a new beginning.
As you enter this time of growth, you leave the past where it belongs – behind you.
See your new potential!
STORY
In a food pantry, shoppers and volunteers remake their lives when forgiveness erases resentment and awful memories of feeling harmed.
In the food room, forgiveness is as necessary as the groceries. Opportunities to experience forgiveness pop up like dandelions on a spring lawn.
And forgiveness, like those dandelions, finds its own time.
When shame and disappointment move on, they free the future from the past.. If not, these negative emotions define the future. The whole thing is a process. An excellent first step is to prepare to forgive someone else as well as yourself.
Dispensation is often an internal, hidden experience. Without a smile of mercy, it’s difficult to impossible to know when a person practices forgiveness.
I sometimes know who didn’t because I see anger and a stuck life in a person’s face.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean you win. You don’t get away with anything. You don’t forgive someone for them. It’s not about what they did. You forgive a person for your own peace of mind and inner calm. It means you’re moving on without lugging around so much baggage. The absence of baggage sets us free.
Go compassion!
You feel lighter physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and mythically. When this happens, when you forgive somebody, frustration and grudges leave your body through the thoracic region of your spine like a rush of hot wind.
I sometimes feel this happens on people during a Reiki therapy session.
Miracles, blessings, and forgiveness go hand in hand. When you ask for absolution, you invite a blessing because of the spiritual shift connected with the request.
In a food pantry, you simply give away the food. If you can’t give away food without strings, scorekeeping taints everything:
“That person lives in Shandaken. He shouldn’t even be here.”
“You’re serving entirely too much food to these people. You can’t do that.”
“You shouldn’t feed fresh produce to these people.”
“You’re serving too many people.”
“You don’t feed this kind of food to these people. If they’re hungry enough, they’ll eat anything.”
“Are you sure the people in the line really need the food?”
“Those cell phones are expensive. How can they afford the fancy cell phones and still get free food?”
With forgiveness, you forgive yourself as well as the other. After all, you need to forgive each other as well as yourself.
Forgiveness can surprise you. You just discover the old normal disappeared one day, never to return.
One day forgiveness invited you to move to a new normal, a place you liked a lot. You weren’t a victim anymore. This was wonderful! You could be happy to dump this load. You weren’t stuck in the past anymore.
You waited until the time was right, just like dandelions.
FOCUS IN
Forgive yourself
MEDITATION
Find a private place where you can feel safe for this meditation. Sit in a comfortable chair. Arrange yourself so you can relax.
You may want to turn on some healing music, burn a candle, light incense, and/or place an important crystal near you.
Begin this meditation with breath awareness. Follow the breath as it enters your body, fills your lungs, and leaves your body again. You don’t need to control this process. Let your body manage your mind as it relaxes. Release all stress as your breath continues to enter and leave your body.
As you breathe, your relaxation wakes your self to your powerful life force.
You continue to follow your breath as it enters and leaves your body.
You feel peaceful and relaxed. You realize you can manifest your present and future because of your connection with your past.
You see that you accept and approve of yourself. This acceptance and self-love create forgiveness.
You see that your journey is a map for your soul development. And now, you see
the connection between your past and your future.
You feel awakened.
You understand that when you are awakened, you can find your true self.
As you continue to focus on your breath, you move your consciousness into your
physical body as you return to your day.
You know you can return to this place whenever you want.
Thank you for reading this article. Please share it with your friends and family. Forward it to your favorite social media network.
Find out about Thurman’s books at www.thurmangreco.com
Manifestation and Co-creation
Could you study the Temperance Card for a moment? Front and center, pouring water from vessel to vessel, is Archangel Michael. This picture shows how he negotiates and balances.
Followers in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam know Archangel Michael as the greatest of all angels. He is easy to get to know. Call him in with a letter or prayer.
Call on Archangel Michael whenever you feel vulnerable or when you need guidance and support on your journey. Archangel Michael carries a sword. With his sword and his reputation, he is known for coming to anyone who calls him.
Try this:
“Archangel Michael, please come to me. I need your help!”
Making a long story short, the Temperance Card tells us to seek moderation and balance. In creating everything in moderation, it may be necessary to seek to blend both sides of the story. Are you doing what you need to do to get the outcome you seek? You can’t just wish for something to be a certain way. Include action and effort in your wishes.
This means: avoid the extremes. When this happens, a nourishing balance seems to become part of your life.
The balance so prized by Temperance depends on inner growth and outer harmony. But, it doesn’t end here. Think of your past compared with who you are today and who you will be tomorrow.
STORY
For me, balance and harmony work together in moderation. As a child growing up, I never saw anything in my community approaching balance, harmony, or moderation.
As a child at home in Texas, I lived in a black-and-white world. I didn’t attend school with, play with, or even know any children of color. The closest I ever came to local people of color was passing the local bus station and seeing restroom signs which read: “White Women, White Men, Colored”. Water fountain signs were simpler. They read: “White, Colored”.
Mine was a white/black word which had no middle path. I only knew the extreme.
Looking back on the whole situation now, I realize that I never played with or studied with any children of color because we attended segregated schools. They lived in their own part of town and attended their own neighborhood schools.
Students in white Texas schools used textbooks and then passed them on to the students in the colored school.
Integration was not a concept to me. I never even heard of it.
I was already a teenager when, on September 4, 1957, President Eisenhower integrated the Little Rock Schools in Arkansas. On that day, National Guardsmen escorted the children to school to integrate our public schools.
With the Temperance Card, there is no room for extremes. This is the time to go with the middle road. This applies to friends, family, jobs, health. Reject fear, guilt, and ignorance.
We achieve success with the Temperance Card, there is no room for extremes. Balance, cooperation, growth, harmony, receptivity, and healing are the key ingredients to manage a situation and resolve problems. Compromise is the key.
Patience is essential.
Sometimes, people receiving the Temperance Card don’t like the idea of patience. But, there it is – just sitting there when it seems nothing is happening. All things work on their own time. Right along with this patience comes reality and the necessity of connecting dreams to your present situation.
Get your act together and co-create your future. Visualize your road to the rising sun as you move toward your goal.
FOCUS IN
Self-care is practical here. What does this mean for you? Massage, Reiki therapy, regular trips to the fitness center?
MEDITATION
Go to a quiet, uncrowded space. Get comfortable in a chair or on a mat on the flor. Close your eyes and bring your attention to your breathing. Focus on your inhales and exhales as they balance. Continue with inhales and exhales as they develop a relaxing rhythm.
You become aware of a deep pool. The water in this pool is sacred. It is some distance away. It will take a gentle uphill climb to get there. You walk over on a quiet path.
The deep pool is fed by a fresh stream. As you stand at the edge of the water, you see the path has given way to lush, green grass. You see reeds and irises blooming near the water. You connect with the water and the greenery. The scene purifies and calms you.
You feel the air you breathe is regenerating every cell. Every atom is glowing with perfection.
You continue with this inbreathing and outbreathing until your entire body feels uplifted. You feel a oneness of just being.
You stay with this energy for several moments. You want this energy to be more and more a part of your life.
With one last uplifted inbreath, you know it is time to return to your room. You want to bring the energy back with you and bring your awareness back into the room.
Gently, you slowly bring yourself back. You gently know that you can return to this room whenever you want.
Thank you for reading this article. Please share it with your friends and family. Forward it to your favorite social media network.
Find out more about Thurman Greco at www.Thurmangreco.com
Love Changes Your Journey
The Lovers Card changes the heart. It can change who you are, where you go, and how you see the world. It points to a relationship or meaningful love affair, not just a fling.
Appropriate words here: attraction, desire, passion, love, soul-mate.
This is a choice. When an important choice needs to be made, the Lover’s Card is all about relationship, mutual respect, love, and decisions.
When you choose an action or thing which speaks to your heart, you learn more about yourself.
Archangel Raphael figures prominently in the Lovers Card which focuses on love and choices involving healing and forgiveness. Love is an inward journey which is Archangel Raphael’s specialty. When your life focuses on love, Archangel Raphael will help you clarify your thinking, and make decisions. Archangel Raphael helps you see life’s endless possibilities.
Forgiveness cannot be ignored here. It is said that the Lovers Card changes the way you love. This includes forgiveness – a life-changing event on one’s journey. Raphael is definitely a master of healing love.
The Lovers Card uses cooperation and working with others in achieve a goal. The Lovers Card is about attraction of any kind, not just romance.
Harmony, cooperation, and unity are essential ingredients when a group of people work together to pursue a common goal. This involves making a decision based on your long-term future.
People are attracted to beautiful things or become involved with people having inner radiances and wonderful souls. They choose what resonates with the soul.
STORY
Whatever happens with the Lovers Card, when it appears in a spread, I’m reminded it is important to read the Tarot in at least a semi-private location.
A tourist came to my table at the Mower’s Meadow Flea Market one afternoon. Not alone, her spouse, several children and what appeared to be extended family members accompanied her.
When she sat at my table and shuffled the deck, I good-naturedly reminded everyone that they could visit the other booths in the market while I read her cards.
They moved over and shopped in another part of the flea market, but not before her spouse saw the Lovers Card. So here I had a group of people, some of whom got the glimpse of some, or all the cards, and a spouse who was quite interested in her spread on the table.
The man returned several times with questions of his own. He returned with questions even after everyone moved on to other areas of the flea market.
On another occasion, and at another spread, I saw the Lovers Card. This lady was caught between men – her spouse and his best friend. I did not want to see this in the spread as I knew her spouse and realized that he owned guns. She had a secret to hide.
I didn’t want to see this secret either.
The Lovers Card spells trouble for anyone caught in two relationships.
Unless there are difficult cards in the spread, the Lovers Card is a wonderful indication for a relationship. Especially if this pair is in the opening phase of the romance. The long-term options for this relationship are another matter.
Sometimes the Lovers Card strikes fear in someone’s heart. I saw this in a man so in love with a woman that he was afraid to reach out – even to touch her elbow with a fingertip.
But, the Lover’s Card can mean other choices entirely: a new career opportunity, for example.
If you are not embarking on a new romance, you may be making an important decision about an existing one. You may be conflicted about your feelings where choices are likely to be put to the test because you are at a crossroads. Ideally, this choice is a commitment to an important path.
Love heals. Look closely at the Lovers Card. Archangel Raphael, with his magnificent wings and halo watching over all. Archangel Raphael is important – along with Archangels Michael and Gabriel.
Early Christians believed Raphael appeared to the shepherds at night telling them of the birth of Jesus. Because of this, Raphael is considered the head of the guardian angels.
Whether it’s a romance choice or a career choice, consider all the ramifications of the situation. Consider what is at stake and then ask: “Is the choice I make going to bring balance and peace?’ It’s time to use your heart to decide. This is a growth opportunity. You may meet new people and choices.
Consider the outcomes of the several different options you may have. Find the most harmonious decisions for you and for everyone around you.
When it comes to the Lovers Card, as in other areas of life, everything boils down to choice. Each choice invariably has consequences, some of which are long-term. A person’s relationship reveals how a person sees oneself.
All love brings lessons. Consider the consequences and rely on your higher guidance.
Use this card to reconcile inner conflicts as you reach conclusions and make them work together.
FOCUS IN
Are you ready for a new relationship? Are you calling in a new romantic relationship? This is a good time to journal.
MEDITATION
Settle into a quiet place where you can have privacy and relax. Sit comfortably or lie down.
Allow your body to release stress as you take slow, deep breaths. Bring the air in and then breathe it out.
Breathing in, you relax. You bring positivity and light, good energy and oxygen as you slowly fill your body. As you breathe out, you release toxins, frustration, anxiety, and anything you no longr need.
After a few minutes of this therapeutic breathing, you pay attention to each area of your body. Begin with your feet. As you move your attention along your body, notice how each bone, muscle, and joint become relaxed. Allow your body to release this stress.
As your body relaxes, allow your self to travel to a place where you feel safe and at peace. This place may be a beach, mountains, forest, or any place where you are comfortable and safe.
Notice the sounds, smells, and beauty of this place. You feel supported and at peace in this place.
Now, in this special place, allow a sense of gratitude to come over you. Accept this feeling of gratitude to emter upir jeart amd ,omd/ Feel the authenticity of this moment.
Receive this feeling of gratitude into yur heart.
Now, sit with this feeling for a few moments. Allow it to support you. Allow gratitude to come over you entirely.
After a few moments, you realize it is time to return to your day. You know you can return to this place of gratitude any time you need.
Thank you for reading this article which includes a meditation.
Please share it with your friends and family. Forward it to your favorite social media network.
Exploring Mysteries
Getting to Know the High Priestess –
The High Priestess wants you to learn more about your unconscious. She feels your potential will benefit from the attention you give to your dreams, imagination, and intuition. Your potential needs attention. Explore your mysteries.
Because you already have the answers you seek, you can trust your instincts, even if you can’t explain why or how. You have your own secrets. It’s a good time to discover them. After all, you already know the answers.
The High Priestess appears in a spread to tell you that something hidden or otherwise unknown is about to surface. This is all about recognizing or revealing the hidden potential in your life. Opportunities wait to surface. Something hidden emerges. She mediates the human and the divine.
The High Priestess understands truths that cannot be put into words or doctrines. This is hard to describe. She is all about understanding.
If you happen to have a secret, please keep your own counsel.
A STORY:
The woman seated at my table on that beautiful Woodstock afternoon at the Mower’s Saturday Sunday Flea Market was lovely. But, she wasn’t the centerpiece of the spread on the table at that moment.
She thought of her question while she shuffled the cards and handed me a card from deep in the deck.
I knew for sure: this spread was unique.
They all are. I’m always amazed at how, in some way, each spread tells a story appropriate for this person, this situation.
This spread was no exception. It was time to explore mysteries.
Three cards stood out: The High Priestess, the Tower, and the Eight of Swords.
In this spread, the High Priestess spoke. She focused on hidden and emerging opportunities. She saw potential waiting to surface.
I was especially impressed by this because the High Priestess has a reputation for keeping things hidden. In this moment, I felt she was offering a way for my client to discover a mystery of her own.
What a gift! The High Priestess knows that not all truths can be put into words or even doctrines.
Another card reaching out to be read was The Tower.
The Tower brings surprise, shock, and awe. But, years of experience have taught me that The Tower is, deep down, not a total surprise. It needs you to explore mysteries.
The wisdom of the Tower is that this card offers a chance to rebuild, update, and move into the future.
Another bit of wisdom of The Tower is that it’s wise to slow down after the event for a few days, even a week or two. Let the dust settle before making any substantive decisions. That way, the decisions can be part of the rebuilding process.
But, what about the decisions that need to be made? We come now to the wisdom of the Eight of Swords:
First – don’t feel sorry for yourself.
Second – After you’ve given yourself time to see the problem for what it is, list your options.
This is a challenging thing to do but is easier if you give your eyes a chance to see the problem realistically. Your list can be short, written on the back of an envelope. Or, it can be a page or more in your journal.
Finally – Trust in your intuition. Is there anything in this list that you can use?
Yes – Great – Go for it! Explore mysteries.
No – Is there nothing in this list that you can use? No – Don’t get discouraged. You have a final option that you may not have yet considered: The wisdom of the Eight of Swords has a strong message: Walk Away!
FOCUS IN
Journal your goals and intentions. What are ways you can align your intentions with your goals?
MEDITATION
Begin this meditation by getting comfortable in a quiet and private place where you won’t be disturbed. Turn off your phone. Loosen uncomfortable clothing.
Focus on your breathing. Allow yourself to breathe to your own natural rhythm. Breathe slowly, easily and deeply to produce a state of deep, gentle relaxation. Inhale…Exhale…Inhale…Exhale…
When you are ready, breathe in deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Notice how your sense of relaxation, comfort, and peace of mind become noticeable to you.
A ball of light surrounds you now. This ball of pure energy circulates around you and moves you into even deeper relaxation and comfort.
Each inhale and exhale encourage you to become more relaxed.
Enjoy how relaxed and comfortable you are now. Your inhales bring soothing, relaxing, nourishing, and healing energy into your body.
Your exhales release tension, stress, pain and/or discomfort.
Each breath increases your relaxation and comfort.
Think, now, of a beautiful, peaceful, safe place. It is magical and mystical and just for you.
Take a few moments to enjoy this place. Notice the trees, shrubbery, flowers, grasses. See the birds. Smell the beauty of this special place.
You see a table and chairs for two in front of you. Two drinks of soothing liquids are on the table. What do the glasses, cups, saucers, and napkins look like?
A wise being comes into your special area and sits at the table. You join this wise being at the table.
You know that this is a situation you can trust. You understand that you are here, in this special place, to explore solutions to important questions that you are dealing with. You are seeking solutions for problems that have been bothering you for some time.
When you ask questions your responses come to you as inspirations. You ask questions that may not generate responses at this moment.
You know that some answers may not come instantly. You know that you may need several hours or days before inspirational responses come to you.
Wordlessly communicating with this wise being, you know in your heart that you can return to this place whenever you need because some answers will become available to you over time.
You know that this meditation will become easier over time.
You know that it is time to return to your day. You open your eyes, and take a few final relaxing breaths – breathing in and then breathing out.
You look forward to meeting with this wise being in future meditations.
You open your eyes and take a few relaxing breaths – inhaling and exhaling to your own rhythm.
You look forward to meeting with this wise being in future meditations.
Now, you return to your day.
Thanks for reading this article. It’s coming to you after a recess of several weeks. I have been reorganizing my manuscript recently.
I’m currently writing “The Spirituality of the Tarot”. This book is absorbing a lot of attention and focus. One thing I’ve learned – when the manuscript calls, there is a reason.
Thank you for your patience.
Find out more about me at www.Thurmangreco.com.
Two short books, “Healer’s Tarot Memoir”, focus on The Major Arcana, The Minor Arcana, and The Court Cards”. They are available as e-boooks at www.Thurmangreco.com.
Do You Know Where Things are Going? Act now!
Do you suddenly feel as though somehow, some way, somebody or something just removed a few obstacles in your life and career? Suddenly, after seemingly endless waiting, things are moving rapidly in a direction perfect for your goals!
Finally!
The waiting is over.
Well, you are not mistaken. Things like that do happen and suddenly there’s a lot of activity that needs to be sorted out. This will clarify your intentions.
Things are moving in your favor more rapidly than you hoped. Don’t get overwhelmed. Instead, take advantage of this energetic boost by acting now.
Ground activities to prevent overwhelming feelings. . Even so, action is popular right now.
This can be an opportunity to keep your goals on the front burner.
This is a very positive time so be ready to be energized.
Prioritize your opportunities because you don’t always have to accept everything.
Even so, you need to know where things are going. Everything needs to be
moving in the right direction.
STORY
I lived an 8 of Wands story several years ago when I found canine massage therapy. I searched “high and low” for a school to study canine massage therapy.
I was teaching reflexology and Reiki therapy at the time. But, I was also becoming more involved in pet rescue as orphaned dogs weighing under ten pounds and being more than 10 years old seemed to be finding me.
While this happened, I searched out every canine massage therapy teacher I could find. Nothing seemed to be right. I found a distance-learning class in the US and I found a teacher on the West Coast of Canada.
Everything seemed good – just not a good fit for me. I never thought I would learn massage via distance classes. And, I just didn’t seem to be able to make it to the West coast of Canada.
Suddenly, Jonathan Rudinger’s class was in front of me! It seemed perfect – and it was. Jonathan and Anastasia offered the right class at the right time in the right place. They taught Canine Massage Therapy in Toledo and they had a student opening! I packed two small dogs in the car with me and took off for Toledo!
I loved every minute of the class! I was going to be able to use my Massage Therapy, Reiki therapy, and Reflexology credentials along with my new canine massage skills.
Perfect!
Three days after I returned home from the class, I found a space in a local veterinarian’s office.
I felt like somebody or something removed a few obstacles in my life and career! After a lot of waiting, and blind alleys, things moved rapidly in a direction just perfect for my goals!
Finally!
Jonathan Rudinger’s class served me well. I was still practicing this skill 20 years later. This career took me well into my retirement years.
FOCUS IN
Have you got a list for your short-term goals? your long-term goals? Is it in need
of updating?
MEDITATION
The 8 of Wands is an exciting card. Feeling grounded is an important part of this experience. For one thing, it is used practically when chaos enters your life. Restoring order helps.
Begin this meditation by finding a calm and safe space. Get comfortable as you find a supportive space to sit or lay flat. Take a few moments to relax and unwind.
Let your body float…
Let your body drift.
Without worrying how you breathe, simply allow yourself to breathe fully and deeply. Release tensions as you exhale.
Gently close your eyes.
Give yourself permission to experience this meditation without interruption.
This time is yours.
Visualize your spine. See a special cord which begins at the top of your head and travels down your spine – beyond your spine – into the earth.
As this cord travels into the earth, it supports and grounds you.
Now, inhale and exhale several times as you release any worries, doubts, and fears.
Grounded peace replaces these emotions. Warmth, energy, love, and peace move into your world.
Your cord gently disappears for now.
Now, slowly move your arms and legs and smile.
You feel gratitude for this connection and know that you can return to this experience whenever you seek a grounded connection.
Thank you for reading this article. It is a seed chapter in a book about the Tarot which I am writing now. If you liked it, please share it with your friends and family. Forward it to your preferred social media network. Subscribe to this blog for future chapters.
This book is available as an ebook. Get it at www.Thurmangreco.com
Having the Courage of Your Convictions
How are you managing your energy? Are you losing something of yourself?
When you are successful, some don’t like what you have to say. They want what you have. Continue and overcome the obstacles in your path.
Keep the conversation going and negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. You may be defending others as well as yourself when you become the spokesperson for the group.
Please just consider your self-awareness. Protection becomes important as you are asked to defend your accomplishments.
Turn to your integrity, positive energy, and your good intentions. You don’t have to accept criticism as truth. Instead, align yourself with your highest values.
This may mean that you have to draw the confidence within yourself to say “no”. If you find yourself at odds with your conscience, this is the time to set your boundaries.
Continue on and supplement this with your diet whenever you can. This is a time for introspection, self-care, wisdom, and a healing diet.
Set your sights on the future while you leave adversity behind.
Your job isn’t easy. But, remember, you have this job because of your prior success.
A STORY
“Don’t go away. I need to talk to you.” A man approached me in the basement hallway. As he spoke, the hair on my neck stood up.
The scene is etched in my memory. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the feeling or the toothy grin he showed that afternoon. I’m convinced he practiced for years turning himself into the big bad wolf he projected.
Stocking shelves in the food pantry, I prepared for the hungry people coming to shop in the food pantry soon. After filling the third shelf down from the top of a unit with canned green beans, I stepped into the hallway for a moment.
“Good afternoon, sir. What can I do for you?”
“For starters you can stop feeding all those people. Ever since you started working here, more and more people are standing in the halls waiting for food. You’re feeding too many people and I want it to stop. Right. Now.”
The man standing over me in the hall was fat, old, angry. His toes pointed outward, an indication he had painful back issues. “I want to see your files on the people who use the pantry.”
“I’m sorry sir. We don’t keep many files on our hoppers. We keep a journal where we record their names and number of people in each household. That’s all.”
“Well, you should. No one should be allowed in this pantry who isn’t on food stamps. You’re feeding people who shouldn’t be coming here.
“Just this last week you gave food to a man who you shouldn’t be feeding. He wrote a book and published it a couple of years ago and he shouldn’t even be here. He has a motorcycle. Writers make a lot of money.”
I didn’t believe this story about the writer and his book, but I didn’t answer him back.
“This man is definitely a threat to the pantry” went through my mind as he stood over me. “I’ll have to call the food bank about getting that kind of information.”
Not a secret, he didn’t like the way I managed the pantry. And, he had grounds. Before 2007, the pantry served about twenty-five of Woodstock’s most colorful characters on Thursday mornings and now with the economy tanking, new hungry people showed up weekly. Lines got longer on every pantry day.
The Hunger Prevention Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) expanded pantry nutritional guidelines to include fresh produce, 1% milk, and whole-grain bread. Now, instead of shoppers getting a jar of peanut butter, a box of cereal, a can of tuna fish, they chose from shelves filled with fresh produce. Bread Alone sent bread weekly.
These changes brought not only hungry people but mountains of cardboard. According to him, the pantry was overrun with vermin. No amount of reasoning convinced them otherwise. It didn’t matter one whit that not even one bug or mouse could be found in the pantry.
Our boxed, canned, fresh, food arrived clean from the food bank with no insects or rodents. Food bank employees were proud of their clean food. The reason is simple. Rodents and insects prefer dark quiet conditions and immediately vacate a disturbed area.
Food pantry stock is in constant motion, the best pesticide.
Meanwhile, here was this angry man staring at me and demanding to see files I didn’t have and the State didn’t have and the State didn’t require. And, if I had them, he wouldn’t see them anyway.
“I can call the food bank and find out what files we need. However, an inspector was here only a few weeks ago, saw my paperwork, and pronounced everything excellent. We’ve never done anything like this before. After all, we’re not the police.”
“Well, check into it NOW!” he said as he turned away, his toes still looking outward. With that, he walked away.
He looked back at me then and grinned broadly, displaying a mouthful of large, yellow teeth.
As he walked down the hall and out the door, I felt a terrible pain in my gut. My solar plexus was on fire. My adrenals knotted. I realized I was afraid. Cold. Hard. Fear. He threatened the food pantry. I knew in my gut that I was the only person standing in the way of his threat. Others would mutter things about a job not being worth the aggravation and walk away.
It took a food pantry in a church basement in the most famous small town in America to teach me about fear in our country. Food shoppers and volunteers live with the peril of starvation daily. The subject is stark, deep, hidden, real.
Full-blown fear wasn’t in my personal vocabulary, so I rarely felt it.
At that moment I knew I wasn’t going to let panic get the best of me. People shopping at the food pantry were afraid of being hungry, being homeless, or being unemployed.
I was not going to let go of this pantry. I was not going to let go of this pantry. I was not going to let go. This anxiety stuck to me day and night. I felt unsafe every moment.
It seems a bit strange, maybe unbelievable. Looking back on the whole experience, it was a steppingstone on the path to the pantry. We all lost things along the way. I lost a lot of fluff and met up wiwth the stark reality of hunger in our nation.
I worked hard to avoid being overwhelmed by danger. First, I defined exactly what alarmed me. At that moment I knew exactly what that was. I was afraid to let pantry deniers close the pantry. I knew I had to negotiate my day-to-day work in the pantry to prevent that from happening. I had to find ways to make sure the people got what they were supposed to get. I had to balance things, so I didn’t go too fast but I had to implement the guidelines soon enough to satisfy the food banks.
“I’m walking a tight rope high above an abyss.” I thought. I needed to be at my peak performance.
I surrounded myself with people who lifted me up and who wanted me to lift them up. Volunteers and shoppers supported me even though they had no idea I needed it. People at the food bank inspired me and taught me to do my job better. People surrounding me made me successful because their support stopped anyone from holding me back.
I knew he wanted me to leave. I decided then that I would not let that happen – not on his terms anyway. I would not leave because of what he did did.
I stuck with my decision. I left on my own terms in 2013 when I took my experience and skills to Boiceville to open a new food pantry.
Pantry deniers finally evicted the pantry in Woodstock in a public outburst several years later which ended up with a story in the local paper.
I kept my mouth shut, much like a woman married to an alcoholic man who beat her. Whenever someone realized what was happening, I changed the subject and moved on to other topics.
Hunger in America is a hidden shame. Those coping with it have smaller and smaller voices. As time passes, they have none. More and more people with more and more are blind to those choosing between food and rent.
We know that the top 1% have more than the bottom 99%. From my tiny spot in the smalltown food pantry, I connected with it existentially.
Volunteers defend the food pantry for the hungry people using it. They feed hundreds of people weekly with as much dignity as can be mustered under the circumstances. They attach no strings.
Shoppers live the fear daily. There are no holidays. What are they afraid of? Hunger. Inadequate or no housing. No work. Healthcare costs. Clothing costs. Transportation costs.
FOCUS IN
Journal about what gives you resolution in your life. What do your purpose and your inner energy need now?
MEDITATION
`This meditation helps you find solutions to life challenges arising once you achieve your goals. Use it to creatively solve your problems and generate new ideas.
Find a private and safe place for this meditation. Sit in a comfortable position. If you want, turn on some healing music, light a candle.
Take in and out breaths. Breathe slowly and deeply The inbreaths encourage invigorating energy. The outbreaths release tired, worn out, toxic air.
As you continue with your meditational breathing, focus on this problem while you inhale and exhale.
After several grounding in and out breaths, you find yourself in a parklike setting. You notice the trees, the plants, the path nearby, and the bench you are sitting on.
You think about your problem. Focus on ways you can resolve it.
With each in-and-out breath, think about the different aspects of your problem and how protecting yourself fits into the overall picture.
Think about how to protect yourself in your situation.
As you do this, you get to know it intimately. How does it smell? Taste? Feel? Sound?
Can you see your challenge as an opportunity? Can you see it as a solution?
See the challenge now as a way to grow – to move forward on your path.
Feel a sense of freedom as you see your problem’s new place on your path.
You know it is time to return to the present.
Focus now on the room where you began your meditation.
It is time to join the world of now.
You know you can return to this park and this resolution any time you want.
Enjoy!
Thank you for reading this article. Please share it with your friends and family. Forward it to your favorite social media network! It is my hope that it will support you in your healing journey.
Have you read my book: “Healer’s Tarot Memoir”?
Books are available at www.thurmangreco.com
A Job Well Done
Are you doing exceptionally well? Are you being noticed? Are you standing out to others because you are true to yourself? Authenticity means a job well done! Your time has come!
Overcoming obstacles in the past develops a bigger and better perspective.
What does it feel like to be in the spotlight? Don’t forget that the past creates the present and the future. And, don’t be afraid to share your accomplishment; You are worth the success.
Celebrate!
Share your success.
DO THIS
Journal what it means to be recognized. What does the word “fame” mean? Honor the healing it took to get to this point.
MEDITATION
Go to a quiet, safe place.
If it feels right, light a candle, some incense, and play your favorite healing music.
Sit in a comfortable chair. Pay attention to your breathing. Relax with each inbreath. Breathe out toxins and stress with each exhale. Close your eyes gently and slowly as your breath offloads tensions in each outbreath.
As you breathe, gently scan your body to find any areas that are clinging to tension. Begin with your scalp, face, head, neck, and shoulders.
Continuing with your breathing, focus on your chest, abdomen, arms, hands and fingers.
Breathe deeply now as fatigue and stress leave your body.
Move your attention to your hips, pelvis, legs, feet, and toes.
As you breathe out your final stress, check your body to find you are relaxed.
As you focus on your breath, you find yourself walking on a smooth path. Soon, the path ends in a large green lawn. You’re walking on a beautiful green garden lawn. Immerse yourself in your surroundings. You absorb the luxury of the chlorophyll as you breathe in the balance, the harmony, the serenity. Experience the rest now.
You are enveloped in the green. With each breath, feel yourself bathed in the color.
You are aware that the rhythm of your breathing relaxes you more. Mentally, follow the air as it moves into your nostrils, the back of your throat into your lungs.
You are perfectly relaxed.
You feel capable, effective, responsible. You feel stronger and more effective. Life is getting easier for you.
Focus on your strength and effectiveness for a few minutes.
It is now time to return to the present time. Gently shake your arms and legs. You move your head from side to side.
Return to the room now, knowing that you can return to this lawn whenever you need.
Thanks for reading this article. Please share it with your friends and family. Forward it to your favorite social media networks.
Interested in finding out more about Woodstock, NY – the most famous little town in the US? This show is all about Woodstock!
Find this book at www.Thurmangreco.com
This book is only available now as an ebook. Get it at www.Thurmangreco.com
