Accept & Share – Know & Rejoice
What Do You See?
The Laurel Wreath is a sign of victory.
The Woman represents confidence, strength, & openness.
The woman has something to offer the world
The batons symbolize balance.
The figures in the corner represent the seasons of the year.
The woman is dancing with her arms out.
The dancer holds double-ended wands.
The woman dances to the future while looking toward the past
Getting to Know You
The World Card is the final card in the major arcana. Everything is revealed here: everything, everywhere, and all at once. Things are ready to begin again. Welcome rewards and success! Wisdom is in action here!
The end of one cycle brings the beginning of a new one. Remain focused. Follow through if you can. The energy of success is as important as that of its beginnings. Accept the completion as a gift. You are rising to a new level of awareness.
Think back to your original intention. You have reached a happy ending! Bliss! Your life is filled with positive energy. You’ve done it! Experience the energy of a successful ending.
Accept what you have learned on your journey. Welcome the rewards, joy, and success. Welcome them and rejoice!
Take this opportunity to dance into the future. Living your success and moving onward and upward, you are comfortable taking your rightful place in the world.
This moment in time affects you physically. You feel it physically.
What does this mean for you? It means you come to terms with yourself because you know the value of your situation.
Be grateful for your success.
Story
As a child, I lived for a time with my mother’s older sister – Rose Guthrie.
Times were tough then. World War II was raging. I was a young child living in a small Texas town. Rocksprings was then, and still is, a small ranching community in the middle of nowhere Texas, on the Edwards Plateau.
If you want to imagine the terrain, remember going to the movies years ago and seeing “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”.
We lived in a Craftsman House, located on the edge of town, on Route 674 headed toward Brackettville. I lived in this house with Mother Rose Guthrie, and my grandmother Lily Dale Cox Thurman.
I liked to sit out on the edge of this road. I waited for cars that never came by. Gasoline was rationed. Nobody went anywhere unless there were ration stamps for the gas.
There were few men in my memory of this time, really.
Every able bodied man was fighting in the war. My father was in Europe in the OSS. Uncle Roland was in the Pacific. Aunt Ruby was an Army nurse. Mother Rose was the Deputy Sheriff of Edwards County.
On the evening I remember, Mother Rose was home from work in the Court House. We sat by the radio in the living room. Mother Rose and I shared the same chair.
The radio was on. We all listened to the news of the war. The voice of newsman Gabriel Heater could be heard throughout the living room, dining room, and kitchen.
Mother Rose smoked a Lucky Strike Cigarette and I inhaled the second hand smoke.
She read the comics to me from the San Antonio Evening News. My favorite comic strip at that time were “Dick Tracy” and “Archie”. As Mother Rose read the comics, she followed every word with a finger.
This was a kind of ritual for us.
So, on the evening in my memory, a man came up to the front door and knocked. “Mother Rose, I’m sorry to bother you this evening but I really need to talk to you.”
“What can I do for you, Johnny?” she replied.
“I just killed a man, Mother Rose. I guess I need to go to jail.”
With that statement, Mother Rose put down her cigarette and newspaper. She got up out of the chair, walked over to her purse, and removed a key. Handing him the key, she spoke. “Go on off to jail, Johnny. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
This was grace in action.
It was also authentic. Her intuition guided her, telling her what was right for the situation. Mother Rose knew where she belonged. She knew who she was. She knew what she was. And, she knew why. She was the answer.
Life Changing Rituals
Now is the time to quit with the negative self-talk and graciously accept compliments from others.
Your present moment is filled with joy and happiness. Challenge yourself now to see this moment for what it is.
Reflect on your journey. This is a good time to write a memoir or manifesto. If those seem to be too much, go for a short magazine essay, at least.
Meditation
Go to your safe and quiet place. Sit comfortably. If it’s appropriate, light a candle, burn incense, listen to healing music.
When you are quiet, breathe in and out. Notice your breath as it flows in and out of your body.
Close your eyes as your breath becomes slower and deeper, Your relaxation deepens with each exhale. Your exhales release negativity and toxins. You relax more with each breath.
As the relaxation increases, your space becomes calm and quiet. Your inner voice calms. Your mind becomes clear.
As the relaxation continues, you notice you are in an outdoor space. You look upward and see a blue sky with slow-moving, lazy clouds. These puffy clouds drift in and out overhead as you become more and more relaxed.
You are quiet now and realize you are seated on the edge of a slowly moving stream.
You sit in shallow water moving along the edge of the stream.
You sit in the shallow water and feel the water moving past you. You look upward and see the sky with its puffy clouds.
You feel the water moving over your hips, legs, and feet. The movement is gentle and uplifting. You enjoy sitting in the gently moving water which feels perfect.
You listen to the sounds of the water moving past you. You feel it moving over your feet and legs.
As you sit at the edge of the water, you notice tension leaving your body. It seems to be floating away in the water.
You concentrate on releasing your tension. As the tension leaves your body, you feel lighter. You feel relaxed. You feel peaceful. You feel all negativity leaving your body now.
You notice that you have released tension and negativity. This is a good feeling for you at this time.
Lightness – relaxation – positivity become part of your body on a cellular level.
When you are ready, open your eyes, blow out the candle and return your attention to the present time and your surroundings.
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Regain Your Hope
What Do You See?
The Maiden – Eternal youth and creativity
The Bird – Freedom and the soul
Note: The bird in the card illustration is a scarlet ibis, a sacred creature
Water – Resourcefulness and healing
Nudity – Purity and truth – Maiden accepts herself for who she is
Fertile land – abundance and good fortune
Pouring water – energy, love, and joy moving through life
Stars – empowerment
Getting to Know You
The Star inspires you as you release your past. Get comfortable with your core purpose. You are in a moment of choice, and the Star brings hope to your world. This card validates your path. This is a good time to have faith. You can trust yourself to appreciate what the universe offers you now.
The Star brings good fortune, good health, and healing.
For now, explore the light you bring to your surroundings. How does it shine for others? How do you help them find their way?
The Star uses the energy of your mind, body, and soul. Accept that you have many stars in your life and on your path. Use them all!
With the Star, your strength gives you a diamond core. What does this inspiration feel like? What can you do to make your success the best it can be?
The star offers a cosmic alignment where everything is balanced in your universe.
You know who you are and what you were born to do.
This is especially important as your health improves and your healing continues.
You are at a moment in time when you keep moving forward. You have hope.
Explore the light you bring to your surroundings. How does your light shine for others?
Your Star energy calls on the energies of your mind body, and soul. You have many stars in your life & on your path. Use them all.
Your Star energy gives you a diamond core. Think about what changes can you make to insure your success is the best it can be.
Story
The year was 2013. I was struggling to write my first memoir. Enrolled in Gotham Writers, I rode the bus to a weekly class in the city.
Things weren’t going well. I had never written much before and I was having trouble making my story believable. My fellow classmates, savvy NYC residents, just weren’t connecting to my life in a small-town food pantry.
My grandmother entered the picture. She stayed with me from page one to the very end. “Take this down. Get this down now. Write this.” Her instructions produced a coherent book that people were willing to read.
When I remember the magical moments, I think about the last time my Grandmother spoke to me. I stood beside Stuart Kline in the Bread Alone Coffee House in Woodstock, when Dan Leader, the owner, came up to me with a request.
“I need someone to colect surplus bread at my bakery and take it to the Food Bank in Albany daily for food pantries. Do you know anyone?”
“I’m sorry I don’t. But I’ll ask around.” That should have been the end of the story. But, it wasn’t. There was more…lot’s more. With that remark, I had a flash.
Lily Dale Cox Thurman, my grandmother spoke to me one final time. She didn’t whisper in my ear like she usually did.
On this morning, she spoke clearly, focusing on my first visit to the food pantry that morning several years ago.
The Star Card energy reminded me that hope and inspiration waited to help me. I only needed to believe in myself and tell my story with authenticity. That energy carried me through to the end of the book. The message was to connect to my inner light.
When the Star Card appears, inspiration surrounds and empowers you so you can live with purpose and positivity. Good fortune and optimist flow. Here comes a new and happy phase of life!
I saw her there that morning in our midst. Her presence was clear. There weren’t three of us in the conversation. There were four. She made her wishes known then, and I couldn’t stall around any longer. Her presence was clear.
“Write that down. Get it down now. You can do it.”
Trust life and set new goals for the future because opportunities for your personal and career paths are opening up. The Star shines on education and creative activities. There can be an interest in all things mystical.
An inner, renewed sense of self-belief helps you overcome recent traumas.
It’s up to you to see opportunities coming into your life. Investigate them!
The Star connects you to loved ones on the other side. Remember that someone is looking out for you.
You are able to achieve your goals. With the Star you understand what these goals should be.
Consider not only where you’re going but those who will be coming after you.
Life Changing Rituals
The Star supports you as you reflect on the success of your own future path. How do you describe your star self now? Where will you be in five years?
This is definitely the time to schedule at least five Reiki sessions
Meditation
Go to your private and safe space. Get comfortable. If you want,play some soft music, light a candle.
Breathe in and out now as you relax. Allow your breathing to become even and regular.
Continue your meditation breathing for more minutes.
After a few minutes see yourself relaxing from your feet up toward your head.
As you inhale and exhale, notice your feet and then your legs as they feel relaxed and calm.
In a few breaths, you feel your abdomen as it becomes soft and relaxed. This relaxation continues up through your body until, finally, your torso is quiet, calm, and relaxed.
You begin to look around you and realize you are resting in a quiet garden. You look around yourself and notice the area. You see the trees, shrubbery, and flowers in this place. You take note of the air. You smell the clean air. You see a calm blue sky with puffy clouds above you.
You look around and notice a pathway. You decide to explore this pathway. As you walk along, you feel the ground underneath your feet.
Soon, the path takes a turn to a more private space with a bench. As you walk along, notice how it feels to move along the path. Notice what your thoughts and feelings are about what you are doing and where you are going.
The path takes another turn and you see a comfortable bench which seems to be waiting for you.
You walk over to the bench and sit.
Looking around, you see the plants – the flowers – the trees – the sky. Taking a deep breath of appreciation, you realize you are here to absorb some knowledge about your abilities and your future.
As you look around, you notice how it feels to be here. You understand that this is a place which exists to give you answers to your questions. The guidance and wisdom is here, waiting for you to see it and understand it. This is the gift of the space where you are.
You take a few moments to process your gratitude. You feel much calm now. You feel that you know the way now.
You also know that you can come to this space any time you want. The answers you seek are waiting for you when the time is right.
As you become more relaxed, you breathe in relaxation for your heart, your lungs. Your arms, hands, and fingers relax.
This relaxation moves up to your neck and shoulders.
Breathe in and out rest and relaxation.
You thank your body for the work it has done for you. As you inhale gratitude, you are also exhaling fatigue.
You breathe deeply and relax. Finally, your breath moves over your entire body as you relax completely. You relax more and more as you feel more and more calm and grateful.
Your breath and gratitude work together to create a circle of relaxation.
You are refreshed, relaxed, and feeling better. You are relaxed in both your body and your mind.
You breathe quietly for a few more moments and then make small movements. You open your eyes – ready to return to your day.
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Thurman Greco
All Things Toxic
Symbolism:
Chains symbolize bondage – captivity
Inverted Pentagram refers to hidden knowledge
Flaming Tails and Grapes – This is the vice that imprisons us
Stark Background: hell – what holds you back
Horns – uncivilized behavior
Bat’s Wings – a nocturnal animal
Taloned Feet – the devil as earth spirit
Triangular Head – alert: negative energy pulling everything down
Goat’s haunches – animal drives and instincts
The Cube – the Unexplored Self
Chains – accepting material bonds
Torch – light in the darkness
The Tails – acknowledge the primordial nature
Adam & Eve – banished with paradise, enslaved and corrupted
Getting to Know the Devil
Beware all things toxic.
The Devil is all things making up your shadow self. He attracts you by offering you everything you covet. He wants to fill the hole in your heart. He tempts you with the addictions you should avoid.
Getting the Devil Card can be scary but there is a good side here. You have the power to free yourself from the negativity. You are stronger than your vices. Seek professional help when you cannot face this issue alone.
You are in a dark place. But, all is not lost. You can walk away.
The Devil Card appears with issues in any struggle you experience: sex, food, substance, and negative thought patterns. You may be living with a domineering or abusive person.
The Devil Card allows you to see the darkest corner of yourself. You are in a dark place, but all is not lost. You can walk away.
Internal Issues: eating disorders, addictions, and illness (mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual).
Career issues: bad financial contracts, unsatisfying careers, domineering bosses, toxic work environment.
Relationship issues: controlling partners, lust-over-love situations, affairs, codependent patterns, financial dependency, ongoing money or property boundaries.
The situation is different for everyone. The Devil exposes everything that is not in your benefit. He focuses on all things taboo.
Whatever issues you identify with, run from materialism, power, self-deception, and controlling people.
Break free from people and situations stealing your time, energy, and love.
Beware your inner devil while you escape from under other people’s expectations.
In short, liberate yourself from anything that traps you.
Important here: Forgive yourself and offer compassion to yourself.
Story
The Devil Card appeared in a gift-certificate reading I gave to a young woman. The minute I saw this card in the spread, I knew why she had been given the reading.
The Devil Card warned her that she’s playing with fire. Addictive behaviors are not sustainable in the long term so what began as an escape ends up as a compulsion. Abusive, obsessive, harmful relationships and addiction to material things chain you to your secrets, disconnecting you from your higher power.
When I asked about her boyfriend, she was surprised at how much the Devil Card revealed about her secret life. She appeared surprised at how unhealthy and destructive her situation really was and needed to let go of the ways she manipulated others to get what she wanted.
The Devil Card in this spread pointed to the potential to be discovered when her most hidden and unexpected activities and parts of her life get exposed to the light of day.
I never learned whether the shock of discovery helped her. But this I can say: Her stuckness was a choice. Poor decisions are an option. She was the only one who could change her life.
The Devil Card spoke clearly: “Get out NOW before you get caught.”
Her situation does not have to become permanent. She can stop this now. She should do this to protect her future. This spread spoke clearly: “Now is the time to control destiny.”
As an aside, the spread considered a love interest, affair, or even a crush. The best advice here is to run in the opposite direction. The most she can hope for is trouble and her destruction is a very real option.
Whatever her situation, the details will come with a heavy price tag.
Life Changing Rituals
Mental self-care includes going outside for your help.
Physically, support your wellness without being obsessive about your diet or weight. Take 10 deep breaths every morning.
Mentally, educate yourself on social issues to understand the world.
Therapists, counselors, support groups, and addiction specialists are a good source.
Meditation
Go to a safe and secluded space. Set up your area for your best meditation comfort and environment.
As you settle into your meditation, close your eyes and focus on your in-and-out breaths.
Inreaths promote relaxation. With each inbreath, allow yourself to become more and more relaxed as you nurture your positive self. You are the one controlling the beast.
Your outbreaths reduce toxins, negativity, and anything you don’t need for your better self. As you inhale and exhale, you relax.
With the continued breathing, your legs relax.
Notice how your feet and legs shift into their most comfortable position – in a direction that frees you.
As your abdomen becomes relaxed, your muscles release unwanted tension and stress.
Your back and shoulders relax – releasing unwanted and unneeded stress and negativity. Your back and neck hold a lot of stress so this relaxation affects your total body so you can remove the chains in your life.
Your relaxing meditation breathing relaxes your arms and hands.
As this relaxation progresses throughout your body you notice that your body is calmer, quieter, more peaceful.
Your head relaxes now. Your face and neck muscles. Gently, quietly, your body feels more relaxed.
Your mind begins to calm. It floats.
You realize you are floating away from your meditation area to an area where you feel good. You feel really good about yourself.
Look around now. Where are you? Are you in a nature place? Are you someplace you visited in the past? Are you in a quiet room? Notice where you are. You are moving in a direction that frees you. Wherever this place, you’ve arrived when you enjoy being where you are.
Feel the warmth of this place. Breathe it all in. Feel the air and how comfortable it is to your skin. Feel this warmth, this space, and the love you realize you feel. You feel filled with love. You feel accepted and forgiven. You can disengage from destructive behavior now.
You see yourself as a perfect person in a perfect place. You are perfect exactly as you are. You enjoy yourself in this moment. You experience the joy of just being you.
Feel the warmth of the space. Breathe in peace and well-being with you. Carry it with you throughout your day.
You are your own liberator. You know you can return to this space whenever you need.
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Thank you for reading this article. Please share it with your friends, relatives, and family. Forward it to your preferred social network.
This book is available as an ebook
Find out more about Thurman at www.thurmangreco.com
This is what liberation looks like.
Symbolism
The Tower – protection
The Explosion – lightning has struck
22 Drops of Gold – destructive firestorm or grace
Lightening – for good or ill
Flames – destruction
Tilted Crown – loss of self-importance
Black Sky – loss of the horizon
Falling Figures – the fallout disaster can bring
Getting to Know the Tower
The Tower is dreaded and often misunderstood. You’ve been stopped on the spot and are now in the midst of huge shift. It’s time to change the way you have been living.
When some kind of upheaval or collapse from an outside source occurs, you have a chance to rebuild your life. This event, while disturbing or even traumatic, is your opportunity to change. While you cannot avoid the event, you have been given a gift to move on to a better place.
Know this: The system, building, or relationship that collapsed wasn’t working very well to begin with.
Look at it this way: The disaster you’re looking at is no longer sustainable. This event was coming. For all the confusion and stress, you are at a moment in time of liberation. Go for it.
Trust this: Your event is happening for a reason. Bring on the resurrection!
Because this is a moment of awakening, take a few days to figure out the best way to move forward.
It’s time to find your new place – either physically or spiritually or both – if progress is a goal.
You may think you’ll never recover – but you will. Think of it this way: You’ve just been liberated. Caution have been thrown to the winds and your boundaries are exploded.
This is your time of personal development, happiness, and spiritual growth.
Accept this powerful event. The benefits are real even though you don’t yet understand them. It’s time to rebuild! Align and stay in the present tense.
Story
About the time Nixon plotted Watergate, my husband Tony found, and married a really cute little nineteen-year-old in a whirlwind romance. When this happened, I was upset.
After a few weeks, I realized I was young and felt my daughters and I would be better off in Texas anyway. I put Jennette, Michele, and myself and the clothes on our backs aboard a green bus carrying people, chickens, and pigs. And, actually, it was pretty easy to leave the cook books, the furniture, and china behind. We headed for San Antonio, Texas, and I never looked back. In Laredo, we switched to an American bus without the farm animals.
While I packed my daughters off to Texas, my Mexican in-laws rejoiced. They had a few parties to celebrate my departure. After all, I just wasn’t the right person for them. I didn’t drink enough and didn’t gamble at all.
And, in my heart of hearts, I never figured a Mexican divorce to be worth the paper it was printed on. Why should I even bother?
Decades later, I look back on this phase of my life and believe I did the right thing. I brought my daughters back to Texas and raised them as Americans. This was important to me and was probably my primary reason for returning home.
Energetic Balance
In the midst of a Tower event, check in with yourself. Ask yourself: How are you doing? This is also a good time to practice some slow, relaxing, rejuvenating yoga. The idea is to keep your muscles calm. Take yourself outside every day, even for a few short breaths.
Meditation
Go to your safe, private meditation place. Sit in a comfortable place where you keep your spine straight, and your shoulders relaxed. Your feet make contact with the earth, and allow the chair to support your body.
Close your eyes. Focus on your breath. Begin to relax as you breathe in and out. Observe your breath as you inhale and exhale.
You inhale and exhale more deeply. As this happens, your breathing becomes deeper, slower.
As you inhale and exhale, move your breath to focus on other body parts. As your breathing moves to different body parts, you find tension. Wherever you find this tension, exhale the stress.
As your attention moves to your arms and hands, you inhale in appreciation for all they do.
Your arms and hands relax.
As you focus your attention on your shoulders and neck, they relax. Breathe in appreciation and breathe out stress.
Take a few in-and-out breaths as you enjoy this relaxation.
Focus now on your chest area. Inhale gratitude for your heart and lungs. Exhale stress, tightness.
Move on to your abdomen. Encourage it to soften. Exhale deeply as this happens.
Notice your buttocks now. Breathe in relaxation. Allow toxins to release. .
Send gratitude to your legs, thighs, knees, lower legs, ankles. Appreciate the work they do today as they carry you where you need to go.
Focus on your feet and toes now. Send gratitude to the many bones and muscles in your feet and toes. Acknowledge the support they give and the work they do.
Encourage your breath to scan your body, removing any tension that remains. Let each breath relax you more and more.
Finally, focus on your mind and emotions. Notice your burdens: your activities, your work, your errands, your cares. As you exhale deeply, allow them to dissipate and disappear.
Send these burdens on their way.
You are in your present moment now. You are in the here and now. You feel lighter, refreshed, relaxed. Your body and mind feel free now.
Take a few inbreaths and outbreaths now. Move gently now. Let your body stir.
Open your eyes now. Look around.
You are now ready to move on in this day.
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THANKS
Thurman Greco
