The Inner Light Comes Forth
SYMBOLISM
The Hermit’s gaze is directed both inward and outward.
The lantern focuses on vigilance in the dark.
The six-pointed star represents the light within us.
The golden stave is the individual light and strength of The Hermit,
The Hermit wears gray to warn us against uncertainty.
The green-gray sky represents withdrawal from outside distraction.
The Hermit’s white beard is a disguise.
The snow represents a new beginning.
Getting to Know the Hermit
The Hermit appears in a Tarot spread because he has a message. His message: Look within for wisdom.
We find peace and contentment within ourselves.
The Hermit appears in a spread in several situations: You need to be alone and, as the querant, just can’t get the time. Or, you may be afraid of being alone. Finally, you can’t escape being alone.
Whatever the situation, The Hermit waits for you to turn to him for advice. You don’t always need a Tarot spread to work with The Hermit.
Were you ever in a situation where soul-searching helped you reach an authentic decision? Do you keep a mental/spiritual space just to quietly explore your inner thoughts? Have you ever thought, on some level, that truth waits for you?
The Hermit enters your life because you need time to process thoughts, things, and events introspectively. You leave the either/or world behind when you find truth somewhere in the middle.
Your discretion and privacy are essential so you can process what you’ve learned and what is happening to you. This gives you a chance to be at peace.
When you are grounded and centered, you can return to the crowd again.
A Story
The Hermit visited me often when I managed a food pantry in Woodstock between 2008 and 2013. The Hermit helped me find – and keep – my own-authentic light. I used it as I walked along my path.
I saw his face in the trans person who wore a fringed leather jacket, completely worn-out western boots, and sparkly apricot nail polish.
I saw his face in the old man who drove a worn-out pickup and had no money to replace it. Any repairs happening on that rig were his handiwork.
I saw his face in the expressions of the older couple who shopped weekly and shared a coat in the winter.
These people were the real deal, not just something made up, like the autographed photographs of Jesus Christ that the Christian radio station in Monterrey, Mexico, sold on the air when I was a young girl growing up in Texas.
No one could convince me of anything otherwise. Not even the woman who came up to me quietly and privately after the local writer’s group meeting in Stoneridge. She spoke her truth to me: “You wouldn’t know the face of God if He showed up wearing a sign on his chest.”
She had a right to her own opinion. After all, chances were good she read a whole lot more about God than I. No doubt she paid more attention to many more sermons than I had ever thought about listening to.
What did I know? I hadn’t been in a church in over 30 years when I walked into that Episcopal Church in Woodstock in 2005. Truth be told, I never set foot in the place on Sundays because I couldn’t take my beloved papillon, Pork Chop, with me.
And, for sure, I don’t think this lady (whose name I’ve forgotten) would ever have seen God in the faces of any of these people. Bible stories I read tell us we see God in the burning bushes (Exodus 3:2-4), in the desert (Exodus 16:10), in a manger (Luke 2:16), or in a prison cell (Acts 12:7-11). But not in a food pantry hallway.
God meets us anywhere and speaks to us in ways we understand.
People entering the food pantry brought their hearts, minds, souls, and feelings with them. I saw volumes written on their faces in the church basement: broken dreams, loss, damaged relationships, memories, apologies, new hopes, goals, starting over.
And, finally, forgiveness.
Forgiveness was God in action and faith in the food pantry. Hungry people prayed, questioned, and sought forgiveness.
I finally decided that I, too, could own up to the anxiety we all experienced. It was no longer a we/they situation. Everyone experienced the threat of hunger and lived with a primal fear created by this threat.
My constant threat? the pantry deniers closing the pantry.
Under The Hermit’s direction, I learned not to sweat the haters.
Giving up was a luxury none of us had. We worked on self-confidence, self-awareness, and our futures. One unspoken question hung in the air every pantry day.
“How am I going to get out of this mess I’m in?”
Focus In
When your life calls for a time-out to sort things out, use it. Think. Rest. Read. Meditate. Pray. Focus on the larger issues.
Sometimes you can get away. Sometimes the getaway is a mental time out in your living room.
Remember: Your light is your light. Your path is your path. After you’ve worked out things on your own, notice how much calmer and clearer things are when its over.
Withdrawing from your everyday life give you a new perspective.
Meditation
Go to your private and safe place. Settle in to your most comfortable chair or mat; whatever is the best place and position for you. Turn on some healing music. Light a candle or turn on your Himalayan salt lamp.
When you are ready to begin this meditation, remember a busy day in your life. Think of the busy-ness, the hassles, the deadlines of the day.
Now, leave all that behind you. For this short time, release your frustrations and stress.
Focus your attention on your breathing. Allow your inhales and exhales to become rhythmic and calm. Breathe in calm and positive feelings. Release toxins and negativity when you breathe out.
As you pay attention to your surroundings, notice that you are experiencing a quiet, still evening. You carry a lantern. You focus this meditation on a question that you have been trying to answer for some time now.
As you look around, you move your lantern around to familiarize yourself with your surroundings. You see a quiet area in front of you. There is a small bench waiting for you. Quietly, you walk over to the bench and seat yourself comfortably.
Somehow, you know this is a learning moment for you. You realize this learning experience a different kind of learning. You know you are going to learn –
without words
without pictures
without anything you can describe or analyze
In the silence of the moment, you receive insight which you will use. .
You sit with this moment. As you do this, you absorb the needed wisdom.
You sit quietly for a few moments and then realize it is time to return to your day.
You know you can return to this time and place anytime you want.
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The Courage of Your Convictions
SYMBOLISM
The bright yellow background stands for vitality and acting with conscious awareness.
The woman with the lion wears white to signify her purity and kindness.
The lemniscate (infinity symbol) above the woman’s head symbolizes her ability to call upon her higher self. This is the energy of the universe. Has she experienced this before in a prior lifetime?
The green landscape indicates her success.
The blue mountains in the background indicate a peak experience.
The position of the woman’s hands demonstrates hands-on healing.
The woman and the lion show the ability of the meek to overcome the mighty.
The red lion stands for power and fire.
GETTING TO KNOW STRENGTH.
Are you making your way through a risky situation? Are you overcoming fear?
For me, the Strength Card is a feminine card showing that intuition and gentle responses are more effective than sledgehammer tactics. Negotiation and balanced calm win over a seemingly impossible challenge. Call on focus, patience, and stillness when you tune into your intuition to really understand the situation.
With the Strength Card, your inner strength and courage guide you to stand firm because you are grounded. When you are steady and calm, you can win. This is better than running, hiding, or denying the situation.
Important! The Strength Card tackles anything and everything operating destructively in your life – from within or without. This includes anger, anxiety, despair, laziness, lust, and loneliness.
Patience and courage are important. With determination you live up to your potential. Self-control and faith in yourself strengthen your intuition.
Strength is an inner spiritual trait, overcoming ignorance and oppression as it solves your problems. With the Strength Card in control, tact and diplomacy work better than aggression and confrontation.
Even in the thick of things, you can stand up for yourself. The change you fight for is worth the effort.
In the end, it all comes down to forgiveness.
A STORY
One October afternoon, in 1976, I called on the Strength Card for help. I married Barry, my second husband only weeks before. Barry, myself, my two children, and a Keeshond puppy ived in an apartment near the Air Force base where Barry was stationed.
With only two days’ notice, I learned my new in-laws were coming to visit. They arrived with a list of rules and conditions. One, my new mother-in-law was a chain smoker and they were trying to wean her off cigarettes. So, “Please, no smoking.” Two, they were staying a couple of weeks. And, on and on and on. The smoking prohibition impacted us strongly because both Barry and I were smokers. What were we going to do?
We gave up the tobacco.
It wasn’t easy but, when they left, I was no longer a smoker. During their visit, I gave up a habit of a decade. And, it stuck with me for life.
With the Strength Card in my life, I overcame obstacles. I had the courage and resolve to cope with the challenges.
The Strength Card responds to loneliness, grief, anger, depression, and anxiety. Channeling the inner beast and unruly passions positively is effective. This is a time to reconcile with the negativity in your life to win the battle. In fact, negativity teaches you how strong you are.
When the weapon of choice is Strength, the potential is infinite.
FOCUS IN
Heal your own mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and mythical wellbeing. Enrich your relationship with yourself. This is definitely a time to call in Reiki.
Include complementary medicine healthcare with your self-care. Lifestyle adjustments will support your improvement. This applies to things like fatigue, feeling down, or not coping.
Throughout my life and career as a healer, I’ve seen healthcare and self-care turn people’s lives around. Miracles can happen when you care for yourself and include the Strength Card. For starters, your hair, skin, and nails improve. With sufficient sleep, yo wake up skills you didn’t even know you have.
Never forget how forgiveness fits into the picture.
MEDITATION
Go to a private, safe meditation place. Get in your most comfortable position – either on a chair or a mat.
Gently close your eyes as you begin your deep breathing pattern. Take several deep sighs of relief and relaxation. You may even have an urge to yawn.
Begin your inbreaths as you relax. Each inbreath increases your relaxation level. Each outbreath releases toxins and negativity. As you breathe, and bring more relaxation, move into your calm posture of a warm golden sun and sky. You feel a gentle breeze as it rustles white clothing.
Pay attention to the luscious green lawn beneath your feet. You see bountiful trees and shrubs in the distant meadow. You notice trees, flowers, grass. Birds, butterflies, and other insects seem to be abundantly happy.
You are in a special place.
Settling in your safe and secret space, you look down a path toward challenges and experiences. You see that you are at a place in life where you will know what is best for your future. It’s time to learn about yourself.
Find the place of greatest comfort and forgiveness.
Use your strength to feel safe now. Open your heart – both for yourself and the other. You are ready to take responsibility for your actions. You are ready to accept and forgive imperfections.
It’s time to return to your day now. You know that you can return whenever you are ready.
You are forgiven, for now and forever.
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Press On!
SYMBOLISM
The Charioteer carries a wand which he does not raise above hi head to heaven. Power, creativity, and initiative are important here as he moves on.
His hands do not hold the reins. His character controls life’s forces and his mental energy directs his passions.
The Charioteer’s belt is decorated with symbols of the planets.
His skirt has magical symbols.
The shape of the Chariot represents the material world.
The Chariot wheels are in the water while the Chariot itself sits on the water. The Charioteer gets his energy from the water (the unconscious) and from the land.
The black and white sphinxes are guardians of mystical secrets. The sphinxes stand for life’s mysteries. The black sphinx represents the night, femininity and the unconscious mind. The white sphinx stands for masculinity, conscious thought, and the sun.
The Armor show us The Charioteer is ready, and prepared for the next event.
The Crown symbolize authority and is worn on the head with a laurel wreath symbolizes victory.
The Canopy of Stars represents liberty and independence.
The Winged Sun accompanies the Charioteer on life’s journey.
GETTING TO KNOW THE CHARIOT
The Chariot shows up for graduation, new apartments, new jobs, driver’s licenses.
Energy triumphs over obstacles. You have the skills to succeed. This works especially for things like taking a test or running a race, but it’s also about your understanding your motivations.
It’s also about control and willpower.
But, there’s another thing: This all goes better with intention.
With the Chariot, you move in a new direction. That’s where the intention comes in, know where you are going. This means you set your goal and make your plans. It’s all about knowing where you’re planning to go and how you’re going to get there.
STORY
The Chariot showed up years ago when I studied Spanish. Before thi time, I used what Spanish I knew to buy groceries, chat with neighbors, protect my family’s health at the local medical clinic, and keep myself on the positive side of the law with the Federales while living in Venezuela and Mexico…
But, time passed and I was in a totally new place: a new country, a new spouse, a new job, and a completely different lifestyle.
I used Spanish in my new job but things weren’t what they could be. In my heart, I knew I was stuck and stagnant. I wasn’t learning any new words.
The situation required a goal-oriented focus and courage without heavy-handed tactics. I knew I must, finally, learn the language – not just play like it.
When I enrolled in a Spanish class at a local college, the willpower of the Chariot carried me through. I used the strength of the Chariot for the confidence and belief in myself to learn Spanish.
I knew this was going to be a time of overwork but the outcome would make the effort worthwhile. There were conflicting demands on my time and resources but i felt things would work out well in the end because I was in the driver’s seat.
I also knew that grit and determination were the things most needed to see this project through.
The Chariot helped me make this major life decision. It was time to on my life’s journey. The Chariot was an important pathway for me.
Ambition and determination helped me overcome the obstacles I found along the way and the Chariot helped me cope, develop skills and use my abilities to succeed.
Ambition and determination helped me overcome th obstacles I found along the way and the Chariot helped me cope, develop skills, and use my abilities to succeed.
I finished the classes with A’s. Even all these years later, I can still speak to people in their language. The strength of the Chariot gave me the energy to not only set goals but carry them through to success.
There are also situations where The Chariot can help you control competing forces and inner conflicts. A politician or business employee sometimes needs to settle into the situation and take the middle road and go with the flow. When this happens, follow the road where it takes you to success.
I’ve seen this work well on the local government level. Several years ago, in my community, a few buildings needed modernizing and upgrading. One building, the Highway Department Garage was a teardown and rebuilt project. Our Town Supervisor certainly had the building contractor skills. He knew how to manage the budget. One noisy faction of the community was critical. He knew how to call in The Chariot
Before it was over, Woodstock had new and improved buildings. They included a Highway Garage, Town Hall, Community Center, and the Comeau Property with the Town Clark’s Office and Supervisor’s Cottage.
The goals you achieve are important. But, don’t stop here. Other accomplishments are waiting for you in the future.
Then it’s time to ask “What’s next?”
DO THIS
Are you planning a project? Set your goal. Chart your map. Make a list.
MEDITATION
Find a safe and private location where you can get comfortable. Settle in a comfortable chair or on a flat surface.
Turn your attention to your breath. Close your eyes and focus on your inbreaths and outbreaths. As you inhale and exhale become more and more relaxed. Let your breath settle in to a calming and cleansing pattern.
You open your eyes now and see that the sun shines brightly and is high in the sky. The sun illuminates the sky in a positive yellow. This is your reliable consciousness focusing on your goal.
A star-covered canopy shelters you from the heat of the sky above.
You look around and see a path that you feel was created just for you. You know, in some way, that this path is for you to reach your goal. Your job is to stay on this path.
You see a Chariot waiting for you right underneath the canopy. Two sphinxes are stationed at the front of The Chariot. You know they represent the mysteries you experience as you travel to your goals.
The Chariot is your space and time on this project and in your life. This vehicle has a connection to your karma. As you realize this, you do not fear it. Instead, you feel empowered to work with it to your benefit.
You see the winged sun adorning the front of The Chariot. You feel that this sun will join you on your new project.
You know that this Chariot and these symbols are part of your journey as you stay on your path. They further your progress to your goal.
You realize now that the path is its own journey as you steer your course toward your success.
The landscape around The Chariot is positive and fruitful. The lawn is a lush green grass. Your path leads you along the banks of a beautiful stream.
Farther down the path, across the stream and through the park, is a city with gorgeous buildings capped with red roofs.
The path leads you to success!
You sit with this scene for a few moments while you enjoy and absort your future which is waiting for you. Get comfortable with your success and how it feels.
You know it is time to return to your day. You continue to focus on your breath while you slowly and carefully move your hands and arms, feet and legs.
You move consciously into the now of the day.
Thank you for reading this article This post is a series of seed chapters for an upcoming book I’m writing about The Tarot:
This third book “The Spirituality of the Tarot” will be available soon.
My two Tarot books, “A Healer’s Tarot Memoir” and “The Minor Arcana and the Court Cards” are available in ebook form .
You can order them at www.thurmangreco.com.
While they last…The Minor Arcana and the Court Cards
are being given with a tarot reading.
A few copies of “But for Gabriel” are available. You can order them at www.thurmangreco.com
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www.hungerisnotadisease.com
Taking Responsibility
GETTING TO KNOW THE EMPEROR
The Emperor doesn’t quibble around with what is right and what is wrong. An authority figure, he knows what is worth having. He is his own person. He is also an important father figure. And, the Emperor may be a person of authority, such as a boss. He is balanced. He brings security and conventional values.
He does these things through rules, systems, discipline, and boundaries. He develops the rules. He fosters disciplines. He creates boundaries and he honors values.
He is not afraid of conflict.
Boundaries have meaning for the Emperor. He knows when to create them and how to maintain them. He does this because he understands and respects the rules of society.
The Emperor lives authority and power. And, he likes controlling it all. He knows how to use things like structure, rules, logic, and reason.
The Emperor is thought of as a man but can also be a woman. Women are the Emperor when they structure their careers and their lives according to the rules. Women who know how to use the Emperor’ skills can find the experience to be a powerful experience.
People think of The Emperor as a warrior but, really, he is a ruler. His job description requires that he defend the boundaries and values he lives. The Emperor believes that if something is worth having, it is worth fighting for.
Whatever environment the Emperor connected with, whether it be business, government, partners, parent, he can take charge as he works with honor and tradition.
STORY
My father was the Emperor in my life. Although he was depicted as a warrior, he was a beneficient ruler.
In the Rider Waite Deck, the Emperor wore robes over a full set of armor. My father wore armor daily. His armor was a bullet proof vest and a side arm which he hid under his arm in a leather holster. When he was in public, I never saw my father without a suit coat over his armor. He even wore his armor at the breakfast table.
My father, a small-town Texas attorney, was good enough at what he did to plead a case in the Supreme Court of the United States of America in Washington, D.C. I never knew the particulars or even the names of the plaintiffs or the defendants.
What I knew was that my mother took him clothes shopping in Austin and bought a special blue serge suit and a white shirt with just the right collar and even more special, somber tie just for the occasion. And, on or about May 15, 1954, he packed himself, my mother, and myself into his late model, dark green Oldsmobile 88 and drove to Washington, D.C. to plead the case.
While we were there, he drove us around Washington, D.C. so I could see the Capitol, the White House, the Washington Monument, and the George Washington University camput.
We didn’t get out of the car to walk around the city or even stay the night in Washington, D.C.
My father, who always carried a concealed weapon, knew the martial arts of the day, served in the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover, and was in the OSS during World War II, did not call attention to himself.
He didn’t want to be noticed by anyone because he was constantly on the lookout for trouble. And, for him, crowds meant trouble. He saw things and people and could pick a person out of a crowd and recognize him/her as “trouble”. This was an attitude I grew up with.
After riding around Washington, D.C. all day, we ate dinner at a fish restaurant, O’Donnell’s. Fish was not readily available in my hometown so my father loved the meal. I don’t remember what fish dish he ordered, but I do remember that when he ordered for us, he asked the waitress: “Do you have jalapenos?”
They were served at every meal in our home. Mother drove across the bridge into Villa Acuna and bought large, #10 cans of them in a bodega there.
After dinner, he drove us to Salisbury, Maryland, and we stayed in the Wicomico Hotel.
The next morning, he put on his fancy new suit, shirt, tie, shoes, and drove back to Washington, D.C. to plead his case before Justices Robert Jackson, Harold Burton, Fred M. Vinson, Hugo Black, Tom C. Clark, Sherman Minton, Stanley Forman Reed, Felix Frankfurther, and William O. Douglas, the Supreme Court Justices of the day.
Then he returned to the hotel in Salisbury, paid the bill, picked us up, and drove home to Texas. He drove nonstop taking the short route through Arkansas.
He returned home to his practice which was primarily civil but included criminal cases because he provided whatever services his small town Texas clients needed.
At a time when women in Texas had few rights, my father was known area-wide for doing much for his clients. In divorce cases, he had a reputation for taking everything for his female clients, especially if there were children involved. The first thing he did was clean out the checking account leaving fifteen cents for the divorcing husband. The washing machine went where the children went.
I recall that every day he used the word “ethical” somehow.
FOCUS IN
What is your relationship to responsibility? Journal about this masculine energy.
MEDITATION
**This meditation is most effective when practiced in the morning. The goal is a meditation that is tranquil and quiet.**
Find a quit and safe place which will be distraction-free.
The goal here is to find a supportive and stable place where you can sit comfortably on the floor or recline on a cushioned chair.
You want to be both relaxed and alert so you can go about your activities with a positive, focused attitude.
Once you are seated, encourage your body to feel at ease while remaining aware. Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose. Hold this breath in and breathe out, feel the support and comfort where you are resting.
Connect to this place. Allow your breathing continue to connect you to this place and this day.
These in-an-out breaths clear away mental stress and clutter. They steady you for the coming events, both scheduled and unscheduled.
Take a moment to settle your intention for the day. Prepare yourself to continue through your coming schedule with clarity and positive intent.
Close your eyes and take calming in and out breaths for a few moments. Take a centering outbreath now to center yourself. Continue with your attitude of calm and positivity.
Take a deep inbreath now and appreciate your readiness for your schedule today.
Bring to mind a powerful attitude reflecting how you will move through the coming hours. Let this attitude resonate with your inner self.
You know it is time for you to move forward with your schedule today. Know that you can return to this meditation whenever you want. Meanwhile,
Take a deep breath to release any negativity. Wiggle your fingers. Open your eyes and proceed with your day.
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Adventure! The Journey Begins
GETTING TO KNOW THE FOOL
For me, The Fool is not a here-today-gone-tomorrow event in your life. When The Fool invites you to come along on this path, you have an opportunity to live and learn from all the other Major arcana as you travel from the Magician to The World. This is your one-way ticket to your spiritual journey.
The Fool is the most powerful card in the deck. To the Fool, what can be and what actually is, are the same.
The Fool mentors the Tarot as he journeys through all the experiences of life, changed by each experience. As The Fool Journeys through the major arcana, he journeys through the experiences of life, changed by each event.
We experience these challenges as we travel through our own life journeys, adapting and reawakening. The presence of The Fool shows up in every spread.
The Fool lives in the moment. His journeys are unintentional. This life story does not limit him.
The Fool’s appearance tells you that something new has just entered in your life. This is the new beginning you’ve been needing: opportunity, adventure, and escape.
Experiences reveal your true potential. Your new life journey with The Fool is exciting!
New challenges and projects empower you to find yourself. You now move toward spiritual self-enlightenment. Enjoy the truth right in front of you!
Because you are connected to something bitter than yourself, you feel protected. Your special, telltale attitude tells everyone you’re connected to something bitter than yourself.
STORY
Back in the 90’s I took a massage class. I’d already graduated from PMTI a decade before. Marge D’Urso, my reflexology guru, taught a new kind of massage.
Our class was small, only about 8 students. Including Elizabeth. While the rest of us were trying to learn new massage strokes and more about the body systems, Elizabeth flew through the class. It seemed the information went from Marge’s mouth straight to her brain. She absorbed the information through the pores of her skin. Elizabeth was on a path.
Elizabeth somehow found a source of untapped potential and was making a new start in life. She jumped into the unknown with both feet!
After a while, Marge had us each gathering our list of people for our clinicals. While we scrounged around looking for people, Elizabeth had lists of names and phone numbers of people who seemingly appeared out of nowhere to be on her list to receive a massage.
A couple of people in the class began to get a little jealous.
I didn’t. I saw her situation for what it was: Marge’s massage class was a new beginning for Elizabeth. She was on a path. More specifically, Elizabeth was a modern-day personification of the age-old Tarot card “The Fool”.
While the rest of us word comfortable student clothing (jeans or sweatpants), Elizabeth came to every class dressed richly, celebrating her total openness to life and anything on the curriculum that day. More importantly, Elizabeth wore gorgeous shoes. She wore sandals with 4-inch heels, or wedge-soled pumps. Elizabeth’s shoes celebrated life, love, and reflexology.
Each class was a new opportunity for her to learn whatever new thing Marge set out for us. Elizabeth was fearless!. .
Elizabeth was an innocent student absorbing the wisdom of the class. This set her apart. She was a separate category all by herself. When I saw this, I realized that this “separateness” meant she fit anywhere and everywhere.
She was a totally free spirit.
How did this happen? She saw through the illusions and took a chance on knowledge, peace, and, finally, liberation!
But Elizabeth didn’t travel alone. Her companions and friends supported her. Her experiences supported her without controlling her. Her healing skills became symbols of power.
When the rest of us were afraid to move forward using our new skills, Elizabeth saw that the new things she learned represented possibilities and opportunities, even in new learning territory and difficult chapters.
Elizabeth’s fool energy stood for her inner spiritual freedom that allowed her to enjoy her new skills, accomplishments, and avoid entrapment.
If Elizabeth was afraid of unexpected surprises along the way, she never let any of us know. Her confidence and idealism seemed to allow her to be ready for everything.
When the class ended, Elizabeth embarked on the next leg of her journey. She danced along to her career unafraid of surprises which might be on their way. She went job hunting, carrying her ubiquitous bag which I felt was certainly filled with magical opportunities.
Time passed.
The last time I spoke with Elizabeth, she admitted that she had had several jobs before she found the best opportunity. Her confidence and idealism carried her through to the best place waiting for her.
Elizabeth and her healing embraced the world and all it had to offer. For sure Elizabeth is still out there, living the “Fool” life. She calls on us to listen to the child inside, to follow our instincts.
Was Elizabeth always right? Of course not. Do we think we understand what leads her on? No. Her “fool”ish inner core led us on.
Thank you Elizabeth, for your inspiration. Sometimes, I think you were never real. But, in the end, I know you were. All of us have a “fool” in our lives. We just need to recognize this when we see it.
You have a one-way ticket to a long-term spiritual journey which guides you a you travel from The Magician to The World.
Along the way, you will ask the big questions here: What is the meaning of life? What is your purpose?
Whatever happens or doesn’t happen, you can feel as if the answers are waiting for you. All you have to do is find them.
Celebrate this new normal.
FOCUS IN
When you meet up with The Fool, he invites you on a journey of a lifetime and for a lifetime. This experience calls for a celebration. You are embarking on your own personal spiritual journey which unlocks spiritual secrets for you.
Pick up the phone and schedule an appointment with a food reflexologist!
MEDITATION
Find a quiet, safe, and comfortable space for your meditation.
If you want, light a candle, burn incense, or turn on healing music.
Get comfortable now. Sit or lie with your spine straight. Your goal is to be comfortable enough to be unaware of your body.
Begin breathing comfortably now. Take a deep breath. Hold it for a moment. Release it. See and feel tension leave you with each in or out breath.
Take a deep breath – Hold it for a moment. Release it. See the tension leave.
Your inbreaths bring positive feelings, calm, and peace. Your outbreaths release tension, stress, negativity. Continue this breathing pattern for a few moments until you feel calm.
You notice now that you are in a parklike setting surrounded by trees, shrubbery, and plants. You see a rose bush nearby. It has a white rose bloom.
You are seated on a bench with a small dog curled up at your feet.
You look around and see that the sun is shining. The sky is a clear blue. The temperature feels comfortable.
You see snow capped mountains off in the distance.
Looking closely around the bench, you see that you are in a clearing in a forest. You see several paths leading around your bench. You realize that they are each an invitation for you.
You know that it is time for you to choose the path most attractive for you. You know that each of these paths offers a success.
You walk now to the path which you know is the one waiting for you. You know that this path is yours.
You look around and know it is time to return to your day now. You return to your bench, take a last look at the scene and return to your breathing.
You return now to the space where you found your comfortable meditation space. You know you can return to the bench, the white rose, the snow-capped mountain, and the path whenever you want.
You may decide to journal this moment to take notes for future notes.
Thanks for reading this blog post!
If you enjoy the blog, you’ll enjoy my weekly shows on YOUTUBE. This program has been running, with a few time-outs now and then, for over 15 years. My program is an entertaining and informative hour with no rehearsals. You can find it on Woodstock’s own TV channel 23 or on YOUTUBE.
My guests are people whose lives have brought them to Woodstock for a day, a week, an hour, a decade or more.
I can truthfully boast that my guests report they enjoyed the experience and will be happy to return.
Both the blog and the show are a means to healing for viewers.
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Creating as an Expression of Love
When the Empress reveals herself in a spread, the situation is full of promise and potential. Abundance is a possibility with marriage, motherhood, material gain, writing, music, creating a home, and more.
The Empress in a Tarot spread is important for anyone looking to get pregnant, foster a child, adopt a child, or seek a surrogate. This energy applies successfully to projects dealing with nurturing. This also applies to any project with creative energy and to anyone creating from the soul level.
This is a time of renewal. To make the most of your situation, plan new ideas for the future. Enjoy your creativity and make the most of your situation and abilities.
The Empress supports abundance on a material an an emotional level.
The Empress creates an environment where you can develop your own individual potential. She enables you to make the right decisions.
The message of The Empress is loud and clear: Nurturing and caregiving are essential to heal. She is the foundation of the most significant relationship in your life. This impacts all other relationships.
The Empress has all the tickets – beauty, creativity, passion. An ultimate woman in your maternal role, she is the symbol of the maid, mother, and crone. The Empress loves life unconditionally.
With The Empress, you get up close and personal with a person who nurtured something to fruition. She is at peace with herself.
The Empress uses the same energy to create a new project: a book, a TV show, a job, hobby, or anything else creative.
Plan for the future using your creative talents. Make the most of your situation and your abilities. Incorporate abundance – both materially and emotionally. Create a situation where you develop your own individual potential and make the right contribution
STORY
Rita lived in the Saugerties/Palenville area of the New York Hudson Valley before Hurricane Irene cost her everything. One day her life was normal and the next day she was homeless with nothing.
A friend we both knew, Lorene, found Rita a worn-out pickup somewhere. The owner couldn’t sell it or even give it away so Lorene got it for Rita.
Until I looked closely, I didn’t even know what color it was. I knew what color the tires were, though: slick and bald.
Rita got the pickup and the key that went with it. She put it in the ignition, turned it and the motor came to life. When the engine turned over and got into gear, Rita became The Empress.
It got her to the gas station. Hurrah!
She began her new career doing anything anybody needed to have done for $10 an hour and lunch. Rita cleaned out flooded houses and sheds and then hauled the trash to the dump. She used her computer skills when someone needed administrative work. She nurtured her way from assignment to assignment daily.
Rita’s “professional attire” came from the free store at Family of Woodstock.
She rented a room in somebody’s house and was finally no longer sleeping in the pickup.
When she worked in Woodstock on Wednesdays, Rita shopped at the pantry.
And, I will say this about Rita, she never once grumbled. Rita was a creative force working for harmony wherever she went each day. With a smile on her face, she acted as if the pantry food was the best she had ever eaten. And never, not even once, did she complain about the ancient jalopy rig she drove around.
As far as I could tell, she never lost hope. Without hope, I don’t think she would have made it to the other side – wherever that was. This hope made her a symbol of abundance.
For my part, I never asked her how she got the rig repaired and I never even looked near where the inspection sticker belonged.
Truthfully, Rita was no different from the rest of us after Hurricane Irene. She had to figure out how much of her past she could rebuild. And she had to figure out how much of the past she was simply going to close the door on as she moved into the future.
Beyond her material possessions, Rita gave up everything standing in the way of her success. She gave up her rear vision. Looking back into her past simply didn’t happen so she gave up bitterness and seeing wrong. This means she gave up waiting and putting off something because the stars and planets weren’t properly aligned. She gave up criticism, self-criticism included.
Rita was the right person in the right place in the right job to unfold her path. She lived each day as if the blessings were all around her and all she had to do was open her eyes a little wider.
Daily, she risked whatever was necessary to rebuild her life. Rita embraced the future while renouncing the past. She never quit.
Rita was the poster girl for us all. She lived each day with meaning, even in the worst situation and under the most inhumane condition.
FOCUS IN
This is a time of creative projects with profound healing and blessings. Nourish your body and soul with luxurious self-care. OR, climb a tree, or ride a carousel! Do whatever connects you with your Mother-God.
MEDITATION
Select a quiet, safe, secluded place to experience this meditation. Make yourself comfortable. This may include sitting in a comfortable chair, or resting on a pallet on the floor.
If it feels appropriate, light a candle, turn on some selected healing music, place a a favorite stone nearby.
Focus on your breathing now. Inhaling, you breathe in calm energy. As you exhale, breathe out negative energy. Continue to inhale calm energy and exhale negative energy for a few minutes as you transform you breathing into relaxation and calm.
As you close your eyes, visualize yourself walking along a smooth path. See yourself carrying suitcases, tote bags, briefcases, and other assorted packages. You feel tired and your muscles ache.
You carry your bags and luggage to an outdoor area.
As you set them down, you notice the beautiful blue sky above you. You see several puffy clouds in different sizes and shapes.
After a few moments, you notice you are feeling better. You think about the things in your baggage and packages.
You see that slowly, carefully, the baggage and packages and their contents disappear.
As this luggage, baggage, and packages and their contents disappear, you feel lighter, calmer, and freer.
The sun in the sky is moving low into the sky. The bright blue gives way to oranges, pinks, and purples.
You are aware how much calmer and more positive you are after you release these bags and their contents.
You pause for a few moments and then you stretch your arms, legs, and spine. You feel the oxygen enter your muscles. You stretch, bend, and rotate your legs.
Your arm and back muscles stretch as you move them overhead and back. You feel as if your muscles are breathing.
Soon, every muscle in your body feels refreshed from oxygen. While stretching and bending your muscles, you take in fresh air which relaxes your body and mind.
Slowly, your realize that your heavy burdens are disappearing. The release of these bags and packages give insight into how much better you feel without this weight and these issues.
You feel healed.
You are now ready to move forward as you journey down your path.
You are relaxed as you wiggle your legs, feet and toes, your arms, hands, and fingers.
You are now ready to explore promise, renewal, and plan for the future.
You are ready to develop your potential.
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Interested in Woodstock? This show has 20 years of segments about the people, the community, and subjects important to our residents.
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These recently listed articles are the seed chapters of the new book: “The Spirituality of the Tarot”.
Thanks
Thurman Greco
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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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