Uncertainty Whammy

Tarottteaching.com

“Always remember striving and struggling proceeds success in the dictionary.” ~ Susan Ban Breathnach

 

“Shake the burden that comes from seeing your baby steps as a necessary discipline.  See them, instead, as optional dance moves, in life's conga line, that spark miracles, open floodgates, and lead to the near effortless manifestations of I now have my owns. “ ~ Notes from The Universe - TUT

 

Uncertainty Whammy, or UW as it is commonly referred to, falls under a group of hex spells that causes a person to be skeptical, doubtful and unsure of making a decision.  Left untreated the long term prognosis is grave.  Research shows that the infected person ultimately never lives out their dreams and become spiritually stagnate.    Those interviewed with a tertiary infection of UW, describe it to be like having a scratch on a record album or CD playing out in their head; a voice keeps playing that same spot discouraging them from even leaning or inching their toe forward toward their dream.  Observed, the person relies on carefully prescribed maps recommended by others rather than self-exploration and being open to the unexpected.
 

UW is considered to be an opportunistic spell that seems to take advantage of certain situations.   Researchers have been unable to dissect the original source of this spell, but many studies conclude that all people are at risk and reactions vary person to person. 

The signs and symptoms of UW vary depending on which of the three stages it presents (i.e., primary, secondary and tertiary).  Most people are born with primary stage UW.  They begin to show outward symptoms during early childhood and are described as an awakening to spirit.  These symptoms are considered socially good and are often encouraged.  Those having primary UW are described as having analytical traits to discern simple information and can easily identify, make and follow through with a decision.  Most of these decisions are made unconsciously and spontaneously.  An example of primary UW would be deciding what color of socks to wear or what kind of cereal to eat or what rock you like.  Secondary UW, the infected person begins to have problems making choices.  Often, this is due to environmental factors such as options made by others, time pressure, higher stakes, or increased vagueness of not knowing where the choice will lead.  This may lead to difficulties because the person begins to shut down to the aspect of the unknown and the unplanned.  Those interviewed with secondary UW say they are more likely to “go with the flow” rather than choose an unfamiliar path.

Tertiary UW can be seen in early art such as the Fresco painting in Villa of the Mysteries (Pompeii, Italy), the 9 of swords in the tarot deck, The Nightmare by Henri Fuseli and Picasso’s Weeping Woman.  The person becomes trapped to a repertoire of voices all coming within their head.  Those interviewed stated that a past image or voice (e.g., parent, teacher, and etc.) takes control and they become immobilized. 

~#~

I’ve been cutting up pieces for a baby quilt I’m making for a new cousin.  Going through several bins of fabric I found 4 completed wagon wheels a friend of mine gave me.  They’ve been sitting around for over ten years.  I decided to cut them up into 4 inch strips and sew them to complementary solids and calicos from my stash.  I’m not following any quilt pattern other than the quilt needs to end up 36 inches by 51 inches.  I’ve no idea how this quilt will turn out since I’ve decided to work this way.  I’m uncertain, but hoping for the best. 

I suppose if I’d thought of this quilting project in context to the pictures above, I’d say it looks bleak with no positive outcomes.  I don’t know if I’d really start it or even set the material down on the table to be cut out.  Within my mind I’d see all the worst case scenarios acted out that include hearing voices from the past saying: it’s a waste of fabric, looks ugly and it will be hidden in a closet; better yet, the quilt will be given away to Good Will or Salvation Army… Note - none of this is real.  All of this negativity would be played out in my mind stopping me from moving forward.  I become like the person in this image – trapped and afraid to take the risk of stepping forward. 

When it comes to spirituality and living a magical life, I know that I’m not alone when it comes to being open to where Motherfather Spirit takes me.  I’ve talked to several friends who didn’t pursue their dreams because they were imprisoned by the “What ifs.”  It is easier to stick with the sure path that is often dictated by the norm.  For me, it’s the whole stepping out into the unknown; doing something for the first time that causes me to get that sickening feeling.  My mind grips to some past images and “What people will say” that seems takes control.  I end up losing my heart compass; I end up not following my intuition.

I can remember the first time I was told a crystal could talk.  The societal norm would say "Really?”  I too was very skeptical with my scientific method.  However, by allowing myself to be open to other possibilities and realities I find myself becoming more flexible to the boulders and challenges put on my path.  When I listen to my heart somehow I manage to find new solutions and the details seem to fall into place.  It’s not that I don’t hear my mind’s litany singing the “Pit of Despair;” I just don’t let it be in control.  When I’m listening to my heart, I’m living out the magical life.

~#~

The Geese

By Jane Mead 

slicing this frozen sky know

where they are going—

and want to get there.

Their call, both strange

and familiar, calls

to the strange and familiar

heart, and the landscape

becomes the landscape

of being, which becomes

the bright silos and snowy

fields over which the nuanced

and muscular geese

are calling—while time

and the heart take measure.

 ~#~

Activity

Stepping out of your comfort zone

• Make a list of all your “I could never do…..”  Don’t list the reasons why – just list “I could never do….”
• Choose one from the list and say yes to it.  If you don’t know how you are going to do it – just let Motherfather Spirit take over.
• If the chorus begins, just let them sing.  Think of them as a song you don’t like that is playing on the radio, because you’re waiting for the secret message for the day.
• Do a small step to begin.  Example: you want to take a cruise – go on-line to see the different types of cruises.  Begin to create a I can do creative visualization sheild. 

What's so funny, 'bout peace, love and understanding

Elvis Costello and Elmo on Sesame Street

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” ~ Albert Enstein

  “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”  ~ Carl Jung


I have been really thinking about what is going around me lately.  Trying to explain things I believe in (e.g., social justice, why PBS should be funded, why just having lists of women's names in a binder are limiting, why healthcare should be for everyone, a process model everyone can use, cookie ingredients, relationships, why human trafficking needs to end, why access to birth control and emergency contraceptives is important ....fill in the blank) Well it all gets messed up..... 

I find myself coming back to living out of love.  Specifically, thinking about the act of giving and receiving love.  And, it is very hard down here on earth to at least keep in balance. 

If we were to believe we are all precious beings of love rather than having an attitude of accomodation - maybe we would get along better.  I've been meditating a lot on the balance between the iron and pearl pentagam and how to reclaim unity.  I keep coming back to trying to fully understanding how the Love Spell works.

Elvis Cstello - well he says it all.   Check it out.  What's so funny 'about peace, love and understanding. 

Transformation – giving up the caterpillar suit.

Monarch Butterfly Site

"Every exit is an entry somewhere else." - Tom Stoppard

"Perhaps the Egyptians chose the beetle as a god of creation, and not some more noble creature, because that lowly image hints at the possibility that transformation begins at the bottom level and attains the highest."  — Normandi Ellis in Dreams of Isis

“One cannot become a butterfly by remaining a caterpillar.” ~Anonymous

I’ve been sitting on my porch mourning the loss of my Ash.  There’s a circle of dirt where she used to stand.  The leaves in my neighborhood are turning orange and burnt red; I miss seeing hers turn yellow.  I wonder where my winter bird feeders will hang without her outstretched arms.  And, know that next summer my house will be hotter without her shade.    I wonder who will take her place.

In my front bed garden, there’s a lone Monarch dancing between the last butterfly bush flowers and the browning white coneflowers.  I think, “Honey you aren’t going to make it to Mexico.”  I know it isn’t thinking this; it isn’t like me who’d be obsessing over these thoughts like wondering if I had enough money for gas and snacks to make it to Mexico and did I remember to pack my passport and contact lens case.  No.  I know the Monarch is living for the moment like it did when it hung up-side-down in that dark cocoon.   Because death is inevitable; everything dies.  It’s part of the great carbon nitrogen cycle.    

Part of magical living is to gracefully revolving around the transformation cycle.

~#~

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” ~Maya Angelou

“What the caterpillar perceives is the end, to the butterfly is just the beginning.” ~Anonymous

~#~

Admit it.  When you see this card, you hear the sound effects from the Psycho knife scene (Hitchcock, 1960) Your stomach lurches and you want to run in the opposite direction.   We see ”Death” as the end, a termination, going bust with no more tomorrows or the final words seen after the last paragraph in a book that we loved reading;  that cake that got lost in the rain and you’ll never have that recipe again (Summers, 1978); or that beloved sweater that has a hole in it; or trying to figure out what to do now that your retirement funds have bottomed out.  The same can be said anytime we have to change, we mourn the loss of doing something familiar and it’s hard to let go.  It's hard to let go of our caterpillar suit.

But death isn’t really like that.  It’s all in how your see it and how you deal with it. A CCWWW knows it is healthy to mourn the loss and is respectful of how painful change may be.  But, they also know death is about an entrance to something new.  It’s about transformation and hope like the phoenix rise from the ashes. A CCWWW can see change as the next step to a life make over like getting a new hairdo or a new clothing style.  A CCWWW sees themselves as a forever student in magical living and part of growing includes changing in mind, body and spirit.

~#~

Changing Woman

By Annie Finch

If we change as she is changing,

if she changes as we change

(If she changes, I am changing)

Who is changing, as I bend

down to what the sky has sent us?

(Is she changing, or the same?)

~#~

Joseph Campbell stated,  “We're not on our journey to save the world but to save ourselves. But in doing that you save the world.”  A CCWWW knows this and tries to live out their life in a different way.  They work out of their heart versus their mind and ego.  They live by knowing themselves and in a way that doesn't hurt others or the enviornment.  A CCWWW knows that by healing themselves they heal the world.  Or as Mahatma Gandhi said: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

~#~

NOTE:  A CCWWW knows sometimes it is hard to grieve loss alone.  Sometimes change brings about depression and you feel like you’ve hit rock bottom.  A CCWWW knows that as a wise leader who sets examples by showing others that it’s okay to seek out help from a licensed counselor or social work.  A CCWWW also knows the local hotline or can share the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (24/7) 1-800-273-TALK(8255). 

 

 

You say talisman and I say amulet….. Turbulence, Tempestuous – Lets call the whole thing off.

“Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.”  ~Mahatma Gandhi

“Thus, we see that one of the obvious origins of human disagreement lies in the use of noises for words.”  ~ Alfred Korzybski

“The last sound on the worthless earth will be two human beings trying to launch a homemade space-ship and already quarreling about where they are going next.” ~ William Faulkner

~#~

When written in Hebrew, the Bible has many names for God.  Is one better than another?  I don’t know, but in English one is mainly written – “God.”  The same can be said about the word love.  In Italian, Greek and other languages in the world there are many, but in English we have only one.  I think sometimes we get too caught up in using the right word and we end up quarreling about who is right.  Ultimately someone’s feelings get hurt and bridges get burnt and wars fought.

Take for example the words Amulet and Talisman, according to Webster’s Dictionary:

Amulet: a charm (as an ornament) often inscribed with a magic incantation or symbol to aid the wearer or protect against evil (as disease or witchcraft).

Talisman: 1: an object held to act as a charm to avert evil and bring good fortune. 2: something producing apparently magical or miraculous effects. 

Note: on Talisman comes from the Greek word Teleo which means "to consecrate.”

I seem to think of these two items as one as the same which to some I would be quite wrong.  I also feel I tend to use talisman more often; perhaps it is due to my exposure of this word in the books I read growing up.  In some of my reference books, they clearly identify a distinction between the two.  A talisman must be charged with magic whereas the amulet has the magic in it.  In others, they use the word interchangeably.    Both cases, they agree like I do that you need to do a blessing/consecration ceremony to let the object know what it is intended to be used for.    

~#~

A friend sent the Dali Lama’s quote to me on Facebook.  Unknowingly this has come at a good time.  My work has become a turbulent and tempestuous environment.  I’m finding myself working with people who have different values than me.  They seem to see work as products that need to be checked off by some random date rather than how I see it as something that will make a difference and something of quality.  (As I’ve spoken before I see my work is an extension of Motherfather Spirit.)  I really try to practice the Dali Lama’s philosophy, but more often than not I get pushed off my chair and my blood pressure is racing.  The same can be said about how I practice my spirituality; sadly this is one of the reasons why I end up practicing in a solo kind of way.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be in community.  But, if I’ve found that if I walk away angry and upset after a meeting; or I feel like I’m being spoon fed knowledge and others aren’t opened to a different point of view; I’m treated more of like a guest, or I’m coasting along for the ride than perhaps it is better to evolve alone.      

It takes a lot of courage to walk away.  In doing so, I believe you’re strengthening your heart chakra and practicing the love and kindness spells.  Ultimately, you are following that master law of the universe: you reap what you sow.   Your small act could be the tipping factor in helping the universe be a nicer place to live.

Okay – so walking away from your job isn’t so easy.  The only way I've found to cope is to think out of the box.  I always say to myself: how I can be like Merryweather who can change a curse into a more positive outcome (Disney, Sleeping Beauty).    And, for added protection I hang an evil eye (talisman/amulet) in my office charged to ward off nastiness.   Worst case scenario - I sprinkle salt on the floors before leaving to help absorb the negativity - the cleaning crew come and sweep it up.   

In those meetings where you know you will never win - I've taken up meditating - so hum....... and a walk during lunch.

~#~

Activity

So Hum meditation is a contemplative meditation.  So means "I am" and Hum means "that."  I really like my own meaning - this whole negative conflict is - so hum.....this office in-fighting is - so hum.....

Breath in thinking "so."  When you exhale think "hum."

So Hum meditation

Auntie Grace’s Shortbread Mixed with Peace and Love.

Basic Shortbread

2 cups of sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon each of baking powder and salt
1 cup of softened butter unsalted (2 sticks)
1/2 cup of confectioner sugar sifted.

Addition:

2 tsp ground coriander - for peace and protection
Grated zest from one large lemon - for love, purification and blessings
1/2 tsp of lemon extract
2 Tbsp or fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350.

Sift together flour, baking powder, dried coriander and salt. Cream butter and sugar til light and fluffy.  Add in lemon zest.  Add flour mixture and then add in lemon juice and lemon extract.  Pat dough into 9"x9" ungreased pan. Place your hands over the pan and imagine the intent as being there already.  Bake 20-25 minutes.

Cut into squares. 

Storytellers, Singers, Poets and Bards

The Boyhood of Raleigh by Sir John Everett Milais 1870, Tate London

“How impressionable and vulnerable we are in the faith of a single story.” ~ Chimamanda Adichie

“If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. “ ~ Barry Lopez, in Crow and Weasel

“It takes a thousand voices to tell a single story.” ~ Native American saying

“In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story.” ~ Walter Cronkite

~#~

I like a good storyteller, singer, poet or bard (I’ll refer to now as storyteller).  A day off from work in the winter equates to snuggling up in an afghan with my nose in a book.  And that dreaded housework, blast some good songs out and it seems to get my mind off scrubbing the tub.  Every culture has someone who has these gifts that go beyond entertainment.  This person is able to manipulate their medium to instill moral lessons and provide inspiration to move us beyond what we are.  A good storyteller makes you say: what if or I can do that or how can I change the world?

One thing I have enjoyed this past year is reading all the blogs on the Pagan Blog Project.  Each person has been my guide in shaping my journey towards the Light.  Each has continued to challenge me to review my personal truth and stories and most often changing my perspective in how I live magically.  The Pagan Blog Project has allowed me to hear multiple stories from different and the same faith tradition.  Each is a piece of the puzzle or a beautiful square in a quilt to wrap around myself.

I think it is human nature to want one way of knowing – a single story to hang our witch’s (name your faith) hat on. I believe it’s very easy to resist hearing others’ ways of seeing holy and spiritual even when you are practicing the same faith tradition.  When we do this, I believe we’re ending up with an incomplete story.  Our story becomes one dimensional and dulled as we look through our single lens.  And, ultimately what winds up happening is discord and lack of respect for those who have a different story because we are in The Only Truth zone – us versus them.  I believe our experience is flattened by this dependency of having one story or one recipe for the truth. 

I recently read the minutes of a spirituality group I’m part of.  I’m not able to attend many meetings due to being a soccer mother and going to college.  I was very saddened to hear a person who offered to teach for the evening was disrespected.  The teacher was presenting an element of his practice.   Apparently, there was a lot of heckling and jeering to make him lose his train of thought.  The more I read the minutes; I felt the audience was caught up in their single lens story and not opened to hearing something new.

I’m guilty of immersing myself in a single story.  I tend to fall back to my favorite books and authors that started my journey.  The same can be said on the Pagan Blog Project.  I’ve found myself leaning to the familiar – specifically looking at what my age group is saying and those with similar practices.  When I have caught myself doing this – with purpose I get on the home page and read subject matter that I’m not familiar with.  I have discovered ideas that I are strengthening my magical living - such as learning about Norse faith, seeing Goddess symbols out in nature, learning more about herbs, or learning new ways to celebrate the holidays. 

Activity:

Pick a spiritual subject and read three different blogs about the subject.

Go to a meet-up on a spiritual topic and be open to learn something new.

Raven

Common Raven.  Learn more about this bird at All About Birds

The raven flapped his wings, and, croaking his satisfaction, hopped to the feet of his master, and there held his bill open, ready for snapping up such lumps of meat as he should throw him. Of these he received about a score in rapid succession, without the smallest discomposure.

'That's all,' said Barnaby.

'More!' cried Grip. 'More!'" (Ch. 17) Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens

~#~ 

Truthfully, I think this bird gets a bad rap.  People see it flying around and immediately think doom and gloom.  These black birds are only looking for easy food.  They're scavengers eating up carrion - helping to clean up the place - doing humanity a community service.

When I see a raven, I tend to think: be alert something is about to happen.  My belief is more in line with how the Native Americans (Hopi) see them – they are bringers of light and communicate the mysteries.

Maybe its their black feathers that cause people to jump to the wrong conclusion.  Similarly, this seems to be the tendency in how we treat anyone who may be a little different or doesn't do things in a certain way.

Perhaps we should be more like the raven and see the opportunities from our differences.  Be more open rather than my way or the highway in are approach with others when working on solving problems.    

~#~   

Lady Macbeth by John Singer Sargent

Spoken by Lady Macbeth, Macbeth Act 1 Scene 5

 The raven himself is hoarse

 That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan

 Under my battlements. Come, you spirits

 That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,

 And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full

 Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;

 Stop up the access and passage to remorse,

 That no compunctious visitings of nature

 Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between

 The effect and it! Come to my woman’s breasts,

 And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,

 Wherever in your sightless substances

 You wait on nature’s mischief! Come, thick night,

 And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,

 That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,

 Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,

 To cry ‘Hold, hold!’

~#~

One of my favorite readings of the Raven by Poe read byVincent Price 

Rice Reflections & Reike

Rice Experiemt BEMS

This past summer I did the Masaru Emoto’s Rice Experiment.  The assumption behind the experiment is that words and thoughts do have an effect on you mind, body and spirit.  There are three jars labeled the following: “I hate you,” “I love you,” and nothing.  The results from Emoto’s experiment showed that the jar with “I hate you” gradually rots away by turning black and moldy.  The “I love you” jar remains white and unmolded.   My outcome wasn’t as dramatic as those I saw on Youtube or other blogs. 

In my experiment the jar that developed the mold first was the jar that was ignored. 

  ~#~

In the fields of child abuse and domestic violence, emotional abuse is often harder to prove in a court of law.  It is easy to see physical, verbal and sexual abuse.  Reading the newspapers and watching the news you learn this type of evidence is readily collected.  However, for emotional abuse an expert witness in psychology or behavioral science is pulled in to discuss this.  I believe it’s because it is hard to identify with our senses like say DNA or pictures of bruises.

What has been documented is mental and emotional abuse leaves long lasting scars that connects to how you see yourself – your inner truth.  The messages sent through abuse have been shown to affect the person’s self-confidence and self-esteem and the ability to make and keep friends.  This type of abuse also affects the person’s aura (electromagnetic field surrounding the body).  Unhealed, the trauma causes energy blockages in the chakra and aura systems and can eventually cause disease. 

~#~

In the ‘90s my friend C and I took Reiki together.  She had taken several courses in healing touch therapy and was far more serious than me.  I went along for the ride – so to speak – in taking this class. 

For those unfamiliar with this healing method, Reiki was developed by a Japanese Buddhist monk, Mikao Usui.  It is similar to “laying of hands.”  The attuned healer uses their hands to look for areas where the body’s energy is weak.  Then acting as conduit or go-between allows the healing energy from MotherFather Spirit to go through them into the area that needs healing.  Reiki has been used to assist in healing chakra and aura systems. 

I’ve mainly used this healing on myself and my cats.  I’ve found this type of healing loving and where I’ve felt stuck emotionally – a release. 

See youtube video on how Reiki is used for healing.  (Windancer8. Reiki Session as seen by Aura Video camera. 29 Aug. 2009 Web. 6 Oct. 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfAfNwRmUjE)

~#~

I reflect back on my life and how I’ve received some of the hateful words spoken into the jar of rice.  I too have spoken these words against others.  These words are angry energy that keeps recycling back and forth damaging my chakras and auric system. 

The rice experiment makes me think twice at how I speak or think about others.  It makes me think of the Golden rule and witches rede and the saying what goes around comes around or point a finger and three point back to you. 

I wonder how do we stop this?  My first belief is to heal myself.

Activity:

Listen to Reiki healing music

Candle – Aura Cleaning - I've also used this for cleaning my house.

Pink Candle – anointed with rose oil (love)

Black Candle – anointed with lavender oil (purification)

On the dark night of the moon, anoint the black candle with lavender oil.  Hold the candle in your hands and ask for the negativity that surrounds you to be removed.  Place it in the candle holder up-side-down.  Anoint the Pink candle with rose oil.  Hold this candle in your hands asking for love and healing to replace the negative energy.  Place this candle right-side-up in a candle holder

Light both candles reciting: "By the power of all that is light and all that is love I command that I be cleared of all negativity and to be cleansed and purified in the light of love – so mote it be.” 

(Note – these words aren't mine - I've modified them over the years.”)