Ostara - Dancing Between Light And Darkness

My Limited Understanding Of Ostara

Today, some of my friends around the world celebrate the major Sabbat of Ostara, or the Spring Equinox. This is the time where the length of day and night is equal.  It’s an appropriate topic for the 2^nd Tarot Blog Hop for 2013.  However, I hadn’t the faintest clue what Ostara meant.  I had a good laugh when I remembered asking the Ostara Bloghop wrangler, Morgan Drake Eckstein http://gleamingsfromthedawn.blogspot.com/2013/03/between-light-and-darkness.html to be clearer with the topic although he tried very hard to explain that in the Northern hemisphere, people celebrated Spring and in the Southern hemisphere people celebrated Autumn.  I was thinking at that moment, “Oh dear, I am in Singapore, where we never have Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter, it was just hot, hotter and hottest.” 

So one of my friends very kindly sent me a text to share how she celebrated Ostara with fresh spring flowers, hot cross buns and painted eggs.  The light bulb came on in my head immediately, “Oh! Like Easter!”  So for my lack of understanding about Ostara, please forgive me and do visit the blogpost of my fellow Tarot bloghop neighbour, Alison Cross at http://tarot-thrones.blogspot.com/2013/03/tarot-blog-hop-ostara-2013-snowdrop.html whose blog post on the same topic, was posted before mine.

From my limited knowledge about Ostara, I will share my perspectives about the significance of Ostara as a festival that celebrates the balance between light and darkness.  If you get even more confused about Ostara after this blog post, please visit the blogs of the rest of the wonderful Tarot bloggers in the master list at http://gleamingsfromthedawn.blogspot.com/2013/03/ostara-2013-tarot-blog-hop-master-list.html  for a clearer view on the topic

Dancing Between Darkness And Light

When Morgan themed this Tarot Blog Hop topic as “Dancing between Darkness and Light”, I thought immediately of how I had begun to understand the conflicts within me and the balance I have been attempting to create to harness the right energies of my light side while embracing the opportunities to learn from the negative energies of the dark side of my character.  I had discovered more about myself through an Astrology course I had signed up for with Christiane Hayes at www.cosmictarot.co.uk .  The course was possibly the most rewarding one I had ever done because I discovered how I could turn my challenges into opportunities, and my negative traits into a positive learning experience.  The course uncovered my internal struggles between the mix of fire and water elements governing my Sun and Moon signs.  

Interestingly, I have begun to make my Tarot readings with clients more robust with what I had learnt at this course, providing more advice-centric readings to them, with the aim of turning their challenges into opportunities too.

Sun Sign Zodiac And Persona Cards

As I was born on 1^st August 1969, my Sun sign zodiac card is Leo/Strength.  The character traits of my Sun sign are not unfamiliar to me.  I am self-confident, bold and have a big personality.  However, I can be aggressive, opinionated (I can’t help being right all the time) and arrogant at times (Like I said, I can't help being right all the time!) and quite persevering.

The Sun Sign persona card is the King of Wands.  I do like the bloke.  He’s charismatic, full of energy, a born leader but can be opinionated.  I need to harness the positive energies of this King more.

Moon Sign Zodiac And Persona Cards

My Moon sign zodiac card is Pisces/Moon, which uncovers my highly sensitive personality prone to displays of overly dramatic emotions (Should I go slit my wrist now?).  As a perfectionist, I always worry that everything around me isn’t perfect enough.  That usually motivates me to push myself to work harder, but it drives everyone around me crazy as well.  I do repress my true feelings, often showing my hard exterior but am actually a big, soft teddy bear inside. Christiane added that this trait helped with nurturing my intuitive nature which in turn, helped in my Tarot reading, I guess.

My Moon Sign persona card is the Knight of Cups.  I don’t like this bloke.  He’s such a lame softie. So here’s where it gets interesting when I assessed the fine balance I needed to create within myself. 

As the Knight of Cups, I am a dreamer; I am highly sensitive, sometimes insecure and often crave attention or recognition.  How could I have not seen that coming!  This was an eye-opener for me because I found bits of my shadow self creeping up on me.  I worked extremely hard, and put every passion into what I did.  However, I get thrown into the deep abyss of dejection that impacted my motivation, when I don’t get that requisite “pat on the back”.  The conflict of the fire elements in my Sun persona card of King of Wands and the Moon persona card of Knight of Cups have actually been a major issue plaguing my life. 

I always thought that I am a self-confident go-getter who was hard as nails.  However, I had never accepted my insecurities as a Tarot reader. Every Tarot reader out there seemed so much better, more knowledgeable and more experienced.  I often wore a hard exterior of stoicism but within me, I sometimes fill myself with doubt, questioning the science of Tarot and questioning my skills as a proficient Tarot reader.   When I re-read past postings of my blogs, I saw a trend with most of the postings spent wincing about not being taken seriously as a Tarot reader, or about arrogant Tarot readers who slapped me in the face with "So what you've got a CPTR from the TCBA? I've got 30 years of tarot reading experience under my belt." Yet within the same breath, I talked with great passion about my undying love for Tarot, the fulfilling mentoring work I do with my protégés and the relationship I have built with my clients.

Man, am I mixed up!

Charting My Shadow Cards

Interestingly, I then decided to chart the opposing sign on the zodiac wheel, opposite my Sun sign zodiac card of Leo/Strength/King of Wands and I encountered the Aquarius/Star/King of Swords cards.

Now I am intrigued.

When I tried to look at the negative influences of the Aquarius/Star/King of Swords combination of cards to learn something from it, these cards alluded to the fact that I am unbending, not willing to change, impractical, emotionally repressive and quite detached.

How true. With my insecurities, I am quite repressive and would never reveal how I truly felt when I am hurt, disappointed or afraid, yet I would be upfront and honest about most things.  I had an opinion about almost everything in fact.  I am also averse to changes, and tend to cling to my comfort zone, although my King of Wands personality meant that I am a dynamic person unafraid of challenges. 

I was very proud of how I have helped to make a positive impact to the lives of my clients through Tarot, yet often, I catch myself biting my lip when I am faced with skepticism from friends and acquaintances.  I then end up not giving Sun Goddess Tarot the full marketing effort it deserved.  Recognizing this helped stop me in my tracks when I unwittingly allowed the negative energy to get the better of me.

When I charted the opposing sign opposite the zodiac wheel from my Moon sign of Pisces/Moon/Knight of Cups, the Virgo/Hermit/Knight of Pentacles showed up.  Cool!  I see the opportunities of turning the negative influence of these cards around.  The pragmatic, cautious and diligent energies of the Virgo/Hermit/Knight of Pentacles cards are balancing the dreamy, highly sensitive and emotional traits of my Moon sign.

Getting To Know Myself Better

I would like to think that when this Tarot Astrology course fell on my lap, it was the Universe’s way of trying to tell me that I could help my clients better only when I knew myself better. 

Life, like Ostara, is a celebration of balance between yin and yang, positive and negative, light and darkness.  The universe throws us the mega challenge of this balancing act so that we can hone our skills to turn every challenge into an opportunity, and turn every opportunity into a reason to live life with joy and gratitude for the abundance that surrounds us.

If you don't already think that I am schizophrenic, I am grateful that you're interested in reading my perspective on Ostara.  Don't forget to visit the blogposts of my fellow Tarot blogging friends. The master list to their blogs was appended earlier within this blog post..

About The Writer:
The writer of this blog post is a marketeer by trade, and a tarot card reader by accident. She was awarded a Certified Professional Tarot Reader qualification from the Tarot Certification Board of America (TCBA) and was recently certified as a numerologist in Singapore. A member of the American Tarot Association (ATA) and the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI), she is also a reader for the Free Tarot Network and is a mentor for the ATA.   She can be contacted at www.facebook.com/SunGoddessTarot or www.sungoddesstarot.com

The Visionary Aspect Of The Tarot Twos

It Takes Two To Clap

Today, 2^nd March 2013 is governed by the number 2 in numerology. I am also in my personal day number 2 today.  I was reminded by the energy of the number 2, that I had to be extra sensitive, tactful and patient in dealing with people at work and at home.  Whatever I had to achieve today, had to be done with proactive cooperation of the people around me.  More importantly, I had to be on hand in the background to be of help to them as well.  And I realized the energy of the number 2 today was even more powerful because it was not about haplessly waiting for someone else to ask for help, it was more about vision because I had to use my inner wisdom today to suss out the challenges of my colleagues so that I could proactively offer help. And I did.  The number 2 in all suits of Tarot, was truly, all about vision. Here's what I have learnt from them and the cards I used for this purpose are from the Morgan Greer Tarot deck.

2 Of Cups

The 2 of Cups is a classic card about vision – the vision of attaining a goal of a committed and harmonious relationship which needs to be built over time with a lot of effort.   This card is a manifestation of a partnership or relationship that is filled with positivity, deep fulfillment, connectivity, balance and harmony.  Often, when I picked this card for a client, it boded well for his or her relationship, romantic or otherwise and provided much needed hope that the current actions taken were leading to this ultimate goal of a partnership or relationship based on mutual respect and emotional satisfaction.

I always believed that destiny was in our own hands.  While the Universe had provided the opportunity, it had also gifted us with the ability to make our own choices.  If an emotionally fulfilling relationship was the goal as manifested in the 2 of Cups card, it required some measure of courage, a good balance of give and take, a compassionate and generous heart and immense patience married with a clear vision of a relationship built on great communication, trust and openness.

When I got divorced almost 15 years ago, I swore never to marry again.  However, the Universe had a strange sense of humor and decided to present me with a potential partner that I hadn’t expected to marry.  He was my rugby coach. We both had a choice to pursue a relationship or to keep it, well...coach and member of the rugby team.  Our “stars” crossed that day we had decided to pursue a relationship. My friend called it a moment of madness.  However, that was nothing.  Our marriage went through tremendous trials and tribulations and we made a conscious choice throughout to work towards that vision of a harmonious and fulfilling marriage by always having an opened communication, accepting each other’s quirks even if we didn’t understand them.

2 Of Pentacles

The 2 of Pentacles is also about vision – the vision of being able to deftly lead a well-balanced life, juggling priorities that we're all equally important and it was a card also that call for the vision of creating a sound, long-term financial savings plan.  This card is a reflection of one juggling commitments between priorities be it work, family, home, friends and finances. The card encourages one to be pragmatic and versatile when managing the demands of life. 

When I picked this card for my clients, it might sometimes point to a state of duress that my clients were under because they haven’t had the opportunity to plan ahead or they were thrown with unexpected challenges which they had to manage within a short time frame.  I used the word “deftly” which presupposes that one has skill, dexterity, versatility and vision.

When I made that choice to have a child in my early 20s, bought a small but affordable home, and start a small savings plan for Joel and myself after divorcing my first husband, I had a vision to live simply but comfortably when I am retired, without Joel depending on me because he would already be working.  This vision spurred me to ensure I stay committed to juggling my finances as efficiently as possible. And now that Joel is in the throes of leaving home after his tertiary stint at nursing school, it spurred me even more to juggle my commitments pragmatically to ensure I spend enough time with the family amidst a busy work schedule.

2 Of Wands

The 2 of Wands is definitely about vision too – the vision of manifesting a goal based on a spark of idea inferred initially by the Ace of Wands.  Inspired by this vision, this card encourages you to plan ahead, discover new ideas and evaluate your aspirations to achieve that goal.

Just like the 2 of Cups and 2 of Pentacles, the 2 of Wands assumes one needs a measure of courage to make the right choice when taking the right steps to meet the vision and attain that goal.

When our company went through various management changes, I was still focused on a vision to create great marketing work and build a highly effective team.  I made my goals measurable, taking things one step at a time.  I “educated” the bosses who were not trained as marketers, what basic marketing principles were and what we had to do to achieve our marketing objectives.  It wasn’t an easy journey but today, my bosses and I trust and respect each other for our differing skill sets and value that we bring to the company.  I believe I learnt as much from them as they have learnt from me.  The 2 of Wands card reminded me that only when we firmly believe in achieving a goal, then we would have the vision to plan ahead to attain it.

2 Of Swords

The 2 of Swords, equally like the rest of the 2s in the other suits is also about vision – the vision of making the right choice determined by clarity of thought, honesty to self and conviction to do the right thing.

The 2 of Swords is a card reflecting one making difficult choices albeit reluctantly so.  I know how it felt like to be caught between a rock and a hard place.  I have been in situations when I avoided the process of making these difficult choices and I wanted no responsibility in the consequence of these choices. 

However, this card encourages us to be more matured and to have a vision.  We need to be opened to alternative viewpoints and ideas to balance our thoughts so that we can make the right choices no matter how difficult it may be.

When Joel was offered a place in nursing school, he was determined not to be “Gaylord Focker” and spent weeks in depression weighing his thoughts between attending college at a private institution, doing his tertiary education overseas, or even starting work early.  Thankfully, with his people skills, he evaluated his options by listening to the advice of friends, family and teachers,.  He also attended career seminars and visited various tertiary institutions.  Finally, with a vision to start a private nursing practice some day in the future, he had decided to go ahead to accept a place at nursing school…much to my relief.

The Wisdom Of The Tarot 2s

As you can see, the Tarot 2s provide immense wisdom.  They encourage us to first and foremost, have a clear vision of a goal, and then boldly step up to the plate to own that responsibility of making the right choices and creating a plan to lead us to our goal.

About The Writer:

The writer of this blog post is a marketeer by trade, and a tarot card reader by accident. She was awarded a Certified Professional Tarot Reader qualification from the Tarot Certification Board of America (TCBA) and was recently certified as a numerologist in Singapore. A member of the American Tarot Association (ATA) and the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI), she is also a reader for the Free Tarot Network and is a mentor for the ATA.   She can be contacted at www.facebook.com/SunGoddessTarot or www.sungoddesstarot.com

The Psychic Medium Told Me

Have you ever read the book "The Fortune Teller Told Me" by Tiziano Terzani? It's an awesome book. Definitely a must-read. My experience this weekend reminded me about this book so I titled this blog post "The Psychic Medium Told Me".

A Stranger Called

Over the weekend, I had a call out of the blue from a total stranger who claimed to be a famous international psychic medium who had been helping the police solve crimes as well as helping families locate missing family members. He called himself a psychic intuitive. He had also been involved in a television program about psychic investigation work helping to find missing children and solving homicide cases. The only thing I watch on TV usually has a story line or is a fictitious TV series like CSI Miami, Law and Order or NCIS.  So I am not familiar with any TV programs about psychic investigators. Oh yes, there is Medium and The Ghost Whisperer too, but I can assure you the person who called me was not Jennifer Love Hewitt. 

He told me that he had chanced upon Sun Goddess Tarot while surfing the Internet and had enjoyed some of my blog posts as well as my Facebook posts. His intuition had spurred him to connect with me so he thought to ask me for a Tarot reading, and in exchange, he would do one for me.

I felt flattered but at the same time worried. My confidence suddenly took a tumble because I did wonder, "You must be kidding me! You said you are THE famous psychic medium, shouldn't you be doing your own reading then? How much more value and insights can I lend you since I have merely a few years of experience under my belt compared to you? I should be learning from you instead!". Anyway, after much persuasion, I agreed on this fair exchange. I forced myself to put my lack of confidence aside and talked myself into viewing this guy as a typical client who needed my help. I had to be professional about it and just cracked on with shuffling my cards to his question.

What My Tarot Cards Told Me About My New Psychic Medium Friend

Okay I had to admit that because of my cynical self, I had decided to pull a couple of Tarot cards to find out if this guy was for real and what were his real intentions in contacting me. The King of Cups showed up to represent him. He did typify the description of the King of Cups who was older, calm and collected. He had a nurturing disposition and was totally in tune with his intuitive side. More importantly his maturity and balanced nature came in handy particularly when I was flapping with excitement over the emails, sending him like a dozen messages expressing reasons why I might not be the right person to do a Tarot reading for him. Well, he calmly sent me a message back that said " Even if you don't trust yourself Jo, at least trust the cards."   He was so reassuring, asking me to take my time and convincing me that he felt connected to my energy. The 2 of Swords reversed showed up to represent the help he needed. He needed to make some important but clearly very difficult choices(Later, when I did an in-depth Tarot reading for him, it did indeed uncover a situation of difficult choices that he had to make at that point).  Then I pulled out an extra card asking "why me?"   Yes, my lack of confidence was talking quite loudly. The High Priestess showed up. The High Priestess represented me and my need to tap into my subconscious and inner wisdom to help this man. The High Priestess assured me of my intuitive skills and my ability to tap into the realm of higher knowledge. This card lifted that barrier between him and me. For once, I understood what it meant when he said he felt connected to my energy. I felt like I was the mouth-piece for the High Priestess.

With renewed confidence, I proceeded to do an in-depth Tarot reading for him, and combined it with a numerological assessment. As I respect his privacy, I will not discuss the reading I had done for him within this blog post. Safe to say, he was very grateful for the reading I did for him and it touched my heart when he said , " Jo, you are a wonderful and gifted Tarot reader and you must continue doing what you do because you will be making a positive impact on people's lives." I was chuffed.

The Psychic Medium Told Me

Yes he did a reading for me too. He did not use cards. He connected with my energy through my Facebook photos and very accurately described specific moments and issues within my family that are known only to members within my immediate family members. He could even accurately describe a jade bangle - a seldom worn family heirloom - which Mum gave me when I got married to my first husband. Now, how did he know about that! That bangle is seldom worn and did not appear in any of my Facebook photos. Also, this guy is living thousands of miles away from me in the US and he has never visited Singapore, so we wouldn't have had any opportunities to bump into each other on the streets.

Most importantly, he shared a vision of me and my work around Sun Goddess Tarot. It's not a vision that I will share here as it is truly personal to me but it was incredibly promising. However, it was an amazing moment for me as I was in the throes of considering a business partnership in the hope of taking my Tarot business to new heights. A few days ago, as I was weighing my options with this partnership, a friend and mentor created a Tarot spread to provide me with some advice about the partnership.   Incredulous as it may seem, this psychic medium provided the same advice that that Tarot spread had uncovered!   I am now convinced of my options. I know what I had to do now and I am even more convinced that with hard work and a measure of confidence, Sun Goddess Tarot was going to increasingly grow it's brand. Amazingly, when this business proposition was put in front of me a few weeks ago, my intuition worked overtime to form an outcome in my head, that's been predicted by both this psychic medium and the Tarot cards that my friend and mentor had read for me. I should have trusted my intuition. I am so grateful that the both of them had given me renewed confidence about my intuitive skills.

The Universe Sent Me A New Friend

So with this exchange of readings, I felt that I had gained a friend. He somewhat fell on my lap right out of the blue. Before this weekend, we didn't know each other from Adam. Yet, all it took was for some strange universal force to connect us together. I hope to catch my new friend some day on TV perhaps when I tune into a psychic detective documentary film.  It's got to be after watching Downtown Abbey though.  I am addicted to this TV series now.

If you're reading this J, I feel blessed to have er...met you.

About The Writer Of This Blog:

The writer of this blog post is a marketeer by trade and a Tarot card reader by accident. She was awarded a Certified Professional Tarot Reader qualification from the Tarot Certification Board of America (TCBA) and a Tarosophy Tarot Diploma from Tarot Professionals Ltd. She is also a certified numerologist, hence her reading style blends numerological significance with Tarot card interpretations.

A member of the American Tarot Association (ATA) and the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI), she is also a reader for the Free Tarot Network (FTN) and is a mentor for both the ATA and the FTN.

She can be contacted at www.facebook.com/SunGoddessTarot or www.sungoddesstarot.com