I apologize for the delay of this weeks Tarot Card.  I usually pull the card on Sunday evening and then write about it.  Instead of blogging I was out celebrating my birthday with a fabulous group of babes!  One of the areas of my life that is filled with abundance is my friends.  I have amazing friends and I love them all so much.  Not too shabby indeedy!!!!!

Without further ado….here are the cards for the week.

This week I pulled from Doreen Virtues Goddess Guidance Oracle Cards.

Two cards came flying out as I shuffled:  Aphrodite and Mother Mary

Inner Goddess:  "Awaken the goddess within you through dance, self care, and appreciating your divinity."

Message From Aphrodite:  "Allow your inner feminine wisdom and dynamic beauty to rise to the surface.  Cherish its power and meaningfulness.  No mater whether your physical body is male or female, you have an inner femininity that nurtures you, and guides you with its intuitive principles.  Now is the time to become aware of, take excellent care of, and celebrate your magnificence!"

Various Meanings of This Card:  Balance your male energy with more female energy * Take steps to heal your sexuality * Enjoy being feminine * Dance more often * Be receptive * In relationships, allow your softer side to come forward * Don’t hide your femininity (dress in a more feminine way, for example).

About Aphrodite (pronounced Af-roh-DY-tee):  Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of passion and love, who’s associated with the planet Venus.  Aphrodite’s name means "foam born," as legend says that she sprang from her father Uranus’s castrated genitals, which were cast into the ocean.  Thus, Aphrodite represents unabashed female sexual energy.  Aphrodite helps women feel comfortable with their bodies and sexuality.  She helps both genders to experience more passion in their relationships, and to become more balanced as far as individual male-female energy is concerned.

And now for the second card….

MOTHER MARY

Expect a Miracle:  Have faith that your prayers have been heard and are being answered."

Message From Mother Mary:  "Faith is the light that illuminates your pathway.  Without faith, the future looks very frightening.  That’s why it’s essential for you to take whatever steps are necessary to keep your mind and heart filled with faith.  Please don’t give up hope on yourself or other people.  Keep the candle of faith burning within your soul, as the one small inkling of hope can eradicate the darkness of despair.  Be the light that eliminates someone else’s gloomy hopelessness as well.  For as you make others stronger, it strengthens not only yourself but the entire world."

Various Meanings of This Card:  Let go of worrisome thoughts * Keep your thoughts positive * Notice and follow and Divine guidance you may receive * Pray * Engage in spiritual healing.

About Mother Mary:  She’s the beloved mother of Christ who’s known as the "queen of the angels" for her ongoing and miraculous healing work.  Mary works closely with anyone who is a child advocate, teacher, or healer.  She loves children, and is devoted to making the world a safe and happy place for them.  If you’d like to help children, ask Mother Mary for a Divine assignment.

Wow…interesting combination. 

This reminds me of some of the inner conflicts that I have felt, and sometimes still feel, and conflicts that I know others experience.  These conflicts were very strong when I had small children.  After a day of school, barf and diapers…I could not connect with my inner passion.  I just felt sucked dry.  I was definitely connected with the "doing for others" side of life….but my own inner goddess world was tucked away. 

Connecting with my inner goddess was like:
"Are you f*cking kidding me?  I just want to go to sleep!"

or

"Wear something beautiful and feminine?  Are you kidding me?  Everything I own has barf on it!"

or

"Nurture myself?  Maybe after I get the boys fed, bathed, changed, fed again…oh, changed again…ugh…bathed again…fed again…crap, gotta do laundry…now I need to write my term paper…"

What is interesting to me about how these two cards work together is that when folks disconnect from a passionate life, a life filled with personal expression and beauty….there is sometimes a disconnection with faith.  There is a feeling of internal chaos…and an inability to connect with inner light and/or to connect with the light in others.

Lives are very busy.  Work, kids, houses to keep up with, bills to pay, people to take care of, on and on….sometimes this intensity of our lives "busy-ness" leads some to feel hopeless and disconnected with passion. 

So, dear readers…I invite you to sit quiet for a moment and listen to the wisdom these two goddesses have to share with you personally.  These cards are for you!  If your thoughts wander towards other people; "Oh man, my friend really needs to hear this!" or whatever…bring your thoughts back to yourself.  YOURSELF!!!!  YOU!!!!! 

What does Aphrodite want to say to you?

Does she have words of wisdom that might expand your connection to more passion?

Is there something that you could do, right now, that would bring a deeper connection of beauty into your life?

What does Mother Mary want to say to you?

Does she have some words of wisdom that might connect you more fully to faith…to the knowing that all is well?

Is there something that you could do, right now, that might tune you in more deeply with your own inner Divine guidance?

Would love to hear from you:)
Have a fabulous day!

Okie Dokie fabulous readers…hope you had a fab weekend!  I did!  I am feeling a bit droopy right now though…went out for margaritas and blogging just ain’t feeling the same as it usually does:)

This weeks cards were picked from the The Housewives Tarot: A Domestic Divination Kit with Deck and Instruction Book.

For this week three cards came flying out of the deck. This can be interpreted as:
"past, present and future"
or as
"What you have just completed, what you are sitting in… in the present, and what you are moving towards"
or
…whatever your little heart desires:)

So…without further ado~

ACE OF sWORDS
Challenges * Trials * Upcoming Ordeals

"Getting right to the point, the Ace of Swords warns of an upcoming ordeal that will test your "metal." A slice of gumption with a dollop of common sense will get you through whatever trial comes your way.  Your mind is sharp and ready for a challenge, so don’t be afraid to take on those who try to cut you out of the picture."

Now for the present:)

FIVE OF WANDS
Competition * Struggle * Inner Strength

"Growth and progress five way to inevitable conflict.  The Five of Wands depicts a weary housewife besieged by household appliances.  These domestic assailants seek to overwhelm her just when things were going her way.  You may need to reach deep inside yourself to discover what it is that makes you stand out.  Which secret weapon will leave your competition in the dust."

And now for the energy that is moving in…

FOUR OF SWORDS
Retreat * Revitalize * Reinvent

"Times have been rough.  Your outlook is wrinkled and your spirit is sagging.  The Four of Swords is a sign that it’s time to retreat and reinvent yourself before you are fit to be seen in public again.  try ex foliating your frown, moisturizing your morale, and rejuvenation with some relaxation.  Give your attitude and overall face-lift.  With proper pampering, you’ll emerge revitalized–friends will be dazzled by the "new you."

Yikes!  Lots of cards with sharp pointy edges…lots of swords and a wand!  Hmmmmmm~ 

Well, I have my own personal interpretation of what this means to me…

Howz about you?

Feel like sharing?

I am not in the mood….I think two margaritas is too much for me these days…I have become a lightweight!  So, I think that it is time to go watch "Desperate Housewives" and see who is sleeping with whom…and who else might be down in someones freezer…or who’s body might be in someone’s trunk!

Bye for now….

Yesterday, I blogged about procrastination and the limiting beliefs that are behind much of these sorts of behaviors.

There are other possibilities as well!

Sometimes folks procrastinate because there is some sort of inner wisdom saying:

"Don’t do that yet!" 
or
"The timing is not quite optimal…hold up a sec!"
or 
"There is something better around the corner…wait to take action!"

And if you are someone who is….cough…thick headed (like me!) instead of hearing inner wisdom you hear a distorted voice–I will call this my inner rat fink– that is talking louder then the voice of wisdom:

"You are so lazy…just get up and finish this!"
or
"Your procrastinating again…and your a life coach…you shouldn’t be doin’ that!"
or
"You are making excuses why you shouldn’t be doin’ this….wisdom….ya, right!"

Now, much of the time I can hear the difference between my inner wisdom and my inner rat fink!  But, if there is a charge in there…a limiting belief of what is possible for me….forget about it!  I can’t hear the wisdom if it walked up to me and yelled in my face!

I will give you an example of something that happened to me recently.

My fella and I pay a zillion dollars for our crappy health insurance.  We are both self employed so this has become quite a huge financial drain for us.  We have been looking at changing companies…finding one that is less expensive and maybe even offers some coverage.  Well, we were thinkin about putting me on my fellas plan.  That would save us a little money. 

I got the paper work…and put the enormous packet on the kitchen table.  I don’t like paperwork on the kitchen table…so, I thought that this would help "inspire" me to fill it out.  Well, a few weeks went by and some how that paperwork was a magnet for other papers…mainly mail that I was not into looking at.  Catalogs…magazines…a million offers for credit cards.  After about a month of this weird sort of paper magnet creating havoc on the kitchen table, I decided to go through and sort everything.

Oops!   I had forgotten about the packet.  So, I put it somewhere else.  I told myself that I would do it on Saturday.  Of course, Saturday came and went and I remembered that I had told myself that I would fill out the forms…I had absolutely no inspiration to do this.

At this point, my inner rat fink came out and started fussin’ at me.  Blah Blah Blah!!!!

Well, to end this rather long story…about a week ago, I saw a commercial on TV advertising a health insurance company.  I felt inspired to look it up on line.  Liked what I saw.  My fella called the next day…we did everything over the phone!  We were approved yesterday and now we will be saving more money then we would have if I had stayed with my fellas company. 

Now, as far as I am concerned, this "procrastination" was my inner wisdom telling me to hold up…there is something better right around the corner!  Too bad I waisted a couple of weeks beating myself up for procrastinating!

So, how about you?

Ever put something off and later found out that this was inner guidance?

Ever put something off to later find out that something even better came along?

How about putting something off that you later found out would have been a big problem if you had followed through?

Something to think about!
Sometimes procrastination is the voice of wisdom.  And instead of beating ourselves up…we could be sitting in trust and gratitude of this brilliant inner voice…instead of listening to our inner rat fink!

Have an inspired day!

Ah procrastination!

One of the most hilarious lines I have heard is:  "Why do today what I can put off until tomorrow!"

In fact, I whip that line out once in awhile for myself~

So, what is behind procrastination?  What stands in front of our ability to get those things done…those things we say we want to do?  Who’s voice is it that says "Nah, you need to clean the toilet before you write that article…or go to the gym…or paint that painting!"?

When I sit in procrastination, I start telling my self all sorts of lovely things like:
"You are just being lazy!"
"You have no will power!"
"What the hell is wrong with you…just get off your ass and finish it!"

Who’s voice is this?

Well, folks…it ain’t just one persons voice…its my mom’s and a particular nun from grade school. 

And when these voices start to speak…I tend to do one of two things: I either start rebelling..my personal favorite, or I shut down…not so fun!  At least when I rebel, there is a feeling of action…a feeling that energy is moving.  When I shut down, I stop completely.

Now. I must say that this blog on procrastination has taken me two days to write, because of procrastination….hmmmmmmmmmmm wonder if I am sitting in something.   Nah!!!!!!

As I work with many different types of people from all over the world…procrastination shows up…no matter what!  And I gotta tell ya…none of these folks are lazy.  Not a one. 
They are motivated, inspired people who want to feel good, healthy and free. 

So…what the hell is procrastination all about?

I think behind ALL procrastination is some sort of limiting belief.  Some voice saying something nasty. Our internal critic some how yankin’ our chain!!!

So what do we do with these voices?

I believe that annihilation is the only choice!

Clearing out that voice that tells us that something we want, is to be feared!  This voice gives us the feeling that we have the foot on the gas and the foot on the break! 

The voice:  "Yes I want that!"
The opposing voice: "Uh….no I don’t!!"

The voice:  "This will be so good for me!"
The opposing voice:  "Uh..nope…there is too much at stake here!"

The voice: "If I go for this I will be free!"
The opposing voice:  "NO!  If you go for this you will loose your identity!"

Ah, so much internal conflict!

So, how do we move past this internal conflict in the guise of procrastination?

The first step…is ALWAYS to notice. 
Noticing what you are telling yourself is key.  Noticing who’s voice is behind the critic can also be helpful.  It not only gives you someone to blame (and that always feels better than despair!)…it also gives you a way to dialog with this voice.  Challenging your thinking is a great way to shift this.

So…here are some questions to ask yourself:
*These questions come from Byran Katie : The Work

!.  Is it true? (yes or no)
2.  Can I absolutely know that its true? (yes or no)
3.  How do I react when I think this thought?
4.  Who would I be without this thought?

These questions will support you in pokin’ some holes in your thinking…which will give you a chance to think something else.  Maybe you can even create a new story that supports who you want to be….actually, a story that supports who you really are!!!! 

Limiting beliefs are mostly lies.  Its time to recognize these lies!  Its time to tell a new story!

Procrastination shines a light on lots of inner conflict….much of the time the conflict is between who we have been told we are vs. who we really are!

So, dear readers…who are ya really?
If you took away some of those limiting beliefs…what would be possible?
If you were unable to even think those limiting beliefs what would you be, do and have?

I welcome your comments!

Well, Ladies and Gents…this IS gonna Rune your day for sure. 
This is a tricky Rune and one with great insight. 
SO, take a deep breath or a shot of tequila and lets take a gander on the dark side….

CONSTRAINT
NECESSITY
PAIN

"The necessity of learning to deal with severe constraint is the lesson of Nauthiz.  This Rune represents the obstacles we create for ourselves as well as those we encounter in the world around us.  Both can be equally difficult to handle.

The role of Nauthiz is to identify our shadow, our dark or repressed side, places where growth has been stunted, resulting in weaknesses that are often projected onto others. DON’T TAKE THIS WORLD PERSONALLY.  Rune is saying:  work with the shadow, examine what it is in your nature that attracts hardship or misfortune in your life.  When at last you can look upon the Rune of Constraint with a smile, you will recognize the troubles, denials and setbacks of life as your teachers, guides and allies.

This is a time to pay off old debts, to restore, if not harmony, at least balance.  So mend, restore, redress:  When fisherman can’t go to sea they repair nets.  Let the constraints of the time serve you in righting your relationship to your Self.  Be mindful that rectification must come before progress.  And as always, consider the uses of adversity."

Well….thats not all.  This rune was pulled in reverse…so, take another breath…and here we go!

Reversed
"As part of the Cycle of Initiation, Nauthiz is the great teacher disguised as the bringer of pain and limitation.  It has been said that only at the moment of greatest darkness do we become aware of the light within and come to recognize the true creative power of the self.

Thus you are required to undergo the dark side of your passage and bring it into the light.  Controlling your anger, restraining your impulses, keeping your faith firm–all this is at issue here.  Modesty and good temper are essential at such a challenging time."

You still with me?
Barely?  Thats OK..this can be a challenging Rune for folks. 

When I pulled the Rune and read the text, I thought…wow, this is so up for me and up for many of my clients and friends.

Here is how it has been playing out in my little life lately!  I was cruzin right along, feeling healthy…building up my strength… feeling so good about how much I had been healing.  Feeling really confident, getting things done, movin’ and a shakin’…and maybe, just maybe, feeling a little cocky… then out of the blue, BAM…last week I started hurting again.

So, I spent a day or so, in full compassion…saying things like:
"It’s OK this will pass, it always does." 
or
"Stay with this Lynne, your body is wise and knows what its doing."
or
"Your body is working very hard, lets just rest and take it easy."

Blah
Blah
Blah

By day three of pretty severe pain….I stopped talking to friends, canceled clients and withdrew into movie land. 

Oh, and during the first few days, I was totally lying about how I was feeling to myself, my fella and friends:

"Oh, its not as bad as it used to be…I am sure I will feel better tomorrow!"

Meanwhile…the pain was so bad that I was sweating and the hair on my arms was standing up!  Way to be a lying sack of potatoes!  Talk about denial!

My compassion for myself left the building.

My thoughts went more like this: 
"Lynne, you totally suck!  All this inner work you have been doing…what a load of crap!" 
"Your not healing…you will never get better!"

Then, I started yelling at the Universe: 
"Stupid universe…what the hell are you doing out there? You totally suck"

Then I started yelling at my non-physical friends:
"Hey guides and angels…what the hell are you guys doing?  Get off your butts and help me out here! I mean COME ON!!!!!"

After I exhausted myself with my mini temper tantrum, I decided to stop yelling at the universe (though that did feel pretty good for a bit!).  I took a bunch of slow, deep breaths…did a ton of tapping and settled down. 

My shadow around this is that when I am in pain for too many days in a row, I start judging myself very ruthlessly.  I completely forget that I am worthy…just cuz.  I tend to attach worthiness to my ability to perform my job, my chores, my writing, my whatever…connecting it to what I DO…rather than who I BE. 

Its like, once I start hurting, I get this strange sort of amnesia…I forget that I am lovable, and fabulous and hilarious…and compassionate and WORTHY!  And worst of all, I stop being in love with ME.  I treat myself terrible…I would never treat anyone as badly as I treat myself!

Sometimes I can connect with the light and with wisdom.  Other times, not so much!  This health blip really shoves me up against the wall and beats the shit out of me….until I come back to myself. Once I come back to me,  I may be in pain…but, I am feeling kindness and love towards myself.  Not always easy to reach this place.  I still have many conditions that I impose on myself that determine whether I am worth self love or not!  Pretty damned brutal indeed!

How about you?
Where in your inner world, are you denying your shadow? 
What is in your nature that attracts hardship?
What have you disowned within yourself, that is wreaking havoc in your life?

This is an optimal time to visit these places and do some healing work on them~

Bye for now!

This weekend, my fella and I watched the movie "Wyatt Earp".  I had no idea how long this movie was gonna last…or I would have never watched it.  It lasted about 4 billion hours. 

The movie was a traditional sorta shoot em up, ‘we are dudes and bad ass’ kinda cowboy movie. The writers did explore some interesting women, though they were always in the role of supporting the men. I did enjoy the sets and the beautiful costumes!

The character, Wyatt Earp became one of the Marshall’s in Dodge City…which was a very rough place to hang out in!  I realize that this character was seen as a heroic figure. Him and his men curbed much of the violence that was happening…for a brief time. I think the women were way more heroic then he was…though that is a different blog!

To me this movie depicted Wyatt as a shut down, emotionally fragile fella who was a bit trigger happy and shot people when "theys wouldn’t folla the law!" Most of the time he was very black and white in his thinkin’. "Yous not to carry weapons in this town!"  If the dude refused to give up his gun….BAM he was shot!  Never give a fragile fella a gun…thats my motto!

One thing that he said stayed with me though.

He said that some folks were deliberate and some folks were affable.  Now the deliberate dudes, like Wyatt, just shot people immediately without "wastin’ time on talkin!’" They were not real liked by them towns folks!  Whereas the affable dudes talked and got along well with people. Almost every one of these guys was killed by the end of the movie. 

Well this got me thinkin!

(Sorry I can’t stop writin’ without a southern cowboy sorta drawl!!!)

Anyways, as I was sayin’…this got me thinkin’…I know many folks who are very deliberate and many who are affable.  Some are a mix of both.  Now, the folks I know that are deliberate…really do shoot first and ask questions later.  They decide on things and go for it.  When they want something…they focus and make it happen!  Anybody who gets in their way of what they want…better watch out! They get mad at folks and let it rip. 

As for the affable folks, they tend to have better people skills, finding a common ground is very important to them and they are more interested in the relationship with others, then gettin’ their way.  As you probably can tell…I am definitely more on affable side. 

So, if I had been in this movie I would be dead!  Friendly, well liked…but, dead!!!! 

So, what I’m thinkin’ here is this…don’t we want to be a bit of both?  I mean, even on a political scale…isn’t Bushy boy just shootin at the hips…being deliberate…"Yous guys either with me or yous guys are against me!"  Not affable at all!  Actually, the man has no skill as a statesman whatsoever! 

In this culture we really think deliberate is heroic.  Shoot now and talk later!  Or go for the big bucks…doesn’t matter who you plow over to get what you want.  I don’t think this mind set is very heroic at all!  I think we need to be more than that.  I think it is about blending the two…deliberate and affable…along with the addition of many other skills!

I realize that at this point in my life, I am definitely working to learn how to be more deliberate.  I like the idea of being a focused creator…though I am not very interested in mowin folks down to get my way.  My mind just doesn’t work that way.  For me, it is about becoming more deliberate in my actions…when I have an idea, I tend to over think things and then I sorta run out of steam.  My intention is to spend less time thinking over and over again about an idea and take more swift, clear action.  As for being affable…that comes naturally to me.  That will be there no matter what I do!

So, how about you? 
What is your tendency…do you lean towards deliberate or towards affable?
If you were to consider strengthening the less dominate of the two…how would you go about that?
When you move through the world, what actions do you perceive as heroic? 
Do you ever see yourself as heroic?  If so, what occurred to make you feel this way?

I would love to hear your thoughts about this.

Have a fabulously deliberate and affable day!