Future Tarot

In a recent Tarot Chat we had a querent who had recently experienced a very painful event in her life. During her reading I felt compelled to suggest a White Light Healing Visualization.

Many of us experience challenges in our own lives and I wanted to take this opportunity to share this visualization with all of you. May the white light of love, healing, and protection fill you in every moment and may peace and well-being come in with every breath.

A White Light Healing Visualization

First, make your physical body comfortable. You may prefer to sit upright or lay down. You may choose to be in a chair, on a bed, or on the floor. Be however you feel safest and most comfortable.

You do not need a great deal of time for this meditation. You could allow yourself to linger in it thirty minutes, an hour, or choose to go to sleep to it and exist in this healing space all night. But if you can only spare a few minutes at a time, those few minutes are long enough. The meditation itself, once you have become familiar with it through practice, can be done in less than a minute and how long you spend in each moment is entirely up to you. Listen to your heart and let it guide you. You’ll find yourself naturally choosing to stay in some places or speed through others and the places you linger are where you most need to be in that moment.

As you rest, comfortably, seek within yourself. Feel your physical body as it right now. Wiggle your toes and fingers. Close your eyes. Feel each breath you take fill your lungs with air. Feel your arms grow heavy, feel the muscles relax. Feel your legs, your calves, your thighs, feel your hips grow heavy. Feel your body sinking into a greater sense of calm and peace. Feel each muscle stretch and relax.

Now that you are comfortable, picture yourself sitting comfortably in a clearing. Under you are soft green grasses, and around you are trees and flowers. This is a beautiful garden, you’re safe and secluded here, it is your own private place where no one can intrude. You can invite others into this place and they will come when you ask them to but if you choose to be alone in this place no one will bother you.

As you sit there, on the cool grass, feel the warm sunlight stream through the trees. Feel the breeze caress your skin. Listen as that breeze ruffles the leaves. Smell the glorious scents around you. Taste the fresh air. Listen to the sounds you can hear. This garden is your garden and it will always look and feel exactly as you want it to. Take a moment to simply be in this place.

The sunlight gently warms your skin. In your mind’s eye, close your eyes and tilt your face toward the light. As you rest there, imagine light filling the clearing, feel the soft white light of healing energy gather around you, like the sunlight. This energy comes from everywhere, it’s drawn from the trees and flowers, it’s drawn from the grass and the earth beneath you, it’s drawn from the sky and the breeze and the air. It gathers around you in a glowing orb of white light, completely surrounding your body.

Allow the light to grow around you, enveloping you within it. Inside you breathe easily, you feel a gentle warmth on your skin, you feel the soft breeze moving through the light, you hear the beautiful sounds of nature around you, you smell the fresh, clean scents. Know that everything that exists within this light is positive and giving. It nourishes you. And within this light all sense of shadow fades.

Now, while the light surrounds you, seek out the pain and hurt within you and allow light to fill those places. Watch and feel the darkness and the shadows within you fill with glorious white light. See the darkness and shadows disappear as the light fills those places. Feel the light coming into you, filling every emptiness. Feel it flood the pores of your skin, feel it envelop the sockets of your eyes, feel it fill your lungs with every breath, feel it flood into your stomach and internal organs, feel its warmth loosen every muscle in your body, feel it healing you, soothing you, calming you. Let the light completely fill and surround you. Exist in the light, be with it for as long as you need to be in this moment.

You may choose to linger in this healing energy for as long as you wish. This sense of healing and love may be all you need at this time. When you are ready, invite into this space anyone you want to reconnect with. You may have lost a loved one, a pet, a child, a parent, a friend. Call them to you in this place and see them come to you. Greet them with open arms, embrace them and draw them into the white light that surrounds you. You may see that person now as an infant or child, clinging tightly to you as you hold them in your arms. They may be a teenager or young adult. This being may simply be a colored light, some other form, or you may simply feel and know that they are there with you.

This being exists to you in whatever way you can most comfortably be with them in this moment. However they appear to you, know that they are this being, and that you can be with them and hold them in this place for as long as you need to do so. While you are here, surrounded by the white light of love and healing you can embrace this being, feel their devoted, unwavering, unconditional love. You can, if you choose, spend time with one loved one and then the another, or be with more than one at a time, harmoniously, together. Know that their love is unconditional and they will come to you in this place whenever you ask them to.

In your arms, you can come to know them. Learn that their souls are at peace and that they hold no blame or sadness in their hearts. Feel their love surrounding you, joining with the light to fill you in every inch of your body. Spend as long as you need to here with them and know that even when you leave this place they are with you. This light of energy and healing, and their love and presence is with you always. You can choose to be in this space for as long as it suits you.

When you are ready, feel the warmth of love and light that still surrounds you. Feel the soft grass beneath you, listen to the rustling leaves, feel the breeze, hear the gentle sounds of nature. In your mind’s eye, see the beautiful garden around you. know that the light still surrounds you and with it you see all things clearly. See your loved ones as they appear to you now and know that they are safe and protected. See them held within their own white lights and guided by the loving hand of their spirit guides. Know that while they are with you always, they are cared for by the loving hands of spirit. They are safe and cherished.

Feel welcome to enjoy your garden for as long as you would like to do so. Explore and relax here. Allow yourself to feel the grass beneath you and the breeze on your skin. Smell the beautiful scents and taste the fresh cool air in this place. See the glorious flowers and trees around you and know that whenever you choose to come to this place it will be exactly as you want it to be and in this place you are always safe and protected.

If you feel it is time to return, or you are waking from having fallen asleep, take a moment to give thanks to your sanctuary and to spirit for this opportunity to connect and heal. Now, feel your physical body as it truly is. Feel your legs on the bed, chair, or floor. Feel your arms, heavy and relaxed, feel your thoughts light and at peace. Feel your lungs fill with air with each breath. Wiggle your toes and fingers then slowly open your eyes.

Take a couple of minutes to adjust as you feel the world around you. Reach with your mind and spirit and feel the white light still surrounding you, still filling you. Wrap it around your soul like a blanket as you go about the rest of your day.

Move slowly when you first come out of this meditation, and drink a glass of water. As I said earlier, you can take as long as you need to, or you can do this visualization in a spare moment. You can follow this visualization as often as you wish and know that the white light of love, healing, and protection surrounds you always. You are never without it and while you can embrace this visualization to truly see it and feel it, and to reconnect and feel at one and at peace, you are never without these things in every moment.

During a recent Wednesday morning tarot chat, Lisa had a general inquiry about her future. She noted that money is tight and her husband has been cranky. Miss Michele drew three cards (as Serenity Bly also added her intuitive insights) to show Lisa that yes, things have been bad, but they will be getting better. Lisa has also been contemplating a business trip to a networking event and wants to know if it will be a financial and practical possibility. The cards seem to tell us that, yes, the trip WILL occur!

The Past: Tower
Near Future: Death
Possible Outcome: Six of Wands

[Miss Michele] Money tight and hubby being cranky–seems like you experienced some *major* upheaval leading to that. But… as always, the bad stuff paves the way for good. You need to let go of 1). Your doubts 2). aspects of your life that aren’t working.

[Serenity Bly] You’ve had some foundation shaking going on. Unexpected changes have rocked your sense of security (and I feel that your partner feels this more than you do – personality based, not that he’s had more ground shaking but that your personality is more “go with the flow” than his is.

[Lisa] He is headstrong & I’m easy going.

[miss michele] YES, Serenity. You read my mind. It was much more of a “tower moment” for your hubby, Lisa. But it’s up to you to help him mourn and then let it pass.
As it will… I don’t usually read reversals, but death is upside down and I feel that’s significant.

[Lisa] Yeah, loss of income in our business set us way behind, negotiating new mortgage…

[Miss Michele] The Death card is almost as if I can read it as the Hanged Man… viewing things from a different perspective, waiting a bit, patiently, while you plan ahead.

[Serenity Bly] The Death is a sacrifice, not a literal Death. To make this happen you are both giving up something that has meant a great deal to you. You are forced let go of something ELSE you had been hoping for.

[Lisa] Uncanny info. I love tarot!

[Miss Michele] YES, it seems you’re clinging to something that’s not serving you or hubby. You really DO need to let it go.

[Serenity Bly] I was about to say I feel like it’s a house and you said new mortgage. I actually get an emotional resistance but I think it’s based on my personal history and not specifically the reading.

[Lisa] We’re dealing with foreclosure.

[Miss Michele] I’d like to share an interpretation from one of my favorite sites… I often trust different resources to give me the meanings I need when I need it. http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/learn/reversals/death.shtml

[Serenity Bly] Perhaps he is still clinging, or you are, but to make this trip happen you BOTH have to let go of that house.

[Lisa] So much stuff is on the brink of resolution, either way, but yeah, moving on is hard.

[Miss Michele] Six of Wands always means brighter days ahead… And unless you go to the convention, you won’t be opening yourself up to the opportunities there.
[timelesslisa] hmmm, ok… true

[Miss Michele] Find a way. Put it out to the Universe that it’s your intention.

[Lisa] great insight

[Serenity Bly] The good news is that Six of Wands is bringing you some fantastic energy and momentum. After the initial pain and grief that comes from letting go you’ll be fired up and I feel like this relates mostly to your business. You’re pulling what you need toward you (or in the case of the trip going out to get it with both hands)… I just want to add something that comes following on my thoughts about these cards. I’m compelled to add, “Take care of yourself.”

[Lisa] I’m doing my best not to stress out, thanks so much!!! Amazing!

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Concentrating on the flip of the cards, I make mental notes of the colors, the facial expressions, the attitude of the ones the Universe has chosen fit to show me as I start a new project. Tarot embraces the creative side of seekers, showing us we have unlimited sources for our inspirations. How you choose to express it is as individual as a reading and as unique as the querent. Painting? Writing? Music? All are within the creative scope of Tarot; how can we turn this energy from a reading to a manifestation of art?

I always start with colors. For me, my Gemini yellow stands out immediately in the Knight of Pentacles, Four of Wands and others in my “working” Rider-Waite Deck, demanding my attention. It attracts my eye and I’m drawn to the card to look deeper. The shade of the background color affects the reading, is it vibrant or muted? Is it a pale wash of color or something more sinister? The soft blues depicted in the Three of Cups or the midnight-black of the Devil or Nine of Swords visually invite us to stare into the card and take from it what we can to promote our art. By incorporating these colors into a drawing, we release what we’ve learned from our reading into the world.

If you are starting a new project, use them to determine what is the prevalent mood of the cards. Can they be interpreted as a dark introduction to a piece of music? Are the characters celebrating or despondent? The suits can help to determine the pace of the song: Swords are quick and agile, they lend a sharp, almost aggressive note to the music; Wands seek harmony, a melody is wrapped within its walls; Pentacles show determination and hard work, a perfect accompaniment to a complicated solo and Cups denote joy, love and the mystery of the self.

When writing, take into account the entire spread; weave a story around the beginning, middle and ending inviting the reader to join you on the journey outlined by the cards. The characters within the cards become your heroes and villains, write down their expressions as well to what is embodied in the card to help you develop their background stories. What is their hair color? Manner of dress? Are they alone? What is the most important thing they’re doing in the card: clutching at pentacles (money) or holding the hand of the one they love? By using your spread to map out a story, half the work is done for you, Tarot itself being the ultimate reflection of your own story.

Using Tarot as a tool to delve deep within your natural creativity may open new avenues. Trying journaling about the cards within your spread to see patterns evolve as you learn more about Tarot and how it fits into your life. Take the time to put your reading to work for you as a partner for your imagination as new worlds await. Good luck!

Wynter Moon

Miss Michele is doing a Horoscope Spread for 2008. At the beginning and end of each month, we will look back and see how the trends and themes indicated in the tarot manifested themselves in that month.

The year begins with the Three of Pentacles, an emphasis on work and learning in January. This card shows a financial endeavor off to a good start. With new bookkeeping and tracking software and a clear vision and goals for 2008, this card makes a lot of sense already. Miss Michele may also undertake a small home renovation project, such as painting.

February’s card warns Miss Michele to rest or she will once again fall ill. The Ten of Swords indicates forced rest or illness, as well as the possibility of a friend’s betrayal, which will, in turn, make me extremely weary and tired, and perhaps even physically ill.

Things get better in March with the Two of Cups. Either I will reconcile with the friend from February, or things will get a lot better in terms of career and business partnerships. Things with RECON may begin to come to fruition in terms of profitability as we complete our third issue under new ownership. This one will be on time and as close to perfect as three people can make a magazine!

The Four of Swords, in April, indicates yet another need for rest. I should take it easy in regard to paintball as the season launches. Spring is a time for renewal, and I will start to feel overwhelmed before the paintball season even gets into full swing. I’ll be longing for a vacation. Will it come? It looks like it will, as I drew the clarification card of The Chariot.

May brings still more travel, as the Six of Swords figures prominently. I say prominently because this is always a strong card for me, and indicates travel for business and also an escape from worry. I will be leaving behind the stress of April–things will not be as bad as I imagined. I can handle it all!

June brings the Major Arcana, Judgment. This is a scary card, as it heralds a major choice to make and a new life direction. My inner conflicts regarding my work will disappear and I will be presented with new opportunities. I will be given the chance to reinvent myself. I will also receive long overdue payments.

The Queen of Cups in July warns me to trust my intuition, perhaps in regard to decisions made in June. Coming as it does in the heart of the summer, and the paintball season, I don’t know what to make of this.

The Two of Rods, in August, reveals yet another business opportunity, and perhaps a move. Last August we were pretty sure we were going to be moving to Salt Lake City, and that never came to fruition. What will take place this year? I will be frustrated by waiting…things are in progress, but not moving rapidly enough.

September, with the Ace of Swords showing, brings whatever came up in August to fruition. The time is now.

October brings the Page of Cups. Could indicate news of a birth or a wedding.

November brings a curious Major Arcana, the Death card. I can only imagine that whatever plans were set into motion in August, culminating in September and becoming reality in October means I must release something from the past in November. Perhaps too much work or unprofitable ventures?

Finally, December 2008 brings the Queen of Rods, indicating balanced career and family interests, and, to come full circle, more career success!

The General Atmosphere for the year is indicated by the Knight of Swords. Knights typically indicate new people and changes. As we can see by the ups and downs of the 12 months, and the prominence of swords in this reading, 2008 will be a year of change. It will be a year with an emphasis on business and rapid movements, but not a lot of heartfelt emotions. It will feel as if every day and month is a battle as I fight to hold on to the present but, in reality, need to let it go for positive change to come about.

Emphasis in 2008 will be on rapid activity, some of it forced, as well as feminine influence, indicated by two Queens.

Would you like your own 13-card reading for the New Year? Now through January 31, 13-card spreads showing the themes in your life from January through December 2008 are only $10.

A “live” tarot reader charges between $25 – $50 for a reading. By getting your personalized reading from Miss Michele, you get to keep a written record of your reading, which you can refer to throughout the year, and at a much, much lower price.

Selecting a tarot reader can be scary. Before selecting Miss Michele to draw your cards, you can refer back through three months of successful, in-depth readings to see how many people have discovered the truth in Miss Michele’s readings.

Why not give it a try for the new year?

Miss Michele feels compelled to do Sher’s reading now. She’s not sure if it’s just procrastination to not do anything like ‘real’ work, but, either way, it gets the reading done!

The multi-lingual / multi-career Sher has two competing interests and wants to know which warrants her focus right now.

This is a common question. Writers, especially, seem to have a hard time letting go of their steady income to pursue their dreams. This can be wise, to make sure you have all your ducks in a row before you make the leap to full-time freelancing. But it can often pay to take chat chance.

Let’s look at Sher’s question and see what the cards say:

Hey lady M! Tis moi, Sher from AW.

So … I guess I just ask my question? Ya? ‘Kay, here goes:

I’m feeling betwixt and between and befuddled regarding two competing financial interests – writing and my “day job” as a lawyer (which is also subdivided into various competing interests – criminal, special ed, and bankruptcy to be specific). Being in something of a financial bind due to a death in the family and a divorce (major stress), I’m highly focused on money right now.

So – the question: which of all these competing interests is the best for me to focus on right now to meet my financial goals?

Gracias, amiga!

The first card, the Nine of Swords, shows the stress Sher has experienced of late. Known as the “Nightmare Card” the Nine of Swords shows sleepless nights, worries and despair. It supports what we know about a divorce and a death.

The second card, the Major Arcana Death, indicates the situation is about to change. The Nine of Swords shows a situation nearing the end of its cycle, in which your worst fears are NOT imagined. Things will work out for the better.

Miss Michele must digress for a minute for those unfamiliar with the tarot. The Death card *rarely* symbolizes a real death. In this case, it may, as Sher mentioned a death in the family *and* a divorce.

However, what the Death card really says is that Sher must let go of the past in order to pave the way for new opportunities. You’re nearing the end of the grieving process. Miss Michele can say from experience that coping with loss does get easier as time goes on. For Sher, the cards say, now is that time to start letting go, focusing on the present.

For if she does, good things await. The Queen of Pentacles relates to Sher’s inquiry about finances. The Queen symbolizes a strong businesswoman. But also a creator with a fertile imagination. This emphasis on businessownership, combined with creativity, leads me to believe that writing is the correct path right now. The Queen of Pentacles, however, also shows caregiver instincts, which would relate to Sher’s fields as a lawyer.

Just to be sure, let’s draw a clarification card asking the Tarot for additional advice…

The Three of Swords shows more turmoil and heartbreak and also cutting ties. Again, this is the tarot telling you to let go. Which leads me to believe it’s time to focus on the new path to riches–writing. I don’t think we need any further clarification on this. Keep your day job, but put your heart into your writing so you can make a clean break down the line. If you don’t, the decision could be made for you.