Reiki Flow

The Daily Draw: Page of Cups

Find Tranquility Within

Page of Cups The cups are the suit of the emotions, the imagination, love and intuition. The page is a person who is learning to work with that energy.

I’ve written about the Page of Cups a few times before. What jumps out at me this morning (besides the fish) is that choppy sea behind the page who is standing on the solid pier holding the cup. To me, that sea represents raw emotion, roiling away unchecked within. Those of us who are especially aware of our emotions know what a roller coaster ride they can be, taking us up, down and around, sometimes at great speed. When we let them have their way with us they can come out in all sorts of inconvenient ways.

But the page of cups seems oblivious to the emotional turmoil, projecting a calm, perhaps even playful, concentration. Their complete focus is on the cup and what might emerge from it. Whatever the emotional weather, there is an inner tranquillity here, and in the tranquillity the page can hear a quiet, inner voice.

The suggestion is not to rein in your emotions like the person on the Chariot might, for example, but to have your emotions instead of letting them have you. Try to observe them, learn from them, listen to what they are trying to tell you. Trying to ignore them only makes them want to grab you and shake you until you do listen. And when that happens, how can you focus on the cup?

The Daily Draw: The Page of Cups

The Daily Draw: Page of Cups, Reversed

The Daily Draw: Page of Cups Reversed

Card of the Day: Knight of Swords

Friday Night at the Right Fight Fiesta

Knight of Swords Yesterday we had the politicians (King of Wands) and today we have their critics. I did not intend to make the week about politics, but here we are. I’m even inclined to go back to Wednesday and add to the reversed Two of Cups that this could be an indication of two people with a connection being at odds with each other. Come on, we’ve all seen the photo of the Trump’s and Clinton’s canoodling at some event or other. They’ve got more in common with each other than they do with the rest of us.

Anyway, being a politician does not preclude being a critic, obviously. For example, the morning after this week’s Vice Presidential debate, the Hillary Clinton’s people released a campaign ad in which Donald Trump made one statement after another intercut with his VP denying Trump ever made that statement during the previous night’s debate. There must have been somebody editing the debate clips together even as the debate was going out live. It was as if Clinton’s people knew this was going to happen, as though her VP’s constant interruptions of his opponent were intended to exacerbate Pence into making such statements. Dare we be that cynical about politics? We dare. We dare.

Getting that ad out was quick work, as quick as a knight rushing into a storm with all the analytical (critical), insightful (picky), straightforward (opinionated), logical (coldly calculating) qualities of the Knight of Swords.

A few weeks ago I wrote a post in which I stated that everybody is right. What I didn’t say at the time is that this also means everybody is wrong. It just depends on who you ask—the people who agree with you or the people who don’t agree with you.

Social media is lousy with sword knights right now, furiously right fighting, shouting their opinions in full caps or, more likely, sharing someone else’s. Do those opinions represent facts? Of course they do! I saw them on Facebook. I didn’t make it up. Somebody else made up this meme and I agree with it. So yes, this is what I believe.

Sometimes I wonder how many people on social media realize they are sitting in front of a Google machine that can be used to check the veracity of these “facts”. There are sites that do nothing but parse every political statement to determine whether it should be rated as true, almost true, in the same time zone as truth, a Pinnochio, or a Pants on Fire (those last two are actual ratings used by fact checking sites). If you’re going to right fight, do it right.

In the end, someone is going to win, someone is going to lose, and the knights are going to keep on fighting about who should have won, who should have been jailed instead, who lied to whom about what and when, when to start the impeachment hearings, etc . Because some people just have that knight energy going for them, and sword knights know they are always right. If two sword knights disagree, those knights will fight about who’s right all night and on into the next century, or until one of them drops.

Or just…chills…out.

The Daily Draw: King of Wands

Man (or Woman) on Fire

The King of Wands is a charismatic leader who is able to inspire people to follow him along on his journey. He’s enthusiastic, and he has a talent for convincing people that he has the best plan of action for whatever needs to be done. People admire his confidence and are therefore more likely to follow him. Someone clearly believes in what they are doing can often fill a void for people who are not sure what to do. The King of Wands will fight for what is right. They are not afraid to take on the opposition.

So it’s hard not to look at this card this morning without also thinking that there are only 33 survival gear shopping days left until the US presidential election. Because really, the King of Wands has all the qualities one needs to be a high profile politician. And there’s nothing wrong with that. As a wise person once said, “it’s not the technology. It’s what you do with the technology.” Or in this case, energy.

Along with all the leadership qualities the King of Wands has, as opposed to the other kings, he (or she) has more of a propensity for narcissism with all its trappings. I’m not saying that all wand kings are like that, but there is a dark path that I have seen politicians go down time and time again. Once they are in power they cannot be seen to be unworthy of it, and they certainly can’t do anything that would cause a majority of voters to take that power away. So they will twist the truth a little here, cross their fingers while making a promise there, and get all self-righteous and angry if someone points out the flaws in their policies, despite the fact we can all see the gaping holes. As bad as the Internet can be for disseminating misinformation, it is ridiculously easy to use it to verify whether someone is telling the truth, so much so that I can’t believe everyone isn’t doing it. But then all the meme makers would go out of business, I suppose.

If you are one of these political kings, you owe it to yourself and everyone around you to have a strong sense of integrity. Remember, it’s called public service not self-service. That probably sounds like political suicide in modern politics, but some people seem to be doing a pretty good approximation of it. Granted, none of them are running for president (anymore).

The Daily Draw: Two of Cups, reversed

Build a relationship with yourself

Two of Cups Reversed Reversed cards can indicate an internal flow of the cards energy as opposed to an external flow when the card is right-side up. The Two of Cups is a card of connection, specifically at the heart chakr

a. It can indicate forming, realizing or strengthening a relationship that could be a conventional romantic relationship or could be the coming together of two kindred spirits.

When the Two of Cups is reversed the indication might be that the relationship in question is the one you have with yourself. We’ve all heard that this is the most important relationship you’ll ever have, but how many of us really live that. Do we give ourselves the time to get to know ourselves, the space to love ourselves, or are we too busy giving our time and energy to everyone around us that we are lucky to have a few drops of that essence left to us at the end of the day. We feel drained from trying to give people the love and respect we long for ourselves.

Many of us are conditioned to think that focusing on yourself is a sign of being selfish. Technically it is, but is that such a bad thing? Some authorities in our lives want us to believe that it is, and begrudgers will agree. Why is that? Maybe it’s because you might stop listening to those external influences and start listening more to yourself, which would translate into recognizing their authority less and recognizing your own, and your higher power(s) more.

Treat yourself as well as you would like others to treat you. Be open and honest with yourself, see the light and the shadow and love it all unconditionally. There may be changes you want to make, but you can still love yourself while you’re making those changes. It certainly feels better than criticizing yourself for not being enough until you reach some ideal notion of who you should be. Your journey is where you are every day, you do not need to withhold approval of yourself until you reach your goal.

There is great healing power in loving, respecting, and accepting yourself. That power radiates outwards as well as in, making it so much easier to show those qualities to others. When you truly feel them within you, you can give with much more resilient energy.

The Daily Draw: Three of Pentacles

What’s the difference between the people on the Three of Pentacles and a group of council workers? The people on the Three of Pentacles are standing around idle after the job is done. Although another difference could be that they are assessing the job they just finished as opposed to wondering how long they can stretch their tea break.

Thank you council workers for letting me borrow your stereotype for a few minutes. my point is that this card represents the energy of cooperative effort, as when a group of people come together to build a house, organize a charity event, put on a play or go to their day jobs where teamwork might be an essential part of the process. There are some things you can’t even start without the help of others.

Most of us are quite happy being individuals and have our own way of doing things. teamwork requires compromise. There needs to be a common set of rules and standards. but it’s also a great learning opportunity to see how others approach their work. Plus we all have our own skills, strengths and weaknesses. When we combine our efforts the resulting synergy can be greater than the sum of it’s parts.

The Daily Draw: Nine of Cups

Nine of Cups The RWS version of the None of Cups features a very satisfied looking person sitting on a bench with all his cups on display above and behind him. The card seems to say that this guy has it all and he knows it. And why not? However he acquired this collection the fact is he has it, so why shouldn’t he enjoy it. How often do we strive to reach a place like this only to sabotage ourselves by listening to the internal critic who tell us we aren’t really deserving, it won’t last, there’s more to do, blah blah blah.

What’s in the cups? Since this is the suit of the emotions it hardly matters. What does matter is how he feels about what’s in the cups. They make him happy, so it doesn’t matter whether they are nine Oscars or nine bales of string. They might even represent the love he feels for and from the people in his life. Either way he’s delighted with himself, satisfied, maybe even a little smug. Let him have his moment.

If this is your moment, let yourself enjoy it. As with any other card this isn’t the finish line, although you could be forgiven for feeling like it is. But no, everything is transient, so if you have the opportunity to feel this energy, indulge yourself. Let yourself embrace it fully. You deserve it.

The Daily Draw: Knight of Pentacles, Reversed

Let it Be

Knight of Pentacles Reversed When the album “Let it Be” wasn’t (that’s not a typo) released between “The Beatles” (white album) and “Abbey Road”, various unofficial bootleg tapes of the recording sessions began circulating. They were fascinating to listen to. Up until this point we, the public, had been presented with a mostly perfect image of four successful pop musicians who could pretty much do no wrong (even when they did) and went about their work with good cheer. The “Let it Be” bootlegs were the sound of that band falling apart. In between unpolished versions of the better known songs were many half played jams on old chestnuts and a bit of monkey business such as Lennon taking the mick out of McCartney by doing square dance calls as Paul tried to take the lads through “Teddy Boy”.

There was also a lot of talking. It was not the animated conversation of people working toward a shared goal. It sounded more like bored acquaintances waiting for the morning bus. At one point, while trying to lead the rest of the band out of yet another jam into yet another take of “Let it Be”, McCartney says, “Come on lads, back to the drudgery.” To which Lennon snaps. “It’s you McCartney. You’re the one making it drudgery.”

Hands up anyone who equates being a Beatle with drudgery. Yeah, I didn’t think so. And yet by the winter of 1969, at a point when in seven years they’d produced ten albums and umpteen singles (most with different songs than the albums) they’d apparently had enough, and confirmed that after their next and last album “Abbey Road”.

Some of you may be confused at this point. “Let it Be” was released after “Abbey Road” but recorded before. It was a low point for them, so much so that they couldn’t quite bring themselves to release it—twice. There was even a detailed, planted (I assume) story in Rolling Stone describing how the master tapes had been kidnapped, held for ransom and accidentally erased by an airport metal detector upon their return. Don’t bother Googling that. I only know about it because I read the original article shortly after the incident supposedly happened. Talk about covering your tracks. Anyway, after the band broke up John Lennon gave the tapes to Phil Spector to see if he could do anything with what Lennon referred to as a pile of shit.

So, what does all this have to do with the Knight of Pentacles being reversed? Well, the Knight of Pentacles is a workhorse on a workhorse, so to speak. And for the most part that suits this knight. He is all about manifesting in the material world—planting trees, building houses, recording albums (the producing product part as opposed to the joy of creativity part). This knight works away all day every day. And folks, let’s face it, you can focus on that and only that for only so long before you burn out, before you forget why you wanted to make widgets in the first place, before you feel stuck in an apparently endless rut of drudgery.

If even the Beatles could get fed up with being a Beatle because it turned into a seven day a week grind, then what chance do the rest of us have in sustaining full-time career choices for decades without taking the shine off them? Take a break before you burn out. Cultivate other interests. Take inventory—are there still things you enjoy or find worthwhile about the career path you’re on? It might be time to move to something different. What excites you? What are you interested in. The days when our parents would get a job and stay in it for 45 years seem well and truly over.

The trick is to know when it’s the right time to move on so you can leave on a high instead of bottoming out on a low. “Abbey Road” is a perfect example of leaving on a high.

The Daily Draw: Four of Pentacles

It’s All I Have

On the Four of Pentacles we see a seated person holding tightly to four large coins, with a facial expression that says, “Don’t even think about trying to take these away from me.” So it’s an easy read that this person is closed off and miserly. The indication is this person is clinging to material possessions represented by the pentacles, or he is blocked at the crown, heart and root chakras, so pretty much closed off to every other thing in this world and the next. Misanthropic much?

But as synchronicity would have it, I have recently had opportunity to widen my perspective on this card and see that, while standing behind everything I said in the first paragraph, there is more to this story. The person on this card is actually quite vulnerable. The attitude suggests otherwise, but look at the environment. The scene is set outside of a large town or city, and this person is seated on a stone bench, or perhaps just a block, along what looks like a road. By that description we can start to see that maybe he has fallen on hard times. Let’s remember that we are only one card away from the Five of Pentacles, a card in which people feel so hopeless they cannot even see the help that is available to them.

Judging by the clothes, this person is used to the finer things in life, even if they are looking a bit ragged. So why is he sitting outside like a bag person? Surely if he had a home he would be keeping his coins there and not clutching them on the street where he is a sitting target for a gang mugging. Maybe he is recently homeless and maybe this is all he has left. We could interpret this to mean that perhaps his world has changed so much, he is grasping the few remaining things that remind him of the way things used to be when he was in his prime and life was good (for him anyway).

The fact is, change is one of the few things you can count on—it will happen and you won’t escape it, one way or another. The person on the Four of Cups seems to be trying to stop it, but I hope we all know that effort will do him no good. You can roll with the changes or you can get rolled by them. If this person doesn’t find another way to deal with the change he’s trying to avoid, then we will no doubt see him in the next card.

The Daily Draw: Five of Wands, Reversed

wands5_rx Five of Wands, Reversed: You know that BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ energy when the TV is on in one room, the radio is on in the next, three people are trying to talk across each other, the kids are bouncing off the walls and you’re climbing them? Here it is in this card. You could get caught up in some “he-said, she-said” sibling rivalry with your children where either side could be the victim, the pretender, or both. The baby could pick today to discover the joys of emptying a jar of sudocream over himself. Maybe someone dings your car in the parking lot and drive’s off, leaving you fuming and frustrated. You’re friend says “it could have been worse”. The two of you don’t speak for fifteen minutes.

You meet someone on the street who you don’t particularly like and definitely don’t trust – they’re always trying to one-up you, attempting to steal your business accounts, coveting your partner, whatever. However, you might feel like you need to keep the peace with them for the sake of your family or social circle. Perhaps they feel the same way about you. So there you stand, having a conversation where you try to lean as much as you can about each other’s business while giving away as little as possible, all the while putting on a forced smile.

I recently experienced another example of this card’s energy when I attempted to buy coffee at an unfamiliar shop. The first conflict came when I moved out of the queue to inspect what was on offer at the other end of the counter. This resulted in people behind me being served AND in me being accused of skipping the queue, two mutually exclusive concepts one might think. Next, one might expect two white coffees to appear practically identical, but in this instance one looked as expected and the other had about an inch less liquid and no white froth. “I ordered two white coffees”, I said. “These are two white coffees”, came the insistent reply. A little incredulous, I pointed out how unlikely it was that these were both the same type of coffee since one of them could be “none more black” (as David St. Hubbins would say). The server grunted something I did not take as an apology and removed herself to the back of the room. Not long after, a second server appeared with an actual white coffee and an explanation that there was a fault with the machine, which was now corrected. Sure, it was a frustrating hassle for a few minutes, but it’s only coffee. No one died.

With the card reversed, you could be internalizing this cards energy more than usual, or it could be an indication that your sensitivity is telling you there is more of that energy out there than there actually is. And you might want to contemplate why you feel that way, but you can also unplug from the outside world, put on some relaxing music, meditate, or just having a glass of wine if the universe lets you away with it. You’re allowed to chill out and recharge your batteries.

If you don’t have time or space for quiet seclusion, don’t forget to breathe and stay grounded. Tomorrow is another day.

The Daily Draw: Ten of Cups

Don’t Be Distracted by the Drama

The ten of Cups is the completion of the cycle of matters of the heart, love, emotion, intuition. You can see this illustrated in the RWS deck by a joyous family beneath a rainbow of cups. It’s all good, you are blessed, you have joy, peace and no drama. Of course it’s a lot easier to write about drama because there’s…drama, and any good story has at least some drama. The Ten of Cups delivers a conspicuous lack of drama.

As you are probably aware, most families experience a certain amount of drama and conflict on a regular basis. Someone is born, someone dies, someone is sick, someone is going off to college, someone is coming back from a deployment overseas, the cat ate the neighbor’s hamster, the police are here again, etc. etc…and that’s just the threshold. In some homes, for example, the dinner table is covered in a residue of tension and animal fat.

The day-to-day stuff can make family life seem like the polar opposite of the Ten of Cups. But if you’re not seeing all the colors of the cup rainbow that doesn’t mean they are not there. Maybe you’re distracted by some temporary drama,

Perhaps in extreme rare cases there are families who would be better off disbanding and moving to different time zones, but generally speaking, no matter how much drama and conflict there seems to be , whether you feel taken for granted, overcriticized, or just get on each other’s nerves we would all say we love our families.

The Ten of Cups is at the core of every family, even if it is buried deep in the clouds of whatever narrative is being played out. Because we know it’s there, and because we’re healers, we dissipate our own clouds and try to help others shift theirs so that everyone can see the rainbow.