The Magical Mundane: 2014

Oct 17, 2014

The Hierophants Secrets

This post is part of an October writing challenge: Writing the Wisdom of Your Soul hosted by Lyn Thurman of the Inner Goddess Revolution. Every weekday in October, she is providing blog prompts inspired by the major arcana of tarot. The deck I am using is the Universal Fantasy Tarot. I hope you will enjoy this journey with me. Love and Blessings!

The Hierophants Secrets

For this assignment we are to write on the Hierophant as a spiritual mentor and what knowledge we have to share as we channel this character of the Tarot. While I feel I have plenty of knowledge to share, and do so whether people want to here it or not, I am still always learning and growing. When walking a spiritual path, whether Pagan or from a main stream Judaic religion, one must always be open to learning and growth. Otherwise we become stagnant and lackadaisical in our spiritual life.

That would be my number one secret of the universe, Always Reach Higher. Channel the hierophant by constantly reading not only books related to your faith but those of others, of our history as humans, of cultures, ancient and modern. Learn, learn, and learn more. When something contradicts what you believe in or something you read elsewhere, dig deeper. Find out why people believe what they do. What research or studies were done? Then evaluate how that applies to you and your faith. Be open to change and acceptance of new ideas if they call to you.This is my number two secret to the universe, Always Trust Your Soul. It knows on a subconscious level what you need and why. Feed it and it will grow.

I hope my secrets are helpful. I know they work for me and I hope they help you on your path, wherever it may take you.

~Jessica~

Oct 8, 2014

The Emperor: Embracing the Masculine

Yesterday's theme was the Emperor. He represents order, logic and experience. I held off, fine procrastinated, on this post because I really wanted to ponder my thoughts before posting this. I know, I know... this is supposed to be a free writing assignment and we are just supposed to go with it. But in my experience this post is likely to annoy someone.

I have seen this growing trend to embrace our inner Goddess, which I support 100%, but with this trend I have seen the demasculinization of our society. I am not talking about who is the minority and majority, nor am I talking about actual gender and how they portray their sex. I am specifically talking about feminine vs masculine energy and how we honor them as a spiritual philosophy.

In the past, feminine energy was associated with creativity, intuition, and emotions. Masculine energy was the structure, logic and physical. The two make up a whole. If you are denying the masculine in your life, you are going to be incomplete. Rather than accept and embrace both parts, people either deny the masculine altogether or try to neuter him so as to be more politically correct.

This has also overflowed into modern paganism as well. With the resurgence of ancient beliefs, people have jumped headlong into Goddess worship, which again I support. These Ladies deserve our respect and honoring them after they have been in the closet as if a dirty secret all these years is fabulous. But what about our Gods? When was the last time you made homage to a patron God other than as a side note in a ritual? Shouldn't we treat both Masculine and Feminine equally in our spiritual life just as we strive to treat Men and Women equally in our physical life?

We need structure so we don't fly into chaos but at the same time we need the creativity to freely explore our physical world and our inner worlds. We need to be logical but at the same time we need to embrace our intuition. We need to dwell in the physical world and take care of our physical needs but we also need to dwell and care for our emotional needs. It is ok to explore our feminine side but it is equally important to explore our masculine side. Without both in our lives we become unbalanced. The Emperor is a good reminder of this. He is there to balance out the Empress. With the Emperor's protection (order) The Empress is free to tend her garden and make things grow (creativity). I know I need him.

As I touched on in an earlier post, my husband is the embodiment of masculine energy. He isn't controlling but he is the reason that calms my sometimes crazy antics and he is the structure that keeps me running on a decent schedule. He grounds me when I might flit away. On the flip side, I would like to think that I add creativity and spontaneity to his life. We balance each other and the fact that we accept and embrace our differences as masculine and feminine. I believe its one of the reasons our marriage is as strong as it is, finding the person who balances you and whom you balance is the key.

Fortunately, I feel the Emperor is well represented in my life but we can all use the little reminder that he has a place in our lives. Structure, reason and our physical bodies have their own place in our lives. Embrace them.

~Jessica~

Oct 6, 2014

Gardening With the Empress

Gardening With the Empress

Today's theme is the Empress representing nourishment and abundance. Creativity and fruition of your ideas and dreams. What are you thankful for that has already manifested in your life?

My biggest blessing is for a dream I didn't realize I had until it came true, my family. As mentioned in a previous post, meeting my soul mate through a monkey wrench in my plans but its results were the abundance of love that first was just between us and later spread further out to include our two sons. My family has brought me great joy and taught me how to truly love with all your heart and soul, with every fiber of your being. What a fantastic gift to experience love in near divine form as a mortal.

I also feel blessed to live in an area where there are so many natural settings to be inspired by. We have coastal areas, swamps and marshes, rivers, different types of forests, caverns and more. Everywhere you go, there is a new vista to take in. Nature nurtures our dreams, creativity and even our souls. There is something magical that I think Urban dwellers miss out on unless they take the time to seek her out. I am blessed that I have her right outside our door.

The Empress has been busy with me tending this garden of gratitude and I think it has been a positive experience. What's blooming in your garden (what are you grateful for?)

~Jessica~

Oct 3, 2014

The High Priestess and Her Wisdom

On day 4 we are addressing the High Priestess. What secrets does she hold? What does she say about our potential? Here is my conversation with her.

"High Priestess, share with me your wisdom", I entreat her.

"I AM", she responds.

"But what does it mean?" I ask.

"You ARE", she says smiling slightly as if in humor barely restrained.

I dream that night and suddenly her words are clear. I AM and You ARE everything we will ever need to be successful in our journeys. Our potential is only limited by our dreams. If we can dream it, we have the potential to create it.

~Jessica~

Oct 2, 2014

The Magician's Miracle-Maker Kit

For day 2, we are supposed to write about what we want or need to manifest in our soul journey. In my previous post I laid out the foundation of walking in my ancestors footsteps and feeling my roots. Here the Magician takes over from the Fool.

The suits in the tarot represent different elements. Wands are fire, representing spirit and passion. Swords are air, representing the mind and perception. Chalices are water, representing emotions and the heart. Pentacles are earth, representing things of our physical world such as our careers, money matters, health, etc. The Magician, provides us with the tools we need to achieve our goals by presenting us with the wand, sword chalice and pentacle. Here is my kit for for my soul journey.

For the Wand, I would like to say that I already have all the passion and spirit I need and really this isn't necessary for my journey BUT I would be fibbing. If I was as passionate about it as I needed to be I would already be making plans and figuring out our itinerary. I think a part of me is scared to make a journey so far out of my comfort zone. Its one thing to dream about something, it is quite another to take that step off the cliff and begin the new adventure. So for my wand, I need the extra nudge to take that leap of faith.

That leads us into the Sword. It is easy for me to get caught up in the moment. Sometimes, more often than not, I will take the leap before I think. That seems sort of contradictory to the last tool but its about perception. Most of the time, these moments of fancy are not particularly dangerous or have lasting ramifications. This journey may very well have those moments where planning is of the utmost importance. For my sword I would need my husband along with me. He grounds me like no other person or thing can. He would also make the journey twice as sweet because what better way to travel than with the one you love the most.

For my Chalice, I would want to manifest connections with distant relations. Hopefully, I would meet people who are maybe related in some distant fashion. Who connect with me on an ancestral level. We may have no physical proof that we are kin but we would know with our souls. An instant, I remember you from our lives before us, feeling. I would also love to fall in love with the lands I visit. To really feel the spirit of the land on a level beyond the surface. But not to the point where I wouldn't want to return home. So I would also want some soil from or a photo of home so I could resist the urge to stay forever.

For my Pentacle, I would need money. Not instantaneous wealth but enough to make our journey at the least comfortable.On the surface this seems materialistic but our soul can not journey on the physical plane without taking into consideration the bodies needs. I would still need shelter, food and water. Plus its not exactly feasible to swim across oceans. I am already gainfully employed so what I really need is to start saving up. Even though pentacles are about the physical, they can still be about a mindset and that is what I need, a saving mindset.

So here is my Miracle-Maker Kit: A leap of faith, My husband, Connections with the lands and people I encounter, A photo or symbol of home to keep from getting lost, and a saving mindset. What is in you miracle-maker kit for journeys near or far?

~Jessica~

Oct 1, 2014

The Fool and Her Journey

Today's prompt deals with the Fool, journeys and where you would like to go in life. Before going forward, I briefly want to touch on the past.

When I was young, I had grand plans to explore the world as an archaeologist. I wanted to be the female version of Indiana Jones. I wanted to go traipsing through the jungles in South America, poking around in ancient ruins of the peoples that came before us. I wanted to head to Egypt and excavate pyramids. I wanted to go diving and possibly discover the real Atlantis. All this came to a screeching halt when I met my husband. Adventures in foreign lands became secondary to marrying the man of my dreams and having a family. I do not regret this in any way. It has been its own grand adventure in its own right.

Over the years though the itch to travel has remained there but now it is different. Recently my husband and I were talking about what it would be like to just pack everything in storage, head off with just enough to get by and travel the world. Maybe stay a month or two in each location. We rattled off a number of places we wanted to visit and condensed it down to a few must sees. While there were a few exoctic (for us) locations, most were related to our roots. My husband is of German descent so Germany was at the top of his list. I am of mostly Scottish, Irish and English descent so Scotland, Ireland and England were on my list.

It is sort of funny that when contemplating the future, we often times come back to the past. Our roots are much like the roots of a plant. They anchor us down, nurture us and are vital to the overall well being of the whole. Even if we are not consciously aware of them, they are there helping us grow upwards toward the sky at the same time as they are keeping us well grounded here on Earth.

Instead of traipsing through the jungle (which still would be fun), I am more drawn to standing on the land that my ancestors walked and breathing in the air that they breathed. Feeling my toes sink into the earth knowing that some distant relation might have done the exact same thing in the exact place hundreds of years ago. I am more drawn to picking wildflowers they might have picked, eating regional foods they might have enjoyed and listening to what the land might have whispered to them.

I have a feeling that if I was able to take this journey in the future, it would really be a journey to the past. To my roots. To the soul where memories of our ancestors are passed from one lifetime to the next. They are there just waiting for us to remember and maybe the journey to their homelands would be the key. Is it Foolish? Possibly, but I like to think that the Fool knows way more than he lets on. He is just very clever in how he gets his message across.

~Jessica~

The Magical Mundane