Tag: mindfulness

Your Attention Makes It Sacred

mindfulness consecrates

Today’s card is the Chariot from the major arcana portion of the Tarot deck.

I always think of this as the jet pilot card. That is probably influenced by all of the Richard Bach books I read in my 20s. Whether it is a chariot in a race like the old movie Ben Hur, driving the beltway at rush hour or flying a supersonic aircraft, you have to pay attention to what you are doing or end up in a crumpled heap somewhere. I’ve never done any of those things, but I imagine it is a heck of a lesson in mindfulness.

Besides helping you to survive at high rates of speed, paying attention does some other nifty stuff at the complete other end of the velocity spectrum.

Mindfulness consecrates.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein hints at this too. Toward the end of the book, I think it was Mary Jane who described the title character, Valentine Michael Smith “…when Mike kisses you he isn’t doing anything else. You’re his whole universe and the moment is eternal…”

When you pay full attention to where you are it makes that place special. When you pay full attention it makes that moment special. When you pay full attention to another person it makes magic for both of you.

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Clarity of the Inner Voice

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Kittenwiskers: Coach Jose strikes again

This!

The same can be said of intuition. ‘Psychic gifts’ are something we all have. We are all special as coach Jose said in the video. We each have unique sets of experiences and unique sets of connected learned skills. Psychics gifts are less gifts and more a unique combination of skills, perspectives and experiences. Like Coach has a unique set of experiences that give him deep understanding of the mental, physical and spiritual aspects of mindfulness, a “gifted” psychic has a unique set of skills and experiences that lets them take the intuition, imagination, abstract insights and nonverbal understanding that we all possess and put it in to a useful, beneficial format.

That’s why, as I see it, there is no place for ‘accurate predictions’ and pronouncements from on high in authentic intuitive work. Tarot isn’t meant to tell you what will happen in life. Tarot helps you figure out what to do when life happens.

Thanks to Coach Jose for allowing me to share this with you.

In the spirit of fair disclosure: My husband has studied Chinese martial arts with and alongside of him (see also dctaichi.com) and I’ve taken martial arts workshops from Coach Jose (*heart* silk reeling qi gong and dragon fan.) We’ve already talked about what a talented musician he is. (see also me fangirling his song “Side Street of Dreams”) I consider him a friend.

@coachjosejohnson is on instagram and josejohnson.com

“Kitten Whiskers” is a series of blog post that are nothing but off-topic random fangirling about some of my favorite things. Before you ask, no, none of the was sponsored or paid for in any way. The things in these posts simply bring a little joy or spark a little aspirational badassery for me. I hope you are as delighted with them I am.

TaoCraft Tunes playlist on Spotify featuring “Side Street of Dreams” by Jose Johnson: HERE

Flow and perspective

You can’t go with the flow until you get in the boat.

But then where are you going to go, and why?

Whenever I cite a Tarot deck, I always, always, always cite the artist no matter who wrote the book that goes with it. The book is nice, it gives the particular spin to match the particular deck for each card, but the art is where the real utility of a deck comes in. After all, there is nothing inherently special about Tarot cards, oracle decks, runes, tea leaves, I Ching coins and the like. They are all tools, gateways that help us access our normal, natural, innate intuition. They are the microphone, not the ear. They are the telescope, not the eye. Just as these things were brilliant, world-changing innovations in enhancing physical senses, putting detailed artwork on pip cards was equally revolutionary in the world of Tarot.

You can do intuitive readings just fine with the game-playing deck and no artwork at all. Like all oracles, the pip decks and gaming deck are just a tool to help access intuition. They are just a bit less sophisticated of a tool. Pip cards are a fine enough set of screwdrivers, but a fully illustrated Tarot deck is a set of watchmaker’s tools by comparison. The artwork raises the utility and versatility of the deck exponentially.

Today’s card is an example.

The deck resource books from Edward Waite talks about travel on water. Ellen Dugan talks about “smooth sailing ahead.” Diane Morgan talks about “yielding.” I’ve written here about perspective. All of these things, although different, are perfectly valid in the time and the background energy context of the time that the card interpretation was done. The human brain is a brilliant information filter and triage device. Attention is a real and very valuable psychic tool. Pay attention to something when it captures your attention. This is precisely how the artwork expands our Tarot understanding so dramatically. In the previous six of swords post, perspective and point of view stepped forward as a message after drawing attention to the swords stuck in the canoe. Today, my attention is much more strongly drawn to the image of the water, which in turn connects to the idea of flow, going with the flow, and the “yielding” that others have seen.

A full intuitive message often comes as a daisy-chain of ideas or a line of falling dominoes. Connect these ideas with the ideas from the Lovers card yesterday: goals, drive, desire and achievement from yesterday.

Put it all together, and we get to a point of balanced energy that I’ve seen be a bit out of balance lately. There needs to be balance between goals, achievement and progress toward a defined end point and the flow of life, of experience, of mindfulness of the present moment, of simple being.

We need both direction and mindfulness. Desires can both guide and frustrate, motivate and imprison. It is a balance of experience vs aspiration. It is a diet vs a lifestyle. My sense is we need more mindfulness and attention to the present moment. As we vaccinate and all too many people abandon mitigation too early we need to stop fixating on when we “get back to normal” and stay in the flow of the moment or else we may sink the boat.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” – Tao Te Ching

My Tarot Valentine: Each Breath

Take a breath.

No, really, take a deep breath. You stopped for a moment to read this (thank you for that) so use it to stare at the screen, look busy but take a deep relaxing breath.

Thanks. I did that too.

The Judgement card is my nemesis. It seems like everyone has a card that resonates with them, that seems to signify where they are in life. Some cards are just comfortable, familiar or welcome. Sometimes a card resonates with an idea or an old battle or some constant struggle…a nemesis.

I won’t introduce you to that particular skeleton in the closet. We’ll get back to that when I get around to writing “Arcana in Balance.”

Still, it is a challenge to connect this card to Valentine’s Day without being overly harsh. So I’ll connect it to a thread of yesterday’s card instead.

Yesterday, the six of cups reminded us of innocence, and the in-the-moment sweetness of simplicity. To taste that sweetness we adults must first release judgements, expectations and pre-conceived notions of what a moment should be. Valentine’s Day this year isn’t business as usual. Let it be the moment it is. Let go of judgement to find your way to the sweetest present moment that you can.

My Tarot Valentine: Sweet

As Sigmund Freud purportedly said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. The adage that “it is what it is” isn’t as bad as it has been used in recent politics. It speaks to a rugged acceptance of the situation at hand in the present moment.

That sort of accepting mindfulness is the essence of childhood innocence. The energy around today’s card brings to mind the simplicity of a child’s lollipop, pink and red heart shapes, and the small paper valentines school children make and exchange. Even we gnarly old folks can get a sip of that sweetness when we let go of worries and expectations and sink into the present moment with that same acceptance.

That kind of sweet innocence and acceptance is the six of cups message for Valentine’s Day. It’s been a devil of a year. As sexy as self confidence may be, whatever your opinion of all the cards and flowers and high expectations, this Valentine’s Day isn’t the usual. The advice is to let go of this year’s expectations. It is what it is, however lonely, however different, however simplified. Let it be a sweet and simple day. Let it be as open and empty and innocent of a moment as you can.

We can get back to the worry and mayhem soon enough. Let the moment be as it is, and let your heart love however it can.

My Tarot Valentine 2021: Look to See

There us a feeling of newness and if expanding horizons. I think I see why the feeling to reach for the Heart of Stars deck (by Thom Pham, all rights reserved, used with pefmission). Superman ties today’s card to yesterday.

Remember how the Devil card hinted that it is far better to put your energy into being happy alone than to tie yourself in knots just for the sake of being in a relationship? It is better to be alone than to make your partner bear the weight of the relationship by hoping they’ll change or be different this time. It’s ok to be counterculture especially if that gives you the wherewithal to be loving and compassionate yo yourself and to others. Plus, perhaps more importantly, self confidence is sexy. Dare to be comfortable in your own skin and happy in this present moment.

The “superperson” in this case is someone who has conqured that. Imagine it us someone who has eeked out just a little more of that self assured, right-here-happy energy. This might be a hint of new love to come or a deepening of live already here.

The three of wands has a watching quality. Everyone wants to be seen and heard. Attention nourishes all types of love. Attention is a potent aphrodesiac if that is the kind of mutual relationship you are in.

Give your full attention to all those you love the most.