Category: Inspiration

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Living in the Unknown: The Wheel of Fortune

The Wheel of Fortune. The Fates. They are always there. They will always bring change, both wanted and unwanted. And we have to roll along with it. But what is a wheel? It is a round object with a well defined center. The center is where you are called to be. “The Middle Way”. Acceptance of where the wheel is rolling at the moment is best done right in the middle. Not allowing yourself to get pulled down the spokes to the rim. The rim will always roll through mud, get cleaned by the rain, and dried by the sun. Always changing its state. It is easy to be run by these constant changes, but how exhausting is that?

It can be tricky to stay in the middle. It takes some balancing. According to Pema Chodron we have such an urge to move to the right or the left, just to get away from the middle when the middle is an unknown. It is not knowing if you are going right or left. And here is the key: acceptance of that unknowing. Living in the discomfort of now. Not the imagined comfort of soon. Not the imagined comfort of getting that raise, being asked to get married, or the comfort of buying that new house. That’s all away from the moment. And while it will give you happiness then, in the future, you hope, how much better would it be to accept happiness right now? Without having to wait for any future award. Without being dependent on events and others. Pema writes about what a gift it is to us humans. To choose to be ok with how things are. To choose acceptance of the moment. Even if the moment isn’t quite what you ‘wanted.’

(One thing to note: Sometimes, one of the things that keeps us from being ok in the moment is almost a superstition. If we worry, we are working towards controlling the result. But it is simply not true. That is an attachment of our mind. And it is a scary one to release, as you can feel as if you will fall into the abyss. As if then everything will really be beyond your control. But it is a false sense of security.)

So look at how you can use this concept that lies behind The Wheel of Fortune Tarot card. How can you let go of the desire to move away from ‘what is’ right now? How can you find comfort in the discomfort of not knowing which way the wheel is going to roll? How can you accept, embrace, tru, and love the exact moment that is here. Right now.

The moment is for you. Only you. How may you make the best of it?

Love,

Vaike

Book a reading and discover more awesomeness for yourself: www.vaike.com/pricing/

(Tarot card from Pam’s Vintage Tarot)

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Inspiration From the Cards

Inspiration. It comes unexpectedly. From unassuming places. It is when we don’t look for it, when we don’t have any expectations, that it shows up. When we look, search, force ourselves to find inspiration, it hides with all its might.

Simply allowing things to ‘just be’ creates space for Inspiration to have the comfort of showing up. It doesn’t like to be squeezed. It doesn’t like being demanded. It doesn’t like being preconceived. It will just float in on the breeze, awaken you from a dream, pop up like the proverbial lightbulb.

I just pulled three cards to inspire me to write a blog post. The first was the Knight of Swords. It looked exhausting. I put it down and pulled another. It was the Three of Swords. It looked painful. I put it down and pulled another. It was the Eight of Swords. It looked stuck. I was about to put it down and stopped myself. I decided to allow. I would allow myself to sit with these three challenging cards. Allow space to open up and just see what was there. Without my judgement. Without my preconceived notions. And just look at what showed up.

What showed up was acceptance. Of what difficulties they held. What showed up was relief. I didn’t have to be bothered with picking any more cards. What showed up was ease. I didn’t have to keep  hoping for ‘better’ cards. I didn’t have to fight it. What was. Was.

And it inspired me to write this post.

It doesn’t even matter what the cards meant. The acceptance of them without a fight is what was invaluable.

When we allow inspiration to happen, it will happen. When it comes to tarot cards, the inspiration is always there. It just may not be what you expect. And how wonderful is that? You get to engage with something totally new and unexpected. Tarot cards inspire us by showing us new, something we hadn’t previously thought of. We can see things from a different angle.

Even now, you can allow inspiration in. Without the cards in front of you. Look around you. What do you see? Pick something, anything, it doesn’t matter if it is a bird at the feeder or the laundry waiting to be folded.

  • What colors do you see?
  • What do like about it?
  • Dislike about it?
  • What attachments do you have to what you are seeing?
  • What would you like to change?
  • What memories does it bring up?
  • How would you change it?

Don’t overthink, don’t look for meaning, just look. Don’t force an answer, just observe. Allow those observations to play in your head without an end result, without a goal of being inspired. Just allow.

There you go. That’s all you need to do. Don’t look for it, don’t ask for it, and maybe now, maybe later, inspiration will just be there. Your answers will come to you down the line, as you have created space for, allowed, and played with inspiration.

Love,

Vaike

 

(card images from U.S. Games: Centennial Smith Waite)

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10 Tarot Cards to Keep You on Your Path

Doing the right thing for ourselves. Sometimes it is hard to remember. Sometimes it is hard to figure out. We get lost and we forget our path. The path we know we should be on, we belong on, we want to be on. It is so easy to get lost in the woods with so many trees of distraction.

Here are 10 things we can learn from tarot to help guide us on our path to awesomeness…

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1.    Page of Wands. What do you dream of? What is your ideal? What would bring you joy? These are questions that we need to ask ourselves. When we get caught up in the daily grind of life, we tend to put these on the back burner. Bring them forth again. Start to dream. Start to question. Start to learn. Go back to the beginning and look at this very moment as an invitation to bring your dreams into your life. Take a minute. Answer the above questions without boundaries. Freely. Write down what comes up for you. Put is somewhere that will remind you to remember. To dream.

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2. Five of Cups. Regrets. Loss. We all have them. It is part of life. But when we focus on them at the cost of neglecting and appreciating what wo DO have, we are doing ourselves a disservice. What would it take to turn you around? Stand up and look in front of you. What do you see? Now turn around? What do you see? You are in the same time and place but the view is different. All it took was turning your viewpoint around. Name a regret. Or two. Now turn around and name something you are grateful for. And a second thing. And a third. Fill that list. Find gratitude. How does the view look now?

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3.     Queen of Cups. Acknowledging your feelings. They are just feelings. We honor them, but we also know they pass. This knowledge can get you through your challenges. The Queen of Cups in you is mature with her feelings. She can be with them and not be run by them. You are that Queen.

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4.     Six of Wands. You have victories. Plenty of them. Stop and absorb them. You deserve it. What are your victories? How have you celebrated them? What is a victory you can celebrate right now? And how are you going to do that? What is a reward you can honor yourself with right in this moment? Go do it!

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5.     Ace of Swords. Now that you have celebrated yourself, your awesomeness, regroup. Get back to thinking about your dreams, your values. What is at your core self that you truly believe in? What can you cut away with this sword? What no longer fits in your life?

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6.     Eight of Pentacles. Moving forward. To your dreams. To who you want to be. Baby steps and focus. Keep on keeping on. Be conscious of where you need to put your energy. What will move you forward? What is a baby step you can take towards your goal?

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7.     Ten of Swords (my card!). What can you be done with? What can you let go of? What heavy weight is holding you down? If you can’t let go right now, can you just give it acceptance without judgement? Can you focus on the sunrise? How will you do that?

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8.     Eight of Swords.  Afraid of the unknown. Afraid of a misstep. Afraid of making the wrong decision. How has fear been holding you back? What is it costing you? What else is it costing you? What would it be like to be fearless? Try it on. Play with it. Fantasize.

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9.     Three of Cups. Friends. Love. Support. As you move towards your life, towards your dreams, who can support you? Where can you find an ally? Who will rally around you and root for you? Those are who to bring in close.

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10.     Ten of Pentacles. The end goal. The big picture. This card shows the fruits of one’s labors, the result of the personal foundation you are creating now. This card shows family, community, security. That may or may not be what your desires are. What do you want your success to be? What is your personal end result? Go back to your dreams, your desires. How can you make it a solid vision? How do you imagine yourself in it? Take this vision and keep it with you. Wear it like a cloak, a mantle. Watch as the world changes around you and aligns…

And, of course to take this deeper for profound change, please book a session.

 

Love,

Vaike

 

 

 

 

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Reflecting on Vistas

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I live in the high desert. It’s broad and expansive. Every direction I look, I see views going on forever. Mountains, valleys, giant sky. It is what I love about the desert. Every which way you look, is a new world. What would it be like if I climbed that mountain? What can I find in that riverbed? What if I were a raven and just flew and flew and flew? A new possibility, an new and different adventure in every direction. And I would get to fly high above it, gaze down at the options, and take my pick.

Vistas.

Visons.

Views.

That’s what moves us forward. When we don’t have a vision of what is possible, how can we possibly move towards what we want?

Creating vision is a process. We play. We imagine. We look at what is possible and what is in our way.

Reflective Tarot Coaching is perfect for this process.  You want to create a vision for yourself. Together we start getting clarity on what that is and how to get there. What blocks you and what actions are best for you to take.

Once we clarify what aspect you want to look at, I will design a tarot spread for you. Together we will investigate what you see in each card and how you can apply it to achieving your goal. We can find what empowers you and what holds you back.

I trust that you best know, deep down, how to get there. Together we simply bring that to the surface through a series of questions and the insights that show up from them.

Vistas.

Visions.

Views.

They are all yours…

Come play: vaike.com

 

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If Not Now, When?

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Someone I know and dearly love gave me a wakeup call once, years ago.

She was in her late 50’s, smart, educated, strong, admirable. I always looked up to her (I still do). But she once said something that changed my life forever.

It was a small part of a random conversation. Just a tiny bit of shared information. But it winded up informing my decisions from there on out.

“I’m still feeling like I am waiting for my life to begin.”

To hear that from a woman whom I thought had it all together in terms of what she had done with her life, slew me, shocked me, awakened me.

Do we want to keep waiting, or do we want our life? Now? Now is all we have and we waste it so easily. By worrying about the future. By feeling guilty about the past. By just not accepting the here and now.

When I coach clients, I hear so much of this. “If only”, “If I hadn’t”, “If xyz were different”…

But we are here and now. It is what we have got to work with, and its a pretty damn amazing thing to work with, really! When we get coached, it allows us to connect with the fullness of now. It allows us to get our perspective back, have choice in the matter, get enough clarity that we can see the ‘now’ and choose how we want to show up in it.

The things that stop us, cost us. They cost us this very moment.

Be unstoppable.

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I Saw the House of the Hermit Last Night.

 

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I took a walk in the darkness last night.

There was a light midway up the black night of mountain.

A new light. Amber. Homey. Warm.

I had never seen it before, and thought, “that is where I would like to live.” Slowly, as I kept walking, the light slowly, slowly disappeared into nothingness. I could see no place on the mountain.  It was dark. Black.

It was a momentary gift. The Hermit stepped out of his cave of reflection to shine a light for me. Maybe an invitation to go in.

Go in to the cave. Be quiet in the light of a single lamp.

Listen.

The only way we are going to hear ourselves is if we listen.

The only way we are going to listen is if we are not distracted.

The only way we are not going to be distracted is if we go in to our cave.

And listen.

Listen in our dark. Listen in our silence. Listen to what is deep and hidden.

There is our voice.

In the darkness. In the cave of the mountain.

Our voice is that beautiful amber light. It will light up the worlds darkness. It will be a beacon.

But we need to hear it first.

That’s what The Hermit tells us…

 

 

(Hermit card again from the amazing Wild Unknown Tarot Deck)

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Just Do. Don’t perfect.

 

Type. Just type.

Write. Just write.

Something will show up.

Something will open.

Even if it is just the courage to push through.

Keep going.

Erase the blocks.

Can’t erase them.

Maybe just override?

Sometimes there is no flow. Sometimes there is only stuckness. Can’t move forward. Can’t get anything done.

But is this really true? Is ‘can’t’ a fact here? Or maybe it is just allowing the imperfect to show up. What would happen if the ‘perfect’ did not run you? I bet you could move. I bet you could get things done. Don’t worry about the grade, just start to type the paper.

And keep typing.

Maybe nothing brilliant will happen. Maybe all you can get out of it is knowing that you did it. Maybe we should allow ourselves to appreciate and be content and be human with that knowledge.

At the very least, it will make for a better night of sleep.

And that’s a good thing…

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Order Out of Balance

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This is my second set of thoughts about needing to make order out of chaos. When I wrote about the Alzheimer’s woman yesterday, finding safety in putting rocks and twigs and stones in order, I got it, I was with her. But something kept showing up for me. As I looked at the light, the shadow was tapping at my shoulder. And I saw what was most needed.

Balance.

Taking the need to make order out of nature and our surroundings to the extreme can through us out of balance. In fact, it is what throws the earth out of balance. The need to take nature and align it completely to patterns, straight lines, proper places is what is bringing about the destruction of the place we live in.

When we try to control too much, when we try to have knowledge and dominion over all things is when life is out of balance, when the shadow rises up to try to take all.

The two cards that strongly show up in this idea are The Hierophant and Temperance.

The Hierophant, with his structure and order, when taken too far, becomes control and  ultimate authority. This goes far beyond gathering rocks and meditatively placing them. This goes to tearing off tops of mountains and discarding that which does not fit under ones control. Taking it too far is having order to precedence over all else. Cold. Harsh. Without pity. The machine element comes out. The human element disappears.

Yet there is Temperance.

Balance.

Allowing both things to be at once. Taking only what you need. Build a pile with your rocks but don’t take the whole mountain. Know when to stop. Be aware what is balance is what will create enough for all. This is done with thoughtfulness and mindfulness in all things. Every moment is a moment to ask if you are out of balance. Every moment is a moment to make that choice.

So, that is what showed up for me from my post yesterday.

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Tarot as Tool

imageI believe that the tarot is a tool for us. Not magical. Not an oracle. But a tool where we have the power. The future is in our control. The images and stories of the tarot remind us of the path we are going through. As this path is pretty universal to humanity, the symbols in it are common to us all. Maybe different shapes, sizes and colors, but we are still the same.

We all share goals in one form or another. It is this sameness that the images speak to, the collective consciousness. Sometimes this ‘sameness’ is hidden. Under layers of protection. This can even be hidden in the unconscious.

By using the tarot to open oneself up, it can bring back out, from under these layers, our inner guide, which knows what we, as living, loving humans, strive for.

The tarot can help re-guide us back to beauty, love and happiness.

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Judgement

The only way to stop feeling judged and stereotyped is to stop judging and stereotyping. It is really one of those things that, the more you put out there, the more it comes back to you. It’s important to stay aware of the judgments we put out into the world.

Watch yourself.

Try to go 5 minutes without judgement when stuck in traffic or any other place that is a stressor for you with other people around.

One, you will find that it can be quite a challenge.  🙂

But, two, you will also find a lovely peace in that place. It will help you become less self conscious, less stressed, less angry, less disconnected from others. The benefits of letting go of judgement are huge. It’s liberating to not worry about what others think of you, and to not worry about what you think of them.

It will bring you to a place of connectedness, compassion and love.

And that is a great goal we can all strive for.