Birthday Resolution by Tarot

I was doing an exercise in my new tarot workbook by Mary K. Greer. Incidentally, last night, on the eve of my b'day, I've come to the exercise: 'pick 3 cards that most resemble your best qualities'. It tells you to pick around 20ish to choose from, and surely I did, as it wasn't easy to pick just THREE out of 78 cards! I was using my new deck of cards - the Legacy of the Divine Tarot. Luckily I had been doing quite a few exercises in the book already, which include finding my Birth Card, Year Card, Sun Sign Card; also I had been picking 3 cards every other night to check my energies of that day. So I do have some ideas about which cards best represent me.......

It came down to 3 cards: Page of Swords, The Hermit, and The Magician.

Page of Swords was a card that came up several times when I was testing my energies. It stands for mental agility, creative ideas and constant learner. I am definitely a constant learner in that regard. I can't say that at this moment I've attained the advanced mental qualities of Queen of Swords or King of Swords.....just yet. But as of now, the Page is what I'm working on. I was trying to choose between Ace of Swords and Page of Swords, as both recurred the same number of times, but I decided that I want to identify with the Page more, which is more 'gentle' and 'mild' in nature. The Ace of Swords also signifies mental agility, but is more 'sharp' or 'caustic', somewhat flimsy and volatile like the Knight (of Swords, mutable sign). I would rather my wit be mildly modest and good-naturedly inquisitive rather than caustic and formidable.

The Hermit is the card of Sun in Virgo, which is moi! I am coming more and more to identify with The Hermit as I age. It implies going inside to find the answers, to find knowledge and attain spiritual vision. It is the card of 'productive solitude' (my favourite term of the year). Lately, as of this year, I find myself being more and more like a hermit - in the positive sense - who has to replenish my energies by being alone and reflecting by myself. Especially with my busy researching and thesis writing schedule these days, I need to recuperate mentally and spiritually - by myself. I like socializing with my friends, and an excuse to get out of the house and have contact with civilization so as not to be entirely isolated - but afterwards I enjoy my time alone to reflect about life, about the future, about spirituality. It's not just about work, but about how I can connect more to my spiritual path. But I understand it all has to come naturally, organically. It can't be pushed, 'it has to come to you' - as my friend Soar says about her meditation experience. This year I've serendipitously come across the area of 'soul potential' and 'soul development' from Ainslie MacLeod's books. And am about to embark on using my card-reading abilities to heal, via Angel Therapy. The wise sage Hermit's wisdom to look inside has paid off.

The Magician: it was my Personality card in the Planetary Spread I did once upon a time. I still find strong resonance with it, and admittedly it is one of my favourite cards in the deck. I like the idea that I can 'make things happen' like the magician. It gives me power; the power of manifestation. Like I can shape my own destiny and choose the life that I want to live. Lately I've been very much into finding out my soul's potential, and what kind of life that I'm meant to live in my present life, thanks to Ainslie's 'The Instruction'. I have a feeling that I'm a Type 9 soul who is vested in constantly improving myself and motivating myself to achieve what I'm meant to be in this lifetime. In reading about my soul's fears (in The Transformation, sequel to The Instruction), I've come to the conclusion that in my past life, my life's plans were curtailed due to various reasons, and I was not able to accomplish what I was here for. Hence the strong feeling now that I have to accomplish something in this lifetime. It doesn't have to be 'big' or immensely lucrative in the most conventional sense, but it has to be meaningful I'm sure. Something that's balanced in terms of material and spiritual, that corroborates my Virgo practicality and Sagittarian ideals. Something like an inspirational educator, as I'm also vested in helping and inspiring other people to reach their full potentials. I believe that only by pursuing your TRUE interests - that you are naturally good at - that you can succeed in life. It is by having the Passion that will propel you to attain your goal. It won't happen for you if you go at it half-heartedly......

These 3 cards: Page of Swords (mental), The Hermit (spiritual), and The Magician (manifestation) are my birthday resolutions for this year, and for my post-Saturn return life to come.

Signs from My Angels

Just read Doreen Virtue's book called Signs From Above (co-written with her son Charles Virtue) in preparation for the impending Angels Certification Programme (ACP) I enrolled in for November! Am so excited! This is my first book I've read on the subject of 'angels' by Doreen Virtue, the one who pioneered the study of 'angel therapy' and the use of 'angel oracle cards'. These are widely in use nowadays and I've had a reading done once in a new age workshop in Hong Kong once upon a time. Don't remember the outcomes as I remember tarot readings, but angel readings are meant to be empowering and uplifting, much like the signs that your guardian angels give you to assure you that you are loved and watched upon.

There are various signs that angels give us on earth, such as clouds in the shape of angels, deceased loved ones or pets, or anything that has significant meaning to you. Even prior to reading the angel book, I would look up at the sky from time to time to check out the shape of clouds, to see if I could make out any extraordinary shapes. I've seen bunnies, dogs, human faces.......countless objects that my imagination could conjure up. I'm sure I've even seen angels, however back then I had no idea what they were. Now that I've read Signs, I realize that those images were more than the product of my hyperactive imagination - maybe they really meant something! Maybe they really were 'signs' that were put into my path in order to tell me something about my life at that particular moment..........

A few days ago, I had just finished reading a quarter of the book when I silently pondered the possibility of receiving a sign from above - I thought to myself: 'how nice would it be to have some affirmation from my angels?' On my way home, I looked up at the sky to see if I can spot any angel-shaped clouds or rainbows. I didn't see anything spectacular. So I walked on........and just as I was about to cross the road in front of a zebra-crossing, I saw a truck pull out of the parking lot, and smack on its side was the Fiorucci logo - two angels with wings! My angels have spoken. Miraculous! Then when I got home I fiddled a bit with this and that, and fished for something to eat and went into my room to rest. After about half an hour or so, I came back out to call my grandma to ask her about something, and as I put down the phone and looked over at the spot where all the mail is put, I found a pamphlet for a beauty parlour - with an image of a cute smiling angel on the cover! OMG! I was truly gobsmacked! Just as the angel book said, one could not help but smile and feel a deep sense of bliss and love when one receives a gift from their angels. I mean, who wouldn't be happy when they see something as divinely cute as an angel motif!?

After having the privilege of receiving TWO signs in one day, I thought I'd do some research on the past, to see if I've missed anything crucial prior to my epiphany. Led by my intuition, I checked my Blackberry pics on my computer, and there it was - a picture I took of a rainbow while I was walking from my college dorm down Hills Road to downtown Cambridge. I remember feeling quite happy and awash with a sense of warmth and relief when I saw the rainbow that day. I must have felt strong emotions, as I was compelled to stop on the street to take a picture of it with my Blackberry! The picture was dated 20 November 2009. It was during my darkest days, when I was feeling depressed, sickly and spiritless. It was a week before my mom was due to arrive in Cambridge to visit me and to help me pack up my belongings to move back to Hong Kong. In retrospect, now I know that the angels meant to tell me that everything will be alright very soon, and I have my mom's visit to look forward to. As it happens, my mom has always been my 'earth guardian angel' - whom I even acknowledged her to be in my MPhil thesis! - and she was coming to 'save' me and to bring me home!!! As it happens, the very next pic on my Blackberry - dated 27 November 2009 - was that of my mom posed in front of the famous Chinese scholar's rock in the backs of King's College. My Earth Guardian Angel. Things really were alright after that.

To conclude my angel musings of the night, I have to tell you that the same evening that I read the angel book, as I was lying on my bed listening to music on my iphone, the first song that came up (on random shuffle mode) was 'Blowing in the Wind' ('the answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind.....'); followed by 'Top of the World' ('Everything I want the world to be, is now comin' true especially for me, and the reason is clear, it's because you are here, you're the nearest thing to heaven that I've seen......'); and finally - ta-da! - Geri Haliwell's version of 'It's Raining Men' ('It's rainin' men, hallelujah!') Hahahaha! Yes, music is another medium that angels use to deliver signs. Lyrics especially. Having had THREE songs to do with divination, heaven, and men falling out of the sky......I felt truly blessed. The angels had really made my day. The day I picked up Signs and got all those signs was one of the happiest days I've ever had. I can't wait to learn more about angels and healing and am very much looking forward to attending Doreen's course in November!

The Practice of Tarot

Hello summer of 2010! Wow, it's been a whole year since I last posted. I can't believe it's been so long. My last post was on my Saturn Return, so there's no surprise how much has happened to disrupt my publishing plans. While Saturn's effects are slow when you're in the midst of it all (like fighting a never-ending battle!) but once it's over, it's like everything was a dream (a nightmare actually!) and that all is well again - even much, much better - in a blink of an eye! Am so glad I can look back and say it's all over now. I can put the past behind and move forward. Am so touched by the encouragement I've gotten about my blog, so I must continue on my journey of self-discovery by sharing more with you on my beloved subject.

I've discovered a new interest since last summer.....that is the Tarot! I've had a very serendipitous encounter with tarot cards since 5 years ago in 2005. I remember I had always been fascinated by them, and that I've paid to have readings on several occasions in Hong Kong. My friend Nanz, who also read for me, then bought me a pack of Rider-Waite tarot cards for my 25th birthday. But the timing wasn't right, so I didn't pick it up back then. They just didn't translate into any meaning for me. Despite my struggling to decipher the symbols behind my first pack of cards, they just didn't talk to me.....

Then 5 years after I've studied astrology on my own and practised yoga extensively, I felt I needed something more to propel me forward in my spiritual quest. I wanted to know more about the occult and the metaphysical realm. I picked up tarot again. This time I went for the Mythic Tarot, in which I ordered online at amazon.co.uk. It just sounded or 'felt' right. People say that you have to 'feel' the cards to see if they speak to you. Well, in this case, the amazon description by Juliet Sharman-Burke - the creator of the cards - 'felt' right to my ears. So I listened to my intuition and ordered them to be delivered to my college. I was so excited when I got them! I immediately began to read the accompanying book on Greek myths that informed the cards. I felt immediately connected because I had always loved Greek and Roman mythology and it played a big part of my learning process in childhood. Then when I felt more confident with having learnt the general descriptions of the cards, I tried to do some readings for myself. As I gained more confidence, I then tried it on my friends at Cambridge. Then I even branched out to reading for my friends' friends who visited them in Cambridge! I had so much fun learning as I went along, and making my friends bear with me when I had to read and re-read the book to interpret the meanings! I used the Celtic Cross spread - as it was pretty much the only method I knew back then as taught in Juliet Sharman-Burke's book - and it was an intricate spread of 10 cards signifying different meanings in their various positions. I first had to memorize what each position meant, and then try to interpret what each card meant when in those specific positions. Thankfully the Greek Gods and the mythological stories really spoke to me, and I was able to synthesize these symbols in my interpretations. As tarot teachers say, tarot is really about SYMBOLS. You need to relate to the symbols in order to be able to do good/accurate interpretations. Then again, it's not really about 'precision' of such. Not that you can memorize what each card means and regurgitate those in your readings. You need to be flexible and above all - intuitive. It's all about honing your intuition because each question is different and there are so many different ways of interpreting the cards. There's a basic, underlying meaning to each card, but it varies a bit on different occasions. That's the magic of it. That's why not everyone 'knows' how to read the tarot. It requires alot of practice and self-advancement to be good.

Tarot really is a mysterious thing......as I've thought to myself on many occasions: the cards in each spread really do make sense. They do not come up at random. Even if I really did know my symbols really well and was very flexible and eloquent in interpreting the cards, they would've had to 'come up' in a sequence or arrangement that 'made sense' in the first place. For example, if I was asking about my love life, it would be weird if the suit of Pentacles (money) kept coming up and there were hardly any Cups (love) in my spread. Vice versa, if I was asking about my career, and Cups kept coming up, it would be a bit improbable. Of course you can argue that love is linked to money alot of times, or that you are very emotionally invested in your career. But still, it would not make sense if the cards came up completely random in a 10-card spread! Finally I have a story to share, very briefly, as it has to do with the mystery of the cards. It happened during my winter term in Cambridge when I first learnt to read the tarot. I went to my friend WS's house and his friend was there. So I read for his friend, knowing nothing about him or his love life. His question was if he could break up with his girlfriend successfully. The spread turned out to be bordering on random, as there were many Swords and Pentacles and only 1 Cup. On the outset it didn't make sense, and I was a bit gutted and distraught about my tarot reading skills. But after a long time, he finally told me that his 'relationship' was actually a divorce, and that he was seeking a divorce with his wife on the grounds that there was much conflict (Swords) having to do with money (Pentacles). Mystery solved! It made perfect sense! The tarot never lies.......(even if he was keeping this a secret from everyone back then.)

Since then I've been evermore enthused about my readings, both for myself and for others. Of course some made more 'sense' than others, and I've come across many difficult spreads that were extremely hard to interpret. But I'm not deterred. The human psyche is so complex......things are seldom what they seem to be on the surface. My objective is to sift through the layers and discover what's hidden beneath, so as to relieve people, and myself, of our doubts and fears. As tarot teachers say, people already know subconsciously how things will probably unfold, but they need REASSURANCE from external sources to be sure. I totally agree. The Celtic Cross spread helps you arrive at your final destination - the final outcome - via navigating the different stages of the mundane situation/your inner psyche, step by step. That is why the art of tarot can be said to straddle both the psychological and the occult worlds according to Jungian psychologists. I've ordered 2 more sets of tarot cards, one of them is the Legacy of the Divine Tarot illustrated by the famous tarot artist Ciro Marchetti. So excited about the impending delivery! Will share more when I get them.........