40daysbefore40 day 26: fool or cool!?

 act the fool, or, too cool for school?

i love trawling the ocean treasures that etsy's depths reveal...plugged in late last night (or should that be very very early this morning!), i fell down the warren marked 'fortune tellers and tarot'...a world of mystics and magic, witchcraft and wizardry, and all things that rattle the black laced veil that covers my brow as my new orleans finger beckons me to take a seat and cross my palm with silver (or chocolate ;-) )

 

i am learning to read the cards...as yet a novice on this art, i am accompanied by a very well written and wisely worded guidebook...my deck of choice? amongst all the va va voom variety on offer these days, amongst all the bling and gold and vamps and klimt-esque temptations, i was drawn to the simple and standard, rider waite pack...or should i say rider waite smith deck, as the extraordinary visionary gypsy artist pamela colman smith divined the images for these recently centenary celebrated cards

 

my journey with the cards commenced a few years back when trailing the charity shops in hebden bridge i came across a plain deck of tarot, for the princely some of one golden coin, or a pound to you and me..inquiring as to whether they were all accounted for, and receiving an affirmative answer from the smiling faced seller, i arrived back in manchester, scooted straight for a bookshop, and several flick through and perusals later, chose my beloved guide book...all fine so far and armed with my new goods, arriving home i began to sort through the pack and goddamit, there was one card missing...

 

justice...

 

there was no bloody justice!!!

 

typical ;-)

 

amused by this turn of events, and now having entered the doorway marked tarot, i went and bought said deck which i use now (in a strange but delightful twist to the tale, its only when i opened the rider waite cards at home did i realise that this is the pack that is used and illustrated in my guide book!)...i love it when all the threads meet in a merry bow at the end! :-)

 

so its a slow journey but one that gives me great pleasure...i dont seek to divine the future, either in my own readings or for friends, but my sense and lately my experience is, that the cards can resonate and echo what is there for us already...i am always surprised and in respect of the accuracy and wisdom of the cards...and of course, they totally rock my gypsy fantasy of running away with a travelling troubador filled circus!!

 

the last few days i have been feeling very light...light, playful and full of gratitude...theres a clarity arising and a deeper resting in the what is...an increased appreciation for all that i have and a stronger knowing that all that i might want is possible with effort, dedication, perseverance and commitment...halleluyah!!!

 

the very first card of the tarots journey, and it is a map of the human journey, is 'the fool'....the image traditionally shows a man, with a bundle over his shoulders, wandering without a care towards the edge of a cliff...he has the air of the innocent about him, and possesses perhaps a foolishness that throws caution to the wind...rightly or wrongly he is about to step over that edge and tumble into who knows what or where...this card signifies new beginnings, new directions and the initial step into life's unknown space

acting the fool...being empty of all presumption...reminds me of a tale of a zen master filling a students cup of tea even though it overflowed onto the table and down to the floor...despite the students cry the teacher continued...until he stopped and explained that often we are like the full cup, full of our knowing, our knowledge, our beliefs, so much so, that nothing new, no fresh insight or wisdom can be taken in...a wise man knows everything and is full of himself, a fool knows nothing and is an eternal student of life in each moment

now im not suggesting advocating all responsibility (see yesterdays post)...i believe that we can walk through life lightly and delight in the newness of each moment, of see life through the eyes of the child...yet as an adult we need to hold our awareness too, of ourself and each other...moving blindly as a fool demotes responsibility and is instead a naive view to take...yet foolishness is a refreshing trait and leaves room for the mystery and magic of life to come and rest on our palm, flutter its hologragh wings and feed our soul :-)

 

letting ourselves love again even though our hearts have bled and torn over past love lost; allowing hope to bubble up to the surface and risk gulping the fresh air even though it has been destroyed before; following the callings of a wild and untamed heart when all around you hushes you in the grim faced fear that pervades most of our society; trusting and having faith in a life that may have let you down, hurt you or left you in the ashes of disappointment

 

how is it to live like the fool? what does that look like to you? to drop the jaded mask and smile and kiss your wounds...and to continue to hop skip dance and walk in the direction you see the light shine from xx

 

foolishness is being who you are, with all ya traits and foibles and flaws, with all the ways you get it wrong and fall over the cobbled roads; of calling to the winds and the seas and to a 'god' that has no name or form in the middle of the night; of riding your stuffed rainbow coloured unicorn even though you are no longer small in height; of talking to strangers and giving a smile; of eating the biggest piece of cake just because; of beleiving in and trusting the truth of your own heart no matter how goddamn crazy its song seems to be...sing it loud, shake that rattle (or ya hips/ booty/ head), make up your own steps, and never ever stop and say 'ah! im wise now, i think ill stop all this foolish behaviour'

 

neigh to that my friends (unicorn agrees with a snort ;-)  )

 

have a grand and foolish saturday evening xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

this little light of mine....

'ancestor love'...mixed media and acrylic
(available in my etsy shop as a print x)

'a dance with life and death'...acrylic

'this little light of mine...im gonna let it shine'

oh yeah! as the muppets would shout 'it's time to light the lights...'...this week brings the clocks turning back on themselves (can time really do that??) and the celtic festival of samhain signalling the end of one year and the beginning of a new one...senor darkness lifts his cap and nods a sweet 'well hello there' to the northern hemisphere...

darkness...as the fun n frolics of halloween brings out our inner ghoul and penchant for fake blood and thrills n chills..as those mexicanos honour in style with dia de los muertos, honouring and remembering their deceased love ones...this shift into the new energy of the year brings us close to the 'otherworld', or 'between the worlds', as the ancient celts would say...

life takes on a dreamier quality as our grip on reality as we know it starts to dance a different step (i mean, really, can we just turn back time? oh no, another reference to cher...shit!!)...things are not as they seem, as if we have just taken the most magic of potions and the hallucinations come to meet n mix us up begin to arise...the world tips just a little, the veils between real n surreal tease us, and our perspective begins to shift n slide...

yeah..bring it on i say..sometimes turning the page upside down is just what we need to get that 'aha' moment...tho this can be achieved without the use of 80's tunes i have to add ;-)...a time to visit the underworld, taking a leaf from persephones book and heading down town for the winter...

so..what does this mean...firstly it really is about embracing the darkness..seperated by western religions into the heaven n hell roll ya dice experience of death, delving into the darkness has been shooed away heavily in our culture...and yet, so many of our ancient philosophies and cultures regard these 'light' and 'dark' aspects of ourselves as imperative for our souls wholeness, and essentially, a part of the inherent continuous cyclical nature of life itself...life and death..birth and rebirth...

this time of the year calls upon us to go into that darkness within us..to search out what weighs us down like the alchemists lead...as we let our fears, resistances and previously locked away in guilt or shame aspects of ourselves bubble up to the surface to be met in the silent attention of our self, they have the potential to be let go, emptied and that which was lead to turn into gold!

how do we do that? well lovelies, the number of practices available for any of us are numerous and simple...and yet, we need to become still, silent, resting just with ourselves, letting patience hold and support that which is hiding in the shadows...and we need to welcome in the guidance of our light...the light we honour as we come to our mats to 'salute the (inner) sun'...the light that is celebrated in the festival of diwali happening now...the light of our hearts love and belief...and the light of awareness that can guide us little step by little step...

and we can call in our guides, ancestors, daemons, and spirits to help us...let ourselves feel their breath whispering sweet words of encouragement into our ears..feeling their holding as we rest back into trust and the moment of simply being..

the more we sow our journeys intention into the dark places we have dared to explore, and the more we shine our light onto them, the lighter we become, creating the space for our dreams to nest through the winter...

so this time of year? turn off the external lights, snuggle deeply under the covers, close your eyes, and get some zzzz's...thats when the wonder of dreams have time to roam and play...happy dreaming x