Symbology of Tarot

The symbology of Tarot spans across many areas of metaphysical studies from numerology, archetypes, elements, directions, animals and objects.  Incorporating all of these symbols provides for a richer reading with greater depth and insight.  Patterns can be found when you are able to see what hidden meanings are behind the number, element and direction.  The good part is that these meanings are easier to learn because they are written on the fabric of our souls. 

 Myths, legends and universal consciousness all hold keys to the hidden meaning of symbols.  As you raise your awareness of the world around you, you will begin to see and understand the hidden world that has always been trying to get your attention through signs and symbols. The charts that I am including are from my own experience and studies.  My life experiences make up how I view the world which could be incredibly different from how you view the world.  Research into your own life to find a greater understanding for how you view the world.  This will help you to understand how your spirit communicates to you in symbols for guidance and wisdom.

 Some questions to think about when looking at symbols are:

•  What does the symbol signify to you?
• How does the symbol make you feel?
• Is there any action, expression or emotion being portrayed?
• How is your life reflected in the image on the card?
• Does this card represent a situation in your life?
• What stories, myths or legends come to mind when looking at the image?
• Has the symbol been repeated in other areas of your life recently: in music you may have heard, animals you may have seen, movies you have watched, numbers you see on the clock, or colors you feel drawn to?
• What is the person doing in the card?
• How does this card relate to other cards in the reading?
• Is there a pattern that is forming in your life?

 Later this week, I will discuss the deeper meanings behind the elements, directions, court cards, numerology and colors of the Tarot. 

Resources:

Newmerology: From Sex to Stocks, It’s All in the Numbers by Nick C. Newmont

Animal Speak by Ted Andrews

Angel Numbers 101 by Doreen Virtue

Modern Magick: Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts by Donald Michael Kraig

Refresh Your Patience

Refresh your supply of patience, peace, hope, love and joy each morning! Don’t leave home on empty!  Be brave and use your voice, create your life by letting others in on the amazing secrets and ideas in your heart!

Each morning before you step out into the world, lay in bed and visualize your heart and body being filled to overflowing with the fuel that can fill your soul.  The fuel that is rich in patience, peace, hope, love, joy and wonder that you are alive and able to live another day.  Feel yourself surrounded in love and overflowing with more than enough love and care for anyone you come in contact with that day.  Each day is a brand new day to be filled with all that your soul needs, you just need to tap into it and allow yourself to be refilled.  If you are having trouble receiving love or other soulful food; reach out to others and hug them, walk through a beautiful park or play with some puppies.  Other ways to refill your spiritual gas tank are to pray, meditate or simply sit in silence.  If you need help, please feel free to contact me or fill out a prayer and healing request. 

Don’t leave home on empty in the morning, tap into the unlimited source of love, patience and peace!

UPCOMING EVENT: Guest Speakers at Spiritual Lighthouse Church

In a few weeks, Donald and I will be sharing a special service at the Spiritual Lighthouse Church in Jacksonville, FL.  We will be sharing an inspiring message about healing for a personal relationship with God and at the end giving messages to all who attend.  This is a special chance for anyone who wants to grow in their relationship with God to experience a new way to feel God’s presence and worship in a whole new way.  We hope you can join us on Sunday, March 22 at 5pm for this wonderful event!

 

Below is the address and website for Spiritual Lighthouse Church:

 

Spiritual Lighthouse Church

Telephone: (904) 764-7639

Address: 1049 Crestwood St. , Jacksonville, FL

Website: http://www.spirituallighthouse.org/

 

Below is a short biography about Donald and myself and a summary about the service. 

 

Reverend Donald Chelf grew up in a small town in northern Indiana.  He was raised by Buddhist and Christian parents.  This special spiritual upbringing helped him to develop his own spirituality and Donald began meditating when he was around 9 years old.  Donald came to realize that spirituality opened him up to many worlds beyond this physical reality.  As the years progressed, he learned how to astral travel, learn shamanic practices and commune with the ascended masters where he learned how to heal beyond the body and mind, so that the healing included the spirit of himself and others.  This healing of spirit leads to the healing of each person’s own spirituality and allows for greater control and oneness with All That Is.  It is this deep spiritual healing that Donald wishes to teach and share with others. Donald was ordained by the Universal Life Church and became a Reiki Master in 2003. 

 

Reverend Alicia Erchul grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  She started feeling God’s presence around her when she was a small child, almost as though He was watching her while she studied.  When Alicia was around 7 she began to see spirits and angels.  Throughout her school years she had dreams that would come true at school the following day and had visions of many of the places she has lived over the years.  After attending college in Iowa, she moved to San Francisco and met a healer who taught Alicia many methods of healing, including Reiki, channeling and shamanic practices.  Her own healing journey has helped Alicia develop a heartfelt compassion for others and an inner knowing of how to share words of healing and forgiveness from the angels.  Alicia’s special connection to Angels and the spirit realm have helped her bring peace and comfort to many people over the years through both healing touch and written words of inspiration and encouragement.  She hopes that all will one day experience the infinite and unconditional love that God has for all of us and what it truly feels like to be one with All That Is.  Alicia was ordained by the Universal Life Church and became a Reiki Master in 2001.

 

Alicia and Donald met over 5 years ago on a spiritual chat where they would discuss healing methods and encouraged each other to further develop their healing abilities.  Often they would meditate and journey through the spirit world together till the wee hours of the morning.  As they grew to know one another, they learned how their spirits were twin flames, and that when they joined together for healing they shined brighter and helped bring about greater healing to those who asked for their help.  Many times long distance clients have commented that when they saw Alicia and Donald coming to them in spirit, they would see them join as one and shine so bright and bring so much peace that they were amazed and awed by how they felt afterwards. 

 

Alicia and Donald felt a call by Spirit to move to Florida almost a year ago.  They always respond to God’s call on their life, no matter if it seems strange or not particularly a place they may have considered going.  The call talked about how they would help bring healing, peace and hope to this area by raising its vibration and sharing the special healing that they have learned together.  God has placed a strong call on their hearts to start up a healing ministry so they can teach others their healing methods and inspire them to do the same. 

 

On Sunday, March 22 at 5pm they will be sharing a special service with us at the Spiritual Lighthouse Church.  The topic they are sharing is titled “Healing for a Personal Relationship with God”.  Alicia is going to share an inspired poem called “Where Does God Go?”and Donald will be speaking about his experiences with healing others and how that has lead others to a personal relationship with God.  The songs they have picked out have been chosen for their uplifting and heartwarming qualities that will open your heart to a fuller relationship with God and move you with the grace of the Holy Spirit.   The music they have chosen comes from contemporary worship leaders who have made a name for themselves in churches across the country and around the world that leads people to higher forms of worship and praise for God.  Following the service Donald and Alicia will be sharing messages with all.  This should be an extraordinary experience for all to enjoy!

Love Without Fear

Whenever I hear “When I get Where I’m Going” by Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton it makes me wonder and think about why we always wait to live fully without fear.  Why won’t we love without fear every moment of the day?

 

What is it that makes us so afraid to live with our hearts wide open?

 

It costs nothing to love one another, it costs us nothing to love someone even if we do not know them.  It seems as though as the years go by we become more and more disconnected from the world around us, from those around us. 

 

What keeps us from reaching out to one another in love and friendship, even just to say hello and smile as we go by on the street?

 

This last week, Donald and I were out shopping at Publix in a rough neighborhood in Jacksonville and we smiled and said hello to a gentleman in the parking lot.  I think it was the first time I was ever thanked for simply saying hello and smiling at someone.  The gentleman said that was the nicest greeting he had gotten that day and that he could feel the joy spread from our smiles to his heart. 

 

I often try to smile and say hello to everyone I meet, especially at work even though there are hundreds of people in my office.  Somedays, it is a challenge just to hold my head up and say hello and smile, looking each person in the eye when it would be a lot easier to look down and keep walking.   Yet the little effort it takes can mean the world to the other person, as they in turn may smile at you or someone else. 

 

Why have we become so stingy with our love?

 

Especially with ourselves. 

 

Take the time to love without fear, allow yourself the freedom to be a being of LOVE.  It is the ultimate freedom to be filled with love and let it spill out to everyone around you without the fear of expecting anything in return.  Once you start loving freely there is no end to the amount of love that comes to you, it is never ending.  LOVE IS WHO WE ARE.  LOVE is who I AM.  LOVE is who You ARE. 

 

Be filled with love, be filled with an open heart, be free of the fear that keeps you from reaching out to others you do not know and especially those who you DO know.  Many times we stop reaching out to those we know due to some ego issue or another, holding onto some society rule that we have to act this way or that way.  Act how your heart wants you to act, not how others want you to act. 

 

Don’t wait for death or near death to let you be free to be who you are.

Don’t wait for where you are going to love without fear.

We always stand within the Light. 

Never forget that you are filled with grace, hope and love. Always.

Nothing you have ever done can take that away from you – for that is who you are.

Be at peace!

Into the Void

The past few days I have been getting a glimpse of something that I can’t quite put my finger on. Change is a foot all around us as we begin the slow crawl towards spring, though maybe some can’t tell that now with all of the snow around the country again and more on its way.  This year living in Jackonsville, there hasn’t been any snow but the weather changes have been very severe these last couple of weeks.

 

Overall the weather pressure and full moon seem to reflect the inner and outer pressures that seem to surround daily life, everywhere I look at work or around shopping everyone is under so much stress and appears to be so pressurized that they are about to explode at any second. Many times I catch myself riding with this high pressure, feeling the intense emotions that so many are feeling, stressed beyond words, moved to tears or rage that I scream in my car on the drive home from work.

 

Last night a gift was given to me to see what lies beneath the high pressured emotions that are circling around the Earth at this time, there is also a space of clearing and relief. A void hiding underneath all of the chaos is waiting, simply waiting to be entered. All I can see within the void is a small spark of light, nothing more and nothing less. It is a space of calm, peace, surrounded in an earthly darkness, like an enveloping cave or a mother’s arms.

 

Today at work I tried out the void many times, each time I felt like I was being carried away with the wave of high pressure, I entered the void and touched the spark within. As soon as I remembered the void, I was calm, peaceful, almost joyful and content. Each time I returned back to the void I felt the light within me grow, my own security and confidence return. This is a space of creation for the spring and what is to come.

 

The void waits for each one to enter and create what they need, to leave the mundane world and worries behind that are not real or even tangible, they don’t belong to spirit or to heart. Allow yourself to be taken into the void and see the light within.

Feast for Goddess Brighid and Saint Brigid

Altar for Feast for Brighid and Saint Brigid

 

This week, we celebrated the Feast of the Goddess Brighid and Saint Brigid. Saint Brigid is believed to be the incarnation of the Goddess Brighid. Both have been attributed with being patrons of higher spiritual activities, creativity, healing, art and keepers of the eternal flame. Some call the celebration day Imbolc for the return of the Ewe’s Milk in Ireland. This is the halfway point between winter and spring, a time when the darkness of winter is starting to lighten for spring to return. The celebration is a renewal of hope and faith that the light will return and with it the abundance that comes with spring. In the past, many did not have much sustenance for the winter months, the return of the ewe’s milk was an awesome addition to the diet that provided great relief. Many ways to celebrate and honor Goddess Brighid and Saint Brigid are to offer foods that are made with milk and cheese. Don and I baked a Tres Leches Cake for the first time. We added hazelnut and almond extract and it was delicious!
As part of our celebration, we set up an altar for Brighid and Mother Mary. Brighid is sometimes said to have carried on the work of nurturing the world from Mother Mary. There are many wonderful stories that can be found about Brighid and many of them seem to interweave between Druid, Celtic and Christian celebrations. We wanted to celebrate Brighid as she helps with healing, protection and keeps the eternal flame going.

We lit a candle for Brighid and then during the ritual we lit one for Mother Mary. From Mother Mary’s candle, we went on to each light a candle for ourselves and one for the angel, spirit guide or loved one that we wanted to communicate with during our Automatic Writing Practice. Even after our group members left, Donald and I let the candles burn until the wee hours of the night. It was interesting to watch to see which ones burned out first and which ones stayed on long after the event was over. The final candle burned out around 2AM. We figured that the person needed special love, healing and care and relighting of their inner flame.

Never underestimate the power of ritual in your life. Even the simplest ritual can have a profound effect on your spirit and a deeper connection to what is truly sacred in your life.

Below are the prayers that we used for our ritual. One I found on a website about Imbolc and felt it was a great little chant to use. The others, I wrote especially for our celebration.

Beginning Prayer for the Feast of Goddess Brighid and Saint Brigid said by leader.

We call upon the Goddess Brighid and Saint Brigid to be with us tonight. Please surround us in your eternal light of healing, protection and inspiration. We offer this bounty of food and wine for your celebration tonight. Please bless these offerings with healing, wisdom and hope for the renewal of spring so that we may be filled once more with the joy that springtime brings. We ask that you watch over us tonight and stay with us as we explore the sacred arts and expand our spiritual gifts. Bless each of us with wisdom and grace to raise our vibrations and reach to the realm of light for healing and communication of our highest and greatest good.

 

Prayer for Lighting of Center Candle for Mother Mary said by leader.
Dearest Mother Mary, I call upon you to be with us tonight, I light this candle in your honor, as a flame of love, mercy and compassion. May each light be built from your flame so that we may be blessed with your mercy and grace and Brighid’s gifts of renewal and abundance.

Chant for Brighid said by everyone 3 times.
Holy Water, Sacred Flame
By Anne Hill

Holy water, sacred flame
Brighid, we invoke your name
Bless my hands, my head, my heart
Source of healing, song, and art

Candles for the Ritual

 

Invocation for Lighting the Candle for Healing and Protection said by each person as they light their candles.

I will light this candle
From the flame of Mother Mary.
May the eternal flames of Brigid and Mary
Guard my hearth, guard my home
And guard all who dwell within it.

Cleansing Process ~ Heart Clearing ~ 10.29.07

 

Cleansing Process – Filling Your Heart with Golden White Crystal Light.

  

Sometimes clearing the heart can seem like a difficult process if there is a lot of pain built up over past challenges, however, it is extremely helpful and useful to clear out all the old stuff that has been held onto. 

 

The steps to go through for this cleansing are to set some time aside, whether in meditation, prayer or even in a relaxing bath with candles lit.  It is a journey within yourself to see what is truly going on within your heart from a spiritual viewpoint and not just a physical one. 

 

It helps if you have a good imagination to be able to work through this process as the mind can block you from being able to truly experience or ‘see’ what is going on. 

 

The reason I suggest being in the bath is because of the healing way water can take away and cleanse you from the inside out and the outside in.  This is especially true if you put essential oils (like lavender, frankincense, myrrh, sandalwood or rose – rose is especially good for working with the heart) and sea salt in your bath water. 

 

 

So either in a bath or in bed set the tone for a special quiet time alone. Turn off the phone if you can or wait till you have a moment to be by yourself without distraction from others, tv, work, etc.  Light some candles, put on some soft music that speaks to your heart and calls to your soul, light some incense if you wish.  Anything that helps to calm and relax you, and invokes a feeling of sacred space.

 

 

Once you are laying down, call upon God to come and help you through this process, also call upon your angels, spirit guides, power animals, guardians and anyone who you feel has helped you on your spiritual journey. Ask them for help in guiding you through this process, providing healing energy and light and most of all reassurance, comfort and love to gently move you through clearing your heart.

 

Ask for God’s help in drawing down the Golden White Crystal Light to fill you, pouring down over your head and over your entire body. Let your body begin to feel lighter, warmer and enveloped in the light. See it surround you, helping you to glow and shine brighter. State the intention that you will be traveling within yourself to cleanse and clear your heart, that you truly wish to see within yourself and let go of all that is blocking you from opening your heart and trusting all that is.

 

As you lift yourself up from your body in spirit, feel yourself travel deeper inward, traveling down through your body and into the center of your heart. Journey until you see a large door standing before you, this is the door to your heart and is waiting for you to open it and walk inside. Be brave and know that nothing can harm you and you are safe to enter your own heart, for God and all of your angels are with you, helping you on this journey. Maybe you feel that you have to knock before entering or you feel the door is locked. Knock on the door and state that you are entering your heart and wish to view it truly as it is, ready to open your heart and trusting that you will be safe to see and experience what has been locked away.

 

Journey within your heart, beyond the door and look in each room you come to. Some rooms may have doors that are open and others may be locked, not yet ready for you to enter. Enter the rooms one by one, seeing the color of the walls, the state that the rooms are in. Are they dirty, filled with darkness, filled with dust? Are they clear and bright, feeling open and free? In each room, work to clear away all that is not clean and bright, clean all that is not light.

 

Some rooms you may have to work with a bucket and sponge to wash away the darkness. Do not be alarmed, but let the golden white crystal light to flow into the room with you, helping you to wash the darkness away. Let God’s love to flow in and fill the room, washing away any pain, anger, sorrow, guilt or shame that is held there. Ask that all that is not of your highest good be released back to God. God will take away all that is not of love and light.

 

Continue to work through each room, diligently and deliberately. Going over every inch until your entire heart is bathed in Golden White Crystal Light and filled with love. If you feel sorrow or pain, let the emotions wash over you and release from you. Let the tears fall or cry out. If you feel a need to stop and write your feelings and memories out, please take that time. This is not a race to finish up as quickly as possible.

 

This is a gift for you, to take time and cherish each moment, no matter how hard that moment is. For the moments you are washing away and cleansing have made you who you are. They are part of you and you would not be the awesome amazing person you are today without them. Those moments that have been trapped and held in darkness, also no longer serve you and they no longer protect you by being locked in your heart.

 

In fact, those trapped moments and locked doors in your heart are hurting you in ways you cannot imagine. They block away true feelings of love and self worth. The locked doors block you from God and all that you are, keeping you from trusting yourself and trusting God to lead you.

 

This process may only take on time to go through or it may take you several sessions to get through all of the rooms. Sometimes it is helpful to go back after several days or weeks to walk through your heart with light and love to keep it clear and free of blocks, free of stored pain and memories.

 

Do as much as you feel you can, there is no rush. Ask God to help, ask your angels and guides to help and ask others that you trust to help. You are not alone in this process and always loved. Just taking the first step is a big step! Know that you can do it!

 

 

If you have any questions please let me know and I will help you as best you can.  I will be creating this process into a CD so that people will be able to meditate to it.