October Affirmation: I welcome change into my life and
learn and grow from my transitions.

We continue our journey through the major Arcana of the Tarot with the Tower. This card brings us the inevitability of change, good, bad or indifferent. In the traditional tarot decks, lightening is seen striking the Tower, symbolizing a major cataclysmic event that changes everything. The question confronting us in this card is “Will we embrace this change or will be fight against it or even flee from it?” For me, the Tower is a reminder of 9/11 and all the changes that have mushroomed from that tragic experience. What have we learned in 25 years, how have we grown, in positive or negative ways? Creation often comes from chaos, so our perspective and our response to our changing circumstances is extremely important.

Change can be challenging,, pushing us out of our comfort zones,  yet it is always with us physically, emotionally and spiritually. One of my first spiritual teachers is fond of saying that our life here on earth is “boot camp for the soul.” When the soul reaches the Tower, there are choices to be made. Not all life experiences will be pleasant. Often it will feel like we are trapped by circumstances and have little if any choice. But we always have a choice how we respond to our circumstances, even if we can’t immediately alter them. Learning and growing as a soul is why we are here on earth. And yes, some of these lessons may seem harsh, but learning how to walk through our fear with faith and trust is major growth. As Mahatma Ghandi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

And remember: “They always say time changes things,
but you actually have to change them yourself.”
~ Andy Warhol

O God of the Ages, you are unchanging and yet you bring constant change into our lives. You are the steady rock around which our chaotic Earth whirls. Be our touchstone and foundation. Cleanse our hearts and minds from fear, doubt and regret. Remove hurt, anger and frustration. Create us anew, dear God, and transform our lives so that we may reach out to transform our world. Empower us with your Spirit that blows wherever it will. With Courage and Strength within us, we know we can face the storms of life. We welcome the rain that brings rainbows and new growth. We welcome the wind that blows away the debris of outworn beliefs of the past. We welcome the water that flows into us and around us, cleansing and filling us to overflowing with Love and Peace. We hear you call to us: “Sleeper awake!” Awaken us in every fiber of our being so that we may truly remember who we are and why we are here. So it is.

September Affirmation: I rise above all limitations as I walk
in Light and Love to my freedom.

We continue our journey of the soul through the major Arcana of the Tarot with the Devil card. This energy, like the last card of Death, can bring fear and judgment, but this energy is much more than we often believe. So just for a moment I ask you to suspend the judgment and let’s explore the meaning behind this powerful card. First of all, let me say that I do not believe in a personal devil or Satan, but I do acknowledge dark forces that can influence our lives and our world. Having said that, the Devil card is about the choices we make and the limitations that we create for ourselves. In essence this energy offers us freedom or enslavement, whichever choice we make. What’s important is that we acknowledge the source of our choice, external or internal, and take full responsibility for that choice. We are not puppets. We have free will, but so often we see ourselves as victims of external circumstance. This energy encourages us to take a deep breath and own our choices and take ownership of our life. Not easy but critically important!

In the movie Phenomenon, John Travolta’s character has a problem with a very pesky rabbit that is lunching on his garden. He tries everything, even sinking a fence three feet underground but nothing stops this rabbit. Then one night he has a breakthrough. He realizes he has been going about this all wrong and opens the gate in his fence. He then sits on his porch and waits. Sure enough, he soon sees the rabbit scurry out the gate. With all his efforts, he had trapped the rabbit inside the garden. The rabbit just wanted to get out and be free. How often do we build walls and fences in our lives, chaining ourselves to what we most fear, limiting our horizons when we could fly free? This is the perfect time to reflect on how you limit yourself and stunt your soul’s growth. The traditional symbols of this tarot card show the devil enthroned while a man and a woman are in chains before him. But the important lesson here is that the fence is open, the chains are unlocked. All we need to do is believe in our freedom and we can fly!

And remember: “Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide
how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us.”
~ Stephen Covey

Almighty God, you created us in Joy and freedom, and your Divine Will is that we continue to live as free men and women. Forgive us when we bind ourselves with limitations and restrictions that implant seeds of death, not life, in our world. Gift us with the courage to walk our path without fear in the freedom of your Divine Guidance. We know and affirm that you are within us and that you walk beside us, but you do not control us, you do not dictate our beliefs or our lives. Your Way is the open door of Freedom, not the restricted box of limitation. Thank you, God, for entrusting us with such a wondrous gift. May we use it wisely and with discretion, and never forget the Source of our freedom. So it is.

August Affirmation: I am surrounded by Light and protected from all harm.

We continue our soul’s journey through the major Arcana of the Tarot with the Temperance card. Temperance is not something we readily think of in our current lives, but it has many diverse meanings.  While part of the meaning of Temperance is moderation and abstinence, the word’s higher association is with the Latin tempor, a time period or season for all things under heaven. There is also a link to the Latin temporare, meaning “to mix, blend or regulate”, which reminds us of the power of alchemy, turning lead into god or our human self into divine. The Inner Child cards help us to understand this deeper meaning, pointing us to an angel representing the unification of spirit and soul energies. Or on another turn of the spiral, it can represent the alchemical process by which a human personality becomes infused with divine light and wisdom. It is symbolized as the Guardian Angel in this deck. Guardian Angels are seen either as forces outside ourselves keeping us from danger, or as soul aspects of our identities, or even as our Higher Selves.

This is the perfect time to explore your connection with your inner divine self, however you choose to encounter it. Call it your Higher Self, your Christed Self, the divine spark within you, or your angelic self. Whatever works for you, find a quiet moment to go within to your sacred heart space. Open your awareness to the Light within you. Allow the Light to flow from the top of your head to the very tips of your toes, penetrating every cell and organ, every vein and artery of your body. In this quiet divine space filled with Light, listen for any messages that this energy may have for you. Feel the peace of this Presence that surrounds you and protects you always. You are never alone. You are never without help. You are always surrounded in Love and Light. God is Love and God is Light. In that Light there is no darkness. In that Love there is no fear. So live always in that Love and walk always in that Light, and fear not.

And remember: “Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust ~
we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned by an invisible piper.”
~ Albert Einstein

Holy One, when we feel lost and alone, remind us that you are always near. When we stumble and fall, lift us to our feet again and support our halting steps. When we are overwhelmed and discouraged by the challenges and darkness around us, shine your Light into our lives, that we may always follow your Path. Thank you for never abandoning us and for seeking us when we lose our way. So it is.

July Affirmation: I walk through the darkness without fear and discover the Light that always surrounds me and enfolds me.

We continue our soul’s journey through the major Arcana of the Tarot with the thirteenth card, the Death card. This card can invoke fear and panic in many people, but this is simply because our culture has such a misunderstanding of the meaning of the death process. Death is not the end of life for the soul. It is simply a transition from one level of consciousness or dimension to the next. We may physically leave our body, but our soul awareness continues on to learn and grow.

In the Inner Child tarot deck this card is represented by the story of Sleeping Beauty, which is a perfect expansion of this process of soul evolution. Sleeping Beauty pricks her finger and falls into a deep sleep which can be seen as our soul journey here on earth. But as we sleep, we journey and we dream and we learn. This is not wasted time, but part of our education. And as we grow, we open to a new awareness of our soul and who we truly are at our deepest level. Sleep can be described as a “little death” and thus as we sleep we let go of most of our tethers to the physical world, but not all. Our silver cord still connects us to the physical plane and that will continue until we reach our ultimate transition to the Other Side. But once again, even that is not the end. In one of the Gnostic Gospels, the Gospel of Philip, we are reminded of our true journey and our true challenge: “Those that say that the Lord first died, and then was resurrected are wrong; for he was first resurrected, and then died.  If someone has not first been  resurrected, they can only die.  If they have already been resurrected, they are alive, as God is Alive.”

From this perspective, then, death becomes part of our chosen path to the ascension of our soul. What a difference it would make if we came to believe and embody this! Death is not an ending but a beginning; a continuation of a long and beautiful journey of growth and expansion. The caterpillar becomes a butterfly!

And remember: “Far too many fear death and regard it as the worst disaster that can befall them: they know nothing of what they speak. Death comes as a dissolution from an exhausted body…Just as the body leaves the mother’s womb when it is mature in it, so also does the soul leave the body when it has come to perfection.”

Asclepius, ancient Greek philosopher and physician

Holy Mother, as we celebrate your Light we begin our journey to darkness. We acknowledge the perfection of your Plan and your continued Presence in our world. Show us the good even in the darkness and teach us  to reverence life as it manifests in all its glory before us. Remove our judgments and our assumptions, and open our hearts simply to allow and accept. May we walk gently upon your good Earth and live in harmony with all your creatures. Show us how to heal our wounds so that we may be called your children and your stewards. As we seek balance in our lives, we seek your Truth and Justice for all. In the Light or in the dark, as male and female, we unite in your Love and Compassion. So it is.

June Affirmation: I surrender to the power of Light and Love, and discover the heart of my soul.

We continue our journey through the Major Arcana of the Tarot with the Hanged Man. The  image on this card traditionally shows a man hanging upside down by one leg, encouraging us to be open to a different perspective on our life and the world around us. This is also the card of surrender, which has such negative energy in our culture, but is truly a key to spiritual growth and transformation. Surrender is not about weakness and it is not about giving up. It is about letting go of control and allowing a Higher Power to slide into the driver’s seat of your life.

Take a moment this month to go within to your sacred heart space and feel yourself and/or your life turned upside down. Imagine what that would be like, or perhaps remember! How did you react? Did you see this as a positive or negative change? What was the result? And did you eventually surrender control to a Higher Power? All these questions take you to a place of inner knowing. The hard truth is that we find our deepest core when we encounter our deepest challenges. We may not like the path to get there, we may never have chosen it, but we can learn and grow and transform once we’re there.

We are surrounded by a chaotic and violent world. We desperately need to reframe that reality. This is not to deny what is actually happening around us, but to change our perspective so that we change and transform our energy. Then we can infuse Planet Earth with our Light and Love. We can make a difference, but before we can make a difference we need to invert our viewpoint and remember that the sun is still shining even on a cloudy day!

“Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust ~ we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.”
Albert Einstein

Source of All, we come to you often as we struggle with our need to be in control of our lives. And yet we know that is an illusion. Teach us that the true control is in letting go and letting you take over the pilot’s seat. Help us take that deep breath of release, knowing that your Will for us is always the highest and the best. So it is.