Poverty Consciousness

I woke up this morning uneasy. The last couple days I have been very on... well. Edge.
Part of me thought it was the Cancer Full Moon. I am an Aquarius with two stelliums in Scorpio and Capricorn in my chart so I don't do well with the watery realm of the crab.
The kids are asleep. It is early in the morning. I laid in bed thinking about the conversation I had with a great friend yesterday. She challenged me on my work. I appreciate this because there are not many people available to me that do this for me. I thank the Universe for sending her my way. This blog entry is the first in a commitment I made to her. Something I can easily do for her... not myself.
The last few days I am been having bothersome thoughts about the flow of my success. Frustrated... as my friend pointed out. Very frustrated.
I grabbed at my cards and began to shuffle. Feeling my heart ache a little bit I impregnated the feelings through my arms into my hands. What is the answer? What do I need to hear?
One by one I laid out the cards. It bloomed before me. The cards are more than happy with my new found motivation.

The Ace of Swords was the first to hit the table. Clarity. I need a new perspective.  A malfunction of the mind. What is my wrong thinking? Down came the Five of Pentacles. This card is about separation.  The people in the card are poor and hurt. They feel no one is there for them. The church right behind them has doors that are always open. Sanctuary.  Why do they not go in? Do they even know it is there? Perhaps they aren't aware. Do they choose not to? Fives are always a struggle. An entanglement. Conflict.  Pentacles being Earth this card talks about when our lives are unmanageable. At it's best it is when we feel a little disconnected to Spirit but at it's worst we feel rejected by God. This card holds the energy of poverty consciousness. We are plugged up and focusing on lower planes and have forgotten about the higher realms.  

The Devil and the Two of Pentacles below have their own message. The energy of the Devil is tricky. At its worst he enslaves people robbing them of their life force but at it's best he is about Saturn and materialization. He restricts. He challenges. The Two of Pentacles says to loosen up. To relax a little. To not be so scared. To let things flow. 

The High Priestess and the Strength together are powerful. Both being Major Arcana they represent Universal Truths. The High Priestess knows all. She is not limited by our human awareness. She is the fabric that connects our consciousness to one another. La Force. The ultimate battle. The constant struggle between forcing and allowing. 

Together they are the Serenity Prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference.

She is the wisdom. The soft feminine. She tames the beast within us all. She is the love that makes the Devil run scared. The Angel in the Strength card has her own kind of Strength. Not by brute force but by respect. She has a higher knowing of where true Strength lies. She has an understanding of how the Universe really works. She compassionately calms our lower level urges, desires, and reactions. Our survival instincts. She is more evolved than an animal. 

Another Five pops up. The Five of Wands. A Spiritual battle. The Five of Earth is putting out the Fire of the Five of Wands. Five of Wands, Saturn in Leo, has no chance against Mercury in Taurus. The first decan of Leo is ruled by Saturn so naturally it would come up to reinforce the Devil's work. The Major Arcana Devil manifests itself into the Pip card of fighting against others. Let's face it... Leo is self-centered. Which also corresponds to the Strength card. The energy is being misused and it is creating cruelty, aggression, and anxiety. The Golden Dawn calls this "Lord of Strife". While the Five of Pentacles takes that Spiritual struggle and thrusts it into the real world. When I say real I mean the physical plane... our daily lives. The Golden Dawn calls this card "Lord of Material Trouble". Mercury has always been known as the trickster, messenger, and associated with the Magician card. So you can see why paired with the Devil and the Five of Wands would be a dangerous combination. 

All these cards point to a consciousness that is trapped in its human form... disconnected and forgetting about its own divinity. Left to its own devices creating their very own hell on earth. Perfect. 

Well what are we going to do about that? Enter the Ace of Cups. Is that not always the answer? I mean really? Love. A new way of feeling. Up until this point it has all been a mental misfiring in our brains about the Truth of our reality. Causing Spiritual warfare within us. Where is the love? While your brain was manifesting a nightmare the heart goes unacknowledged. 

Now that I have interrupted by thinking pattern the cards give me the Knight of Wands and the Nine of Swords. We need to re-direct this energy. We have found the source of our pain and it is within our minds. We are torturing ourselves. It is our worry. What keep us up at night. It is the nightmare. Spirit can handle any job. The Fire will burn away all impurities. He will will delve deeply inside of you are lift this sadness up into higher education. The Five of Pentacles is connected to the Hierophant, hence the church. The people need only to transcend their physical limitations and looking towards Spiritual teachings. The Knight of Wands linked to Sagittarius is exactly the man for the job. 

The Seven of Wands urges you to become a warrior. This card is Mars in Leo "Lord of Valor". It is time to be brve and fight. It is about courage. The Universal Energy of the Strength card has manifested itself into our daily lives by giving up the opportunity to take a stand.  

To shine brightly. The Sun is the source of all. Our essence. Joy. To be childlike in the kingdom of heaven. The Golden Dawn calls this "The God of Light". Light is consciousness. It is what we are aware of... what we know. When the energy and knowledge of the High Priestess makes its way into our human understanding. One piece at a time. 

The Universe is very simple. It is a give and take system. You give a little... you get a little. You give a lot... you get a lot. Simple. The Universe is designed for people to take care of each other. You see how we were able to Transcend the Five of Pentacles to the Six. The Golden Dawn calls this "Lord of Material Success".

How did we get from Lord of Material Trouble to Success??? The Moon ebbs and flows as does money. It comes and goes like the waves of the sea. Fear often makes us misunderstand this cycle. When money is high we are happy... when money is low we are scared. We humans do not like to be scared and it makes us do all kinds of goofy things. Out of fear we try to control our money against the seemingly unfair Universe. So when money is high we hold onto it. This disrupts the flow that the Two of Pentacles is talking about. We literally put a choke hold on it. Then it begins a vicious cycle of struggle, power, and control. The force of survival in the Strength card overpowers our understandings of the Universe. 

Another Six pops up to reinforce the message of "Moving with the Flow". The Six of Swords. "Lord of Earned Success."  The Messenger from the Gods Mercury is working within Aquarius the Knowledge Bearer through me (An Aquarius) to say educate you. Aquarius soothes our hearts with water in the Star card giving us hope. It is the same water in the Aces Chalice. 

The man in the boat takes Six Swords to a better land. The place he is leaving no longer serves him. He takes what constructs of beliefs will serve his highest good and rides over the waters to bigger and better things. 

But look! What is he moving towards? The Queen of Cups. Ahhhh. Yes. That Universal Love Energy harnessed within a human body. It is when we receive love within us. Love ourselves. Nurture ourselves. She is loving, intuitive, and Spiritual. She is connected to the High Priestess, the Angel in the Strength card, and the woman that dances in the World. Her cup is full... overflowing even. The love pours over the Five of Pentacles, the Five of Wands, and the Devil. It tames the beast within. 

In the beginning the Ace told us we need a change in perspective and I believe the cards delivered. We have gained the clarity we need. The King of Swords holds his Swords firmly and is focused. We used our analytical mind and use thought creatively to come to some very intellectual conclusions. The cards didn't just say have Faith... no the cards said understand. There is a logical way of thinking about your prosperity. Your mental health and over all well being. 

The Ace of Wands is pure energy. Fire. Spirit. This energy purifies us. We can draw upon the three Aces in this spread... the Ace of Swords, the Ace of Cups, and the Ace of Wands. These powerful Universal Energies at our fingertips. Some fresh Air would do us some good. To learn how to think differently about how we feel about Love and Spirit. How they are tools to help shape our reality. As you can clearly see they can be used to cut, drown and burn... but they can also be used to define, to comfort and to uplift. 

Now that the message had been received from the Universe I want to show you how to do some energy work with your cards. A good lesson on the Six of Pentacles. I first started with the energy I put into the cards when shuffling and asking my question. That was give. Then I got my answer in the cards. That was receive. Now I am going to give more. I am going to select some stones to put over the cards. 

So now I have laid out my crystals. Now just doing this is enough to set mental intentions in your mind. Since we have already read the spread the energy is already primed and you are already connected to it. 

On the Ace of Swords I laid Selenite and Aqua Aura. Selenite facilitates communication with your higher self (Wind-Third Eye, Crown, Transpersonal and Etheric) and the Aqua Aura (Water-Throat, Third Eye) facilitating inner Truth and communication with emotions. It is a great stone for psychic protection. 

On the Five of Pentacles I laid Smokey Quartz (Earth-Root). It is a great grounding stone but it mostly helps eliminate negative energies in your environment by grounding it into the Earth. Green Apatite is a stone of the knowledge of the heart (Water/Earth-Heart, Throat, Third Eye). It will help stimulate the flow of energy and is known as an abundance stone because it soothes the feeling of lack. 

The Devil got a nice big chunk of Cinnabar (Fire-Root, Sacral, and Third Eye). A stone of Transformation and Manifestation.  This stone associated with the Magician Archetype fits well with all the Mercury cards we pulled. To adjust what it is we are actually creating. Cinnabar is indeed poisonous due to its Mercury content. It will help increase visionary capacities. The Fire will burn through limitations. It is a stone that helps you see how you bring energy into form. Physicality is not as solid as it appears. 

On the High Priestess I laid Azurite (Wind-Third Eye, Crown). This will bring insight, intuition, vision, and helps with the intellect. It will help us understand the roots of our fears. 

The Strength card got Tiger's Eye (Fire/Earth-Solar Plexus, Sacral, and Root). This is the ultimate stone for Strength. Often used by martial artists to help with focus and discipline. Associated with the Yin Yang symbol it helps us find the balance between opposites. Our own light and dark sides. A stone of equilibrium. Also Red Jasper (Earth/Root Sacral) which helps stabilize our lower level energies. Together they help re-balance and re-focus the energy. 

The Five of Wands got Aquamarine which has a wonderful cooling effect on the emotions. (Water-Throat, Heart). A good cleanser for the emotional body and to calm anxiety and stress. Balancing anger and fear and allows us the space to clear out unhealthy patterns. 

The Knight of Wands got its own piece of Tiger's Eye. This will help direct and focus the energy from the Strength card and redistribute it where it needs to be.

The Nine of Swords received Galena (Earth-Root). This stone is a powerful shamanic stone. It is used for soul retrieval. It also is poisonous due to its lead content. It acts as a powerful mirror so we can take a real long hard look at ourselves. Our shadow side. Our fears. When the Devil has taken a piece of our soul's to the underworld this stone will help retrieve it and help integrate it. 

The Seven of Wands, though you can't see it, got a big ol chunk of Orange Calcite (Fire-Sacral, Solar Plexus). This is get up and go stone. It facilitates creativity and confidence. It works with Solar energies helping to break up dark patterns. 

This stone compliments the Sun card which has a piece of Amber on it (Earth-Solar Plexus). This is the ultimate Light Energy Stone. It also get a Quartz Crystal. Not just any Quartz crystal but my very first Crystal I ever received. It was a gift from my very first Tarot reading. The one that started it all. My interest in Tarot and Crystals. It represents me. It changes with me. The Sun card is just that. Me. My inner light in all it's glory. The light that shines from the Hermit lamp at high noon. 

The World card got Pyrite-Marcasite. Pyrite (Earth-Solar Plexus) is the masculine energy of manifestation and will power through creativity and confidence. Marcasite (Storm-Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus, and Earthstar). This is a very powerful stone that help us see the interconnection between the spiritual and  physical worlds. That whatever is going on in our spirit is a mirror of what is happening in our psychical lives. Together they make a strong stone to show how our will plays a part in our lives. That we are the creators of our own Universe. 

The Six of Swords has a piece of Blue Kyanite connecting it to the Queen of Cups (Storm-All Chakras especially Third Eye and Heart). This is the stone that builds mental bridges. It makes connections between that and that. When we have pieces of the puzzle that don't fit together Kyanite will help you make them fit. 

The Queen of Cups got a piece of Green Calcite (Fire/Water-Heart). This stone helps open the heart and soothes it. Allowing you to release stress, anger, pain, and resentment. The Kyanite will help connect the mental plane to the emotional plane and facilitate communication. 

The Ace of Wands got a nice piece of Rutilated Quartz (Storm-All). This is the amplification stone. It quickens and grounds manifestation. It magnifies anything you put it with. Acceleration. 

Just to the right of the Ace of Wands I put an Ammonite shell. This is a fossilized nautilus shell. It represents powerful personal growth. It symbolizes constant evolution. Ammonites help you become aware of the repeating patterns in your life. How challenges seem to surface over and over again until we learn and grow. 

Now that the crystal grid has been intentionally laid out and therefore charged we can now see the big picture and we can sit and revel in its beauty. You can meditate on it. You can go as deeply into it as you want. You can allow it to change you on any level you choose. Now that the energy of the cards has been amplified by the crystal grid you should be able to feel it loud and clear at this stage in the spread work. You can pull the energy in, bless it, then push the energy back down into the cards and into the ground. This is how people work Tarot Spells. When you feel you are finished close yourself up. Close the circle. Thank the Universe and wipe the spread. Done. Perfection.