About Placing Trust

 

I recently watched the first “Avatar” movie as part of my preparation for watching the sequel - Avatar II. As I watched, it made me think about “trust”.  There are so many examples of trust and trust that is broken that one wonders how to trust anyone.

The Archangels tell us that we often put our trust in people that only wish to use and abuse us.  We need to find people that we can really trust – or people who can really say, "I see you" – the famous line from the movie, "Avatar". 

Often, people draw us in because they have an agenda that they think we can help them fulfill.  A relationship based on an agenda is a false friendship, and one that will let you down.

Today, check in and see where you place your trust.

Blessings,

Judy

How To Understand the “Fool” Card - Card 0 In The Tarot Deck

Image from the Osho Zen Transformation Tarot

 When people come to me to learn how to read the Tarot cards, I tell them that they must find a deck or two that feel right to them.  If they do not already have a sense of a deck, I usually start them out on two of my favourite decks - either the Universal Tarot by Maxwell Miller or the Zen Transformational Tarot by Osho.  Although the Zen deck reflects a Buddhist path, the journey depicted in the cards is true of most people's lives.

The first card in any Tarot deck is "The Fool".  I love this card because it is a happy card.  It speaks of innocence and joy!  Who of us does not want to achieve a state of joy that provides harmony in all that we do?

The first step in understanding any card is to look at the picture , at the central figure or item, and then look at all the supporting pictures or symbols as we move out from the central picture.  In this card, the picture of a young man or woman - possibly in their late teens or early twenties - is looking expectantly into the sky, and offering a charming bouquet of flowers to whomever they seem to see.  The uncomfortable part of this figure, for us, is that the person is dressed unusually colourful and is stepping off a cliff into space.  We say that this person is not acting normally and must be a fool to do something so dangerous.  

The opposite interpretation is probably more accurate and begins the message of this card.  The person stepping off the cliff does so with absolute trust, and shows their trust to the heavens - what we would call The Universe, Great Spirit, or Mother/Father God - by offering a gift, and showing no hesitation in taking this BIG step.  We may even feel some jealousy that someone is able to take that big a risk without any fear.  Fear is so pervasive in our lives that we believe all people should feel fear.

As we move out to examine the rest of the picture, it becomes clear that even if the Fool falls from the cliff, the river below will cushion the fall and carry the person on a great adventure.  The clouds lie below the person and give the impression of big, pillowy cushions that will soften any fall or journey the person may take.  Indeed, the individual will step off into LOVE and experience the ONENESS of all.  This card shows how we may depend on NATURE to carry us just as the ANGELS carry us. 

Osho says: "A fool is one who goes on trusting; a fool is one who goes on trusting against all his experience. You deceive him, and he trusts you; and you deceive him again, and he trusts you; and you deceive him again, and he trusts you. Then you will say that he is a fool, he does not learn. His trust is tremendous; his trust is so pure that nobody can corrupt it……………In the beginning it is going to be very difficult. The world will start taking advantage of you...let them. They are poor fellows. Even if you are cheated and deceived and robbed, let it happen, because that which is really yours cannot be robbed from you, that which is really yours nobody can steal from you." Osho Dang Dang Doko Dang Chapter 2

If this card turns up in a reading, the querent is being asked to return to their natural state and to trust their instinct.  It is about knowing that the message from The Universe is true, and that any action taken is fully supported by the ONENESS of all things.  You may ANGER some by your actions, however, this card is about TRUST.

May your journey be an adventure unhindered by your family and friends.  And may they stand by you as you travel.

Blessings,

Judy

Peace and Calm

 

       Picture on Peace from a friend’s email

It is December and our thoughts turn to Christmas… staff parties, buying presents, family gatherings, and a demand on one’s time to meet all the obligations.  It is a time of stress!

A common Christmas carols says – Peace on Earth, Goodwill to man – I think it is from "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day".  The song was on the car radio.  I started thinking… peace.  For many it means no war or persecution.  For others, it means not having to deal with anything that is drama or is negative.  

I like this poster that says, and I paraphrase, peace is being calm in your heart.  That feels right.

Many blessings,

Judy

Dove - Spirit Animal

 

                                            

Picture of “Mama Dove” in our back yard – picture by Judy Hirst 

 Wikipedia says this about doves:  “Doves….. build relatively flimsy nests from sticks and other debris, which may be placed in trees, on ledges, or on the ground, depending on species. They lay one or two eggs, and both parents care for the young, which leave the nest after 7 to 28 days. Doves feed on seeds, fruit and plants. Unlike most other birds (but see flamingo), the doves and pigeons produce "crop milk," which is secreted by a sloughing of fluid-filled cells from the lining of the crop. Both sexes produce this highly nutritious substance to feed to the young.”

This passage from Wikipedia basically sums up that Dove is about home, security, and the maternal instinct.  Dove appears to us when we need to be reminded about the importance of home and security.  She may appear if we are having issues with childhood issues that we cannot resolve.  And, since the dove is a ground feeder and eats mostly seeds, nuts, and grain, she tells you to eat more healthily, as any mother will.  Dove is often associated with Buddha and indeed, has a “Buddha nature”.  It is no surprise then, that her diet is similar.

Many of the legends and myths tell the stories of Dove being associated with the Goddesses of old.  Even the Bible tells of the importance of Dove and how she is associated with Christ and often is a symbol of Christ – standing for peace.  
Dove may be telling you:

• Find peace in your life, or move away from that which is not peace
• Look to find something creative in your life that brings you peace
• The cooing sound Dove makes is a communication to your cellular memory – what it is it that you once were?  She helps you find that peaceful, spiritual person deep inside you.

Blessings,

Judy

Finding Peace When The Day Is Stressful

 

This picture is of Fish Creek in the summer in Fish Creek Provincial Park.

Many folks carry a lot of stress around with them…from work, from family, from financial worries or health worries.  When stress is building up, even those things that are usually seen as “normal” add to the stress. 

I worked with a teacher for two years in the early 2000’s. One of his best lessons for me was to teach me to deal with stress by finding peace.  He would lead me through meditation to different places to see where I felt the most comfortable….a beach on the ocean, a lake where animals come to drink, a mountain ledge easily accessible, a cloud, beneath a tree, and we tried different trees, on a rock, up a tree, by a creek, in a forest glade, by a waterfall, in the middle of a meadow, and even on a monastery.  Each meditation relaxed me and gave me shades of peace.  The place where I felt the most peace was by running/moving water with a forest close by. 

For years, as I felt stress, I closed my eyes and went to that place where the water was running with the forest in the background.  As time passed, the vision of the place changed.  Sometimes it was an ocean with waves rolling up on the shore and the forest in the background. Sometimes it was a large lake that was mirror still with a forest growing almost to the water’s edge.  The vision slowed my thoughts, cooled anger and frustration, and relaxed my muscles, especially in my shoulders.  

In the beginning, it would take up to 25 minutes to get peace.  If it was a tough day, then it took longer.  Eventually I could find peace in two to three minutes, and what a difference it made to my work performance!  

The lessons that my teacher taught me about finding peace in a stressful day are:

• In meditation, people will tell you to go to your comfortable or safe space.  One does not know what that space is until all the options are explored.
• Finding one’s peaceful, safe place is a process and the safe place may change over time.
• There is not a magic time that it takes everyone to get to their peaceful place.
• Like many actions, getting to the peaceful place takes a lot of practice.
• Arriving at the peaceful, blissful state is worth the work.

Blessings.

Judy

Happy Thanksgiving Nov 24 2022 For My American Friends

 

I wish Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the United States!  This has been a difficult year for many, and my hope for the next year is:

• good food for all
• great housing for all
• great jobs with great pay in a great company
• time for walks in the park or out in the country
• time to read a good book, or play with your kids
• friends that love you and support
• family that respects you and cherishes you
• warm houses for those that live in the snowy climates
• healing for all that are ill
• peace as you go about your day

I wish you all abundance this Thanksgiving Day

Feeling Kindness

Picture from unknown source

Over the last several months, I have been going through some health challenges.  I have been so grateful to the doctors and clinic staff for the kindness that they show me.  Nothing we do is a rush and the feeling in each specialized clinic is quite warm and friendly.  When I commented on the atmosphere, the nurse said that friendliness and kindness were easy to do and that she wished all people were kind.  

For some reason, her words stuck with me and I started looking at different articles online about kindness, and goodness, and compassion, and balancing one’s problems while being kind to others.  I love the article below, and hope that it helps you.

The following information came from an article on LIFEHACK at http://www.lifehack.org/387767/15-quotes-about-kindness.  It seems that we are lacking kindness and compassion in the world so I thought it was worth sharing. 

15 quote about kindness

1. “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop 
2. “Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.” – Nelson Mandela 
3. “There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” – Vincent Van Gogh 
4. “Those who make compassion an essential part of their lives find the joy of life. Kindness deepens the spirit and produces rewards that cannot be completely explained in words. It is an experience more powerful than words. To become acquainted with kindness one must be prepared to learn new things and feel new feelings. Kindness is more than a philosophy of the mind. It is a philosophy of the spirit.” – Robert J. Furey 
5. “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.” – Kahlil Gibran 
6. “How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make a contribution toward introducing justice straightaway. And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!” – Anne Frank 
7. “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” — Princess Diana 
8. “A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. “ – Charles H Spurgeon 
9. “Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you — not because they are nice, but because you are.” — Author Unknown 
10. “During my second year of nursing school our professor gave us a quiz. I breezed through the questions until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?” Surely this was a joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before the class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our grade. “Absolutely,” the professor said. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello.” I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.” — JoAnn C. Jones, Guideposts, January 1996 
11. “By swallowing evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his stomach.” — Winston Churchill 
12. “Sure the world breeds monsters, but kindness grows just as wild… ” — Mary Karr, The Liars’ Club: A Memoir, 1995 
13. “The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within; Strength, Courage, Dignity.” – Ruby Dee 
14. “I’m convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they’re stones that don’t matter. As long as you’re breathing, it’s never too late to do some good.” – Maya Angelou 
15. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” — Plato D

Many blessings,

Judy