Tag: Mental Health

The Blessed Sun

The Sun CHANGES EVERYTHING within its influence.

When It shines, it Changes the appearance and the FEELING of everything in its vicinity.

In the Modern Witch Tarot, take a closer look at the sunflowers.

Most are stretching towards the Sun, eager to embrace Its Light and Warmth.

Some are curious about the child astride the horse, enjoying her joie de vie….

But one sunflower…. looks away.

Is it just one step behind the others, as I sometimes (okay, all the time) am in a structured dance?

Is it just ADD and caught up looking at something else that has its attention? (Because we ADD/multidimensional people do that too)

Or is it purposely turning its back on this Sun’s warmth, out of bitterness, pain, anger, or stubborness? (I’ve done that too ….)

The Sun does not discriminate. It shines impartially on All. In this deck’s imagery, It focuses only on carrying out its calling.

It’s up to the individual to choose how they utilize Her Light.

It’s up to each of us at any given moment in time, to either soak it up or decline its warmth. Right or wrong, each of us makes the decision we need for ourselves.

Which Sunflower do you need to be today?

(Via Edu Seijas’ channel)

Thoughts welcomed.

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Tarot’s Not the Only Guidance Out There

“Learning to Pray”
taken from Treasury of Prayer: Prayers of Hope and Faith

by Marjorie Holmes

You know, Lord, how well You know, the years when I didn’t pray (or didn’t think I prayed). How could I pray to someone whose very existence I doubted? How could I ask for help from a force I spurned?
Yet all the while I was hungering for You, groping to find Your hand as I stumbled in the darkness of my needs . . . “If I could pray,” I thought. “If I could only learn to pray.”
But I felt foolish when I tried; I felt phony, insincere. My doubts seemed to rise up like a mockery between us. And You knew my follies and faults all too well. My tongue was inarticulate – it winced to form the words. My own self-scorn made me impotent, dumb.
I would get up from my fumbling so called prayers with an empty heart, feeling rejected, turned away. (Was there some secret rubric others had discovered? Some key that would make the heavens open, unlock the special doors?)

I was wrong. In a while, maybe from sheer persistence, something began to happen within me. A sense of being accepted, however unworthy. (no -not merely accepted, welcome, welcomed home!) And the deep excited stirrings of trust in a power I could not see.

Then I went to the formula You gave in the Sermon on the Mount.
“Our Father who are in heaven.” How kind that seems. “Hallowed be Thy name.” The gentle beginnings of worship . . .

“Thy kingdom come” (within me). “Thy will be done” (take over my life, I”m not doing so well) “on earth as it is in heaven.” (I like this earth. I don’t know about heaven, but it must be a wonderful place.)

“Give us this day our daily bread” (just enough for today, Lord, enough time and money and strength to get through this one day) . . . “and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive” (are my trespasses blocking the road to You? and my lack of forgiveness for those who’ve hurt me?).

“Lead us not into temptation” (this I don’t understand – You couldn’t, You wouldn’t – just hang on to me when I am tempted, give me the will not to yield). “Deliver us from evil” (yes, yes, that’s what I mean – deliverance).

 “For Thine is the power and the glory forever and ever.” (It is, it is, it hast to be, and the more often I admit it, express it, the more I know it’s true!)
So in this way I began to get deliverance, Lord. The deliverance I sought. From self-doubt, which was so deeply enmeshed with my doubts of You.

And to learn the fundamentals of prayer: worship, submission, acceptance, plea, and then more worship to seal it. And I began to know then as I realize now that worship itself is the key. The magic key. Prayer brings You close when we come not merely seeking help, but because we want to be with You.

***

“Prayer of Praise”
by Saint Augustine

But let my soul praise Thee that it may love Thee,
And let it tell Thee Thy mercies that it may praise Thee.
Without ceasing Thy whole creation speaks Thy praise-
The spirit of every man by the words that his mouth directs to Thee,
Animals and lifeless matter by the mouth of those who look upon them.
That so our soul rises out of its mortal weariness unto Thee,
Helped upward by the things Thou hast made
And passing beyond them unto Thee who has wonderfully made them:
And there refreshment is and strength unfailing. Amen.

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Full Moon August/Sept 2018

* Featured Photo / Artwork by Art by D. Eskridge and found on LongIslandGoddess.blogspot.com,
From Cathy Pagano:
“It’s going to be an initiation and a stretch for us to listen to the voice of our soul rather than the chaotic voices of our world…
“While the solar cycle starts in March/April with the Sun in Aries and impels us to find out who I am, the Aries lunar cycle begins in August/September with the question, who am I in relationship with others? 
 “…The storyline for each Aries Full Moon is the Libra mystery: how do you and I compliment each other?
“How well do we fit together? How do we achieve some kind of balance between me and my desires, and you and your desires? 
“…This Full Moon’s energy is enhanced by Mercury and Ceres in Libra, Chiron Rx in Aries and Saturn and Vesta in Capricorn…
“These three planetary energies are engaged in a new birth – a new way of being grounded in the Self yet opened to the Other, nurtured by Ceres’ spiritual realities and Mercury’s inner visualization…
“With Chiron retrograde conjunct the Aries Moon, we can either spend our time being re-traumatized by our old wounds or finally free of them.
“And free to start a new life with Aries courage and leadership.
“We call Chiron the wounded healer because in the myth, he was wounded by a poisoned arrow and, being immortal, couldn’t die. But before his wound, Chiron was the mentor of heroes.
“And that’s his function now if we let him mentor us into a true sense of who we are that doesn’t take away from who the other is. 
“If we take up our archetypal identity, our deep soul identity, Chiron can mentor us so we do become the person we’re meant to be. 
“And integrating our Aries emotional body with the conscious Libra Sun, Mercury and Ceres, we can become the hero/heroine of our own story.
“And that story includes our purpose in the world and for the world…
“And it’s time to step forward and be the vanguard of the future. Let Chiron heal the wounds to your old identity and mentor you into your new archetypal identity, with Love at the center.
“Saturn and Vesta come into this picture via a Cardinal T-Square, a tense 90* aspect to the opposition of the Full Moon…
“So we do have some tension at this Full Moon, but it can be the exciting (Aries) tension of adventure and determination rather than fear.
“Fortunately, we do have the tools to meet our initiation and pass through it. However, there’s another T-Square of tension between the rulers of Aries and Libra which has to be resolved. And it is linked to the Full Moon by an inconjunct from Uranus in Taurus to the Sun and Moon.
“This aspect forces us to stretch ourselves to bring in this new energy. We have to look wider afield than we usually do.
“A new world needs new forms of energy, vision and empowerment. And Uranus can awaken us to these new forms, especially because it is still in a helpful trine to Saturn/Vesta.
“The old is giving way to the new. Believe it!”
© Copyright 2017 ~ CATHY PAGANO All Rights Reserved
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The Bipolar Writer Blog Needs Your Help! — The Bipolar Writer Mental Health Blog

A worthy cause!!!! This blog educates about mental illness and health, supports those of us challenged by it, and works to remove the stigma and unfamiliarity of others with it! People are scared most of what they don’t know. Bipolar Writer seeks and works hard to correct this!

If you have been following my blog, you know that I have been working since November of 2017 on my memoir. All the money donated since that time has been put into a fund to pay the artist that is creating a cover so I can self-publish. Every cent that I have is going for that purpose.

via The Bipolar Writer Blog Needs Your Help! — The Bipolar Writer Mental Health Blog

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“I allow the information I need
to come to my senses by
paying attention to
what is before me.

I see that the world gives me
whatever is needed if I simply
open my eyes and ears.

The world is giving me constant feedback
on the thoughts I hold in my mind.

It provides clues to where
I might find what I am looking for.

I pause. I listen. I follow my heart.

Grandmother, guide me with
the star-bright song of
your timeless way.

I seek to bring
plenty to my people.”

~Carol Bridges

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“I know in my heart of hearts that I cannot help but do the best reading possible. I know in my soul that I cannot live without giving someone the gift of my love. I cannot survive a life without a spirited desire to share my heart.”

– Debra Silverman

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Biddy Card of the Week, Strength Reversed

“I’ve been taking these stutter steps towards my future for a long time now, unsure if I can do it, unsure if my difficulties are just growing pains or permanent disability. I need to take a lot of breaks to rest and re-group, but even if I have to hop instead of fly most of the time, I keep going. Just like the little bird.” 

– The Little Bird, by Rachel Mankowitz

* * * *

Biddy Tarot’s Card of the Week is Strength, reversed.

Biddy Tarot says that:

“This week, you may be feeling exhausted and in need of an energy boost. Remember, all your energy reserves and strength come from within. Take some time out this week to pause and reflect, and gather up your energy. Even though you may be lacking in strength, vitality and energy, it doesn’t mean you have to be completely incapacitated this week. Instead, go within to access your energy reserves and restore your inner strength.

You may also find that your inner strength and confidence is compromised this week. You may be doubting yourself and your ability to move through any challenges that have come your way. This is your opportunity to go deep within, and reconnect with your inner source of power and strength. You may have relied on others to provide this to you in the past, but the important lesson here is that only YOU can do this and you will be at your strongest when you discover how to find that part of you that is fierce and powerful!

Ask the Tarot: How can I restore my inner strength?”

(Esselmont)

* * *

 

* * *

I am indeed “feeling exhausted,” “lacking in strength, vitality and energy,” and “doubting” myself and my “ability to move through … challenges” this week (Esselmont). So this card is a nice reminder and encouragement for me. 

I also had never thought of viewing “feeling exhausted” as an Opportunity – an “opportunity to reconnect with” my “inner source of power and strength (Esselmont).”

Literally – like – “Yay, this week I get to really challenge myself”, or “Awesome, I get to utilize my inner reserves!”

So that’s an interesting way to view it instead of just “Oh my god, I”m so exhausted.” I’m going to give that a go, I think.

My exhaustion is temporary anyway, and I know it. Started work at a retail store last week after 15 years of cushy office work and my body is coming up the physical labor remembrance curve hard and fast, taking no prisoners. So positive outlooks have been getting washed away by “Oh my god I just need to sleep 16 hours to rejuvenate.”  I’m feeling good tonight, but that’s only because I slept all last night and half of today, and that seems to be what it takes to recover from working.

Going to come back to this and re read after my next shifts so I can remember that its a blessing to have the opportunity to give my inner reserves of strength a trial run here and there.

Hope it helps some of you as well!

And you can click here if you want to read up on Biddy’s official Strength card attributes, both Upright and Reversed, in more detail.

 

Works Cited

Esselmont, Brigit. “Strength Reversed.” Received by Michelle Sebly, 6 Aug 2018.

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