Hello 2011

Happy New Year!
One of the things I am working on this year is a better connection with my tarot practice. And one of those activities is participating in the PDR, once again, with more discipline in posting this year.

My first post of the year is my Sacred Days of Yule Reading, here.

The Sacred Days of Yule 2010
Using the Druidcraft

Sacred Days of Yule Interpretation

This spread will help you to learn to apply the tarot to enjoy and enrich your passage through the twelve
festive days from December 20th to 31st. The meaning of each card in the spread reflects the energy of the
festivity associated with each of the twelve days.

1. Mother Night of Dreams: - Dec 20th This card reminds us to look for a particular message in our dreams tonight. The ancients believed that our dreams on this night foretold some of the important events in the coming year.

12-21-10 Last night I drew the Three of Swords. No dreams that I can remember, but still a card to consider carefully. While not one of the better cards to draw for this position, I think my experiences in the coming year will carry valuable messages/lessons for me. The Three of Swords is not just a card of heartache and pain, but of transformation and growth. Maintaining an attitude of looking for solutions to difficulties, gratitude for the blessings in my life, and appreciation for all that surrounds me, need to be my guiding light.

2. Yule - Winter Solstice: - Dec 21st This card shows us how best to connect to the Light within and without - it symbolizes the Birth of the Sun.

The High Priestess. She stands in ritual, with her arms upraised, eyes closed. Her message is of intuition, inner wisdom, dreams, and depth. The connection comes with quiet reflection, entering the stillness. "Be open to your dreams and your intuitions, and allow the Mysteries to unfold within your being." What a perfect card to draw this evening!

3. The Time of Beth: - Dec 22nd This card points to the inner blocks and resistance that is holding us back from following our dreams.

The Princess of Pentacles. She gazes intently at a large pentacle she holds in her hand, pondering the possibilities. Creativity, potential, ideas, the first steps of manifestaion. For me, my mind flowing with creative ideas that go no further than that. By not bringing this creativity to manifestation, I limit myself, my life. Finding ways to do this, setting priorities, making the time, following through are what I need to focus on.

4. Hopi Time of Renewal Dec 23rd This card indicates the best way for us to seek purification and renewal, and to build tolerance for others.

The World. The card of completion of a cycle, of wholeness, yet the potential of a new cycle about to begin. As I find myself going through many inner changes at this time, this card is an indication that a whole new world will be opening for me, indeed a whole new cycle is beginning. Where I have doubts, I must learn to trust my self/instincts in order to move forward.

5. Feast of Mothers, Christmas Eve: - Dec 24th This card shows how we can connect with the spirits of our ancestors for communion and to ask for wisdom and guidance. It is also a time for Christians to reflect on the birth of Christ.

Today I've drawn the Eight of Wands. This card depicts a youth practicing throwing, one wand/spear has been launched, 7 more stand in the ground by his side. Practice, the art of honing your skills, is my message for today. I'm studying, but now I need to form a practice from the knowledge I've gathered. From living my beliefs, creating a lifestyle of the practice of my spirituality, the connection, the wisdom and guidance will be accessible to me.

6. Festival of Life, Christmas: - Dec 25th This card shows us how to connect directly with Spirit.

The Princess of Cups. She stands on a riverbank, holding her chalice up to her face with both hands, her eyes are closed. Meditate, explore the inner world, take the time to listen to your/my inner voice. For there, among your deepest desires and dreams is where Spirit dwells.

7. Yuletide, Kwanzaa: - Dec 26th This card shows us how to express nurturance, to attend to our families and to express the protective energy within us towards others.

Today's card is Death. The Goddess in her crone stage stands, gently holding a skull, about to place it in the cauldron before her. Dawn is breaking in the distant eastern sky. This card speaks of the cycle of change, the death and letting go of the old, transformation, and the rebirth of the new. I find myself in the first stages of a cycle of death, transformation, and rebirth. In order the express this care and nurturance to others, I first have to acknowledge and release old ways of thinking that are holding me back, and learn how to better care for myself.

8. Birth of Freyja: - Dec 27th This card points to issues of love, luck, artistic and creative expression and female wisdom.

The Five of Swords. The victor stands proudly in the foreground with his sword and 4 others that he's collected in battle. One of the defeated is walking away, shoulders slumped, head hanging, in the background. A hawk chases a wren in the stormy colored sky. I've spent the last day thinking about this card and its revelance to this position, in relation to my life. I am the defeated, having lost the battle/the challenge.

The fives in the DruidCraft are not only about difficulty, loss and suffering, but about how these painful experiences are the catalyst for change/transformation, each card depicting one of the moments that bring about the necessity for transformation in the story of Cerridwen and Taliesin, in this case-the hawk chasing the wren. This card reminds me that there is need for change in regard to love, luck, and creativity. I've got work to do here.

9. Feast of Alcyone: - Dec 28th This card gives us a personal inner message - one that speaks directly to our heart and spirit.

The Sword, Excalibur rises out of the lake, held aloft by the Lady of the Lake. My personal inner message is from the Ace of Swords. It is about my potential, beginnings, and that the 'whole' lies within the seed. And with proper care and sustenance, the seed of my ideas, my future can be developed and grown. There are many things I'd like to change about my life/self, and I do have the potential to make these changes a reality. An encouraging card for my inner message.

10. Day of Nymphs - Dec 29th This card encourages us to connect to our playful side, our inner child and how best to cultivate this aspect of ourselves.

The Ace of Cups. This is one of the most beautiful cards in the deck. Sitting in a lush green wood, the chalice sits on a stone outcropping above the river, 5 streams of water flowing out of it, into 5 streams of water flowing over the rocks. This card speaks of relationships, inspiration, and dreams. What better way to connect with my inner child than listening to my dreams and being inspired by them?


11. Day of Rest: - Dec 30th This card shows us how to walk our path in a relaxed and confident way....with the ability to deal with stressful situations in a philosophical, detached way.

Justice. She sits on a stone bench, sword in one hand, the scales in her other. An owl sits next to her, a spider in her web lives in the foliage next to the bench. She speaks of making decisions from careful thought and wisdom, for everything is connected in the web of life, of walking my path in balance, confidence, and strength.

12. New Year's Eve, Hogmanay - Dec 31st This card shows us how to release the old and let in the new. This relates to both our external lives and our inner being.

Eight of Pentacles. A craftsman pours molten gold into a mold with care and precision, as he has done with 7 other pentacles that lay on his workbench. His message is that slow and steady wins the race. Taking care to create that which you wish to achieve by doing the work, don't be in a rush, learn well and experience that which comprises the journey, rather than wasting time anticipating the end result. "It has been said that work is love in action, and here you have a chance to prove this, taking pride and pleasure in your abilities, and in your steady progress." I have set my goals/my path for the future, and it is now just a matter of beginning the work, the first steps on my journey.

I haven't completed the overall analysis for it yet, I will be working on that today. It certainly held some important messages for growth and "being" for the coming year.

I also have another spread that I'll be doing today, hopefully to post later.

Welcome to 2011!

~Blue~