At pivotal times in the shared adventures of my wife and I, rainbows have appeared to presage positive developments.

Background story:  For our remote O-where location, we had arranged for the delivery of a storage unit (a 20×8 foot ocean container) so we would have a secure onsite storage for our camping gear and other essentials.  Prior to this, we had rented a small storage unit in a town about 45 minutes away (each way), so we were very excited at the prospects of having onsite storage.

I awoke at dawn on the day we were to receive the storage container, to hear the sound of rain.  At first I was disheartened, as the rain might make the dirt roads to our location difficult to travel.  As I emerged from our tent, I beheld a wondrous sight, a brilliant rainbow arching over O-where!

I then followed the arc of the rainbow to the north, and the end of the rainbow was illimuniating in all its ROYGBIV glory the rocky Knob in the center of O-where.

Looking up, I then was blown away by the arc of the rainbow, with the moon in the center!

Every time I am privleged to see a rainbow, I am uplifted to be alive in a universe of such amazing beauty, and this is surely a sign of a creator sharing the joy of creation.

“Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue.
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.”

= = = = = = =

Oh yeah, the delivery of the ocean container was a success.  The skies cleared, the delivery truck slowly but surely navigated it’s way over the rough roads, and we now have onsite storage.  Huzzah!

 

It’s been far too long since I have posted here.  Several weeks of being in limbo, infiltrated by a flu virus (I call it the IMFU2 virus!).  Felt like I was visiting the Land of the Recently Deceased. 

It’s time to emerge from the viral infusion, the cellular confusion, the dimensional diffusion.

- – - – - – -

I recently obtained an amazing Oracle deck, the Devas of Creation, self-published by Cilla Conway.  (Cilla is also the artist of the Intuitive Tarot, one of my favorite Tarot decks.)  The Devas of Creation is a 72 card deck depicting the emanation of the Divine in its infinite expression and expanson, from the Void to the Cosmos, from the Big Bang to the Fundamental Elements to the Microcosm, and back again.

This deck best speaks to me through one-card selections and meditation.  Near the end of my viral bout, I performed a reading on the topic of “Recover”, and the card that surfaced was the Deva of Emergence.

Deva of Emergence

The Deva of Emergence rises from the tempering fires, shining with incandescent expression.  This is a flare of creative release, the  joy of being and doing and Now!

Cilla Conway provides a wonderful query and challenge from the Devas of Creation booklet:

“What do you love doing more than anything else?
How often do you allow yourself to experience this activity, and the joy that accompanies it?  If you have not experienced that joy recently, you are preventing it.  So what underlying messages do you have that stop you?”

It’s time to emerge from the limbo of excuses and someday.  It is time to be, Now!

Most of the visits to this blog are to the Deck Collection page, likely because of search engine hits for specific decks.  To provide more “eye candy” for the tarot/oracle enthusiast, I will be adding “deck images” pages organized by letter of the alphabet, featuring scans of my favorite cards from some of my favorite and obscure decks.  These images will typically be of the card back, and my favorite major, minor, and court card of a deck.

The Deck Images pages can be reached through the main Deck Collection page, or via the Pages sidebar on the site.

This gives me a good excuse to reaquaint and more closely explore the decks in my collection, and share my passion and shine a light on this treasure house of images.

What is your Quest?

“The first thing to do is to choose a sacred place and live in it.”
– Tahirussawichi, Pawnee tribe elder

As we transition into our august years, my wife and I have sought a place where we can retire, to be stewards of the land,  and learn from and commune with nature.  We are fortunate to have found such a place, in northeastern Arizona, which we call “O-where”.

Inspired by our neighbors, the A:shiwi people of the Zuni pueblo, we have sought the middle place, between the harsh and the beautiful, equally mundane and mysterious.

There is a rocky knob in the center of O-where that is both ordinary and extraordinary. Ordinary in that it is a simple hill of sand, rocks, scraggly Juniper trees, and sparse desert grass.  Extraodinary in that it provides panoramic views of the surrounding landscape in all directions, and is covered with an amazing variety of rocks (including petrified wood) deposited perhaps by an ancient glacier or river.  Most distinctly, there always seems to be a clear crisp uplifting energy on the knob that welcomes and pervades the space.

O-where and the Knob

I built a simple stone ring on top of the knob, using the unique and varied rocks found on the knob, with larger marker stones for the 4 directions and the center.  We continue to add to the stone ring with interesting rocks that we discover on the knob.

Stone Ring, viewing South

On one late afternoon visit to the knob, we were greeted by a large short-horned lizard (phrynosoma hernandesi) sunning itself serenely on the rocks of the south node of the stone ring.

Can you spot the lizard on the rocks to the right?

Lizard on the Stone Ring

Speaking of spots, the short-horned lizard has beautiful spots and markings on its back, for camouflage.

Short-horned lizard, back view

The lizard basks in the setting sun, merging with the rocks…

Guardian Lizard of the Knob

There is a huge ant mound on the side of the knob, which no doubt is a favorite dining place for the lizard.

Ant mound

The more we visit O-where, the more we long for this special place of simple and stark wonders.  It is a joy to grow in the understanding that the land does not belong to us, rather we belong to the land.  We become as much a part of it as it becomes part of us.

On my recent birthday or Year day as I prefer to call it (another Year on this plane-t),  I pondered on the existential subject of “Why”, as in “Why am I here… at this place… at this time…”  (or maybe I was influenced by having just watched Monty Python’s “The Meaning of Life”).

I then narrowed this meditation even further, and focused on the letter “Y”.

Visually, the letter Y depicts both a convergence and divergence.  Looking at it from top down, Two paths converge into One.  Viewed from the bottom up, the One diverges into Two.  Or viewed from the center, the One point at the crux of potential of what was / is / will be.   Y is the only letter in the English language that functions as both a vowel and consonant, demonstrating its morphic transitional nature.

In reflection on my birth/Year day, I performed a Tarot meditation on “Y”, using the Intuitive Tarot. The 3-card positional spread I used as an overlay or structure to this Tarot meditations was:

Receive / Integrate / Transmit

Intuitive Tarot: Knight of Discs / Hierophant / King of Discs

I was immediately struck by the positioning of the figures:  looking back, looking inward, looking forward.  Past / Present / Future.  These figures are symbolic of the intersection of the “Y”, the Past (Knight of Discs) and the Future (King of Discs), connected through the bridge of the EverPresent, the Infinite Now (the Hierophant).

• The Knight of Discs:  Air of Earth, reflecting on the twists and turns that his travels on the wheel of life have taken him.  His conical helmet is flat topped, indicating a sense of restraint (self-imposed?), and the ring of gold at the top shows his dedication.  His gaze is analytical and stern, yet juxtaposed against a backdrop of strange geometric shapes, suggesting he has experienced and has an affinity with the unusual.  Perhaps he is realizing that life shapes and transforms itself in unpredictable yet creative ways, in order to transform and inform the beholder. The incoming branch of the Y.
• The Hierophant:  A bridge between spirit and matter, an external guide to the inner light and outer limits. He provides the keys to open the doors of perception. The central support pillar of the Y, the Y- beam, the I-beam, the Inner Eye Beam.
• The King of Discs:  Fire of Earth,  a seasoned leader with the perspective of experience, and a passion that is tempered and direct.  His crown radiates with solar energies, showing he is infused and in tune with creative forces.  A respected patriarch who provides guidance, impetus, and inspiration. The outgoing branch of the Y.

Receiving these 3 cards on my Year day gives me guidance on what has shaped me, what is within me, and what I can transmit to others.  The gifts I received from these 3 Wise Guys (Y Guys, Guide Y-ers):

• Be receptive and learn from different perspectives.  Learn from the past, and move on.
• Integrate the inner I to cross the bridge from inner to outer purpose.
• Use your experiences to transmit guidance, foundation, and inspiration to others.