It’s always good to try to find the light in dark times.  Today I am taking a step back to consider the positivity that has come from the troubled economy we are experiencing. These are some of my own experiences.  Have you noticed the same things where you live?

People seem to be more understanding; also talking more and actually interacting.  Neighbors say hello more and will stop to chat with each other.  There is a feeling of “we’re all in this together” and more folks are supporting each other as best they can; donating more to local food pantries and shopping local farmers markets more.  I’ve noticed that on trash pickup day there is less being thrown out; which tells me that there is less waste per household.   Coupon exchange baskets can now be found in workplaces.  Coworkers chat more and no one seems to feel cheap in actually bringing a *gasp* brown bag lunch to work or school…more and more people are doing this these days.  Designer coffee at 5 bucks a cup seems outrageous when there is a perfectly capable Mr. Coffee nearby waiting to be of service. 

People are cooking more at home, which means sitting together as a family at the table more.  It also most likely means that healthier foods are being eaten.  Cigarettes and alcohol have become luxury items instead of necessities, as more people quit these unhealthy habits.  Gasoline is being conserved. Neighbors are offering  to carpool each others’ children to save on gas expenses.  All summer long more folks tended to their own vegetable gardens and got the satisfying experience of planting seeds and watching them grow and bear fruit.  Home canning products are heavily stocked – and re-stocked –  on store shelves.  Grocery stores are getting more competitive in their weekly bargain prices as folks become more savvy with using coupons and comparing prices. 

So it hasn’t been ALL bad, has it?  This feels to me like a lesson for all of us.  For a while there we, as a society, were taking too much for granted and maybe a lot of us lost sight of the truly important and necessary things in life.  In short, we lost sight of our priorities.  At least in my corner of the world, it feels like a whole lot less waste- and a whole lot more kindness- is happening.  And I really like that.

Good Morning

Hope everyone is doing fantastic!  It has been a busy several weeks and Laura and I have been putting a lot of effort into creating a radio program that uplifts, inspires and brings insightful information to our listeners… the best part is that all of our shows are completely free to listen to, anytime! 

We’ve been truly blessed with some very fascinating guests including “the Psychic’s Psychic” Vincent J. Barra, Angelologist Elizabeth Foley, Hay House Author and medical intuitive Caroline Sutherland and most recently, the author of Cracking the Coconut Code Mary Jo McCabe and her son, clinical psychologist, Dr.  Bhrett McCabe.  So much inspiration, so much wisdom! 

A sneak preview at some of our upcoming shows: 

Sept 14 

Tarot Artist Lisa Hunt will join us to discuss her newly released The Fairy Tale Tarot deck.

Sept 21

Psychic Medium Lauren Rainbow will join us and take your calls

Sept 28 

Readings with Dawn – I’ll be doing a full hour of free intuitive readings, live on the air. 

Oct 5 

Life Coach Beth Di Nicola will teach us how to realize the power we have to make positive and meaningful shifts in our lives.

You can visit our website at www.DawnandLaura.com or head directly to our BlogTalkRadio page at www.BlogTalkRadio.com/WalkingthePath. There you can listen to archives of any of our previous shows, as well as listen live each Monday at 11:00 am Eastern time.

Hope to talk with you soon!

 ~Dawn

www.dawnandlaura.com

Just wanted to post a quick note to let you all know that

if you have questions, the cards have answers!

I am now accepting appointments for private readings at

 

Email readings are an option for those of you who want quick answers or

just don’t have the time to sit for a phone consultation. 

Hope to talk to you soon! Many blessings,

~Dawn~

 

On our show today, Laura asked me which decks I worked with for readings, and I thought I’d post more about them.  My “deck of choice”  is probably always going to be the standard Rider-Waite deck.  The symbolism has always spoken to me and I recently came across a deck that was surprisingly owned by my father…it will always have special meaning to me for this reason.

 

 

One of my newest decks is called the Psychic Tarot Oracle deck, by John Holland.  It is stunning and very easy to pick up and read with!  John has removed the traditional 10’s and court cards from each suit, and has added cards for each major chakra. While some readers may not consider this to be a true “Tarot” deck, I embrace the changes that have been made, especially for those new to tarot. The minor arcana suits are named Physical, Emotions, Mental and Spirit.  Also, the cards have been given some very appropriate names, such as Wisdom (Major Arcana card 5), Material Harvest (9 in the Physical suit) and Spiritual Strength (9 in the Spirit suit). 

 

 

 

Another beautiful deck is Julie Cuccia-Watts’ “The Ancestral Path Tarot”.   The images follow people of four different ancient cultures and have a very timeless feel to them.  Featured in the suits are the Japanese Swords (feudal era), the Egyptian Staves (wands-dynasty of Ramses II), the British Cups (Arthurian legend), and the Native American Sacred Circles (pentacles-post contact America).

 

 

Ciro Marchetti’s “Gilded Tarot”.  I absolutely love Ciro’s work!  Vibrant images and loads of detail in these cards.   What’s not to like?  A neat feature that sticks out to me is that the tips of each wand are the astrological north node symbol. It’s all about the details.

 

 

 

 

The Housewives Tarot.  This is just a very fun deck, almost a novelty but still very readable, I suppose it speaks to the “domestic goddess” in all of us.  The deck comes packaged in a recipe box.  The 10 of Swords is a pincushion, the World is a full recipe box, and the Devil card is a devils food cake with horns and legs, holding a lit cigarette in one hand and a martini in the other.

 

Tarot cards are wonderful divination tools, used to gain insight and understanding of the various layers and perspectives of a situation. In order to get a valuable answer from their use, it stands to reason that you will need to form a good, solid question to base the reading on. There are some factors to consider when forming your question for a reading.

First of all, it is a good idea to consider the aspect of your life that you would most like more insight into. Your career? Your finances? Important family decisions? Your spiritual path? These are things that most of us, from time to time, would love a little guidance with; and these are also things that tarot readings can help us to understand better.

We need to remember that no tarot reader can predict whether you will EVER do something, such as meet your soulmate, be physically healthy, be happy in a relationship, etc.

Tarot readings are most effective at helping us divine information on trends and issues that are relatively current, and questions should always be limited to current issues. If we try to look too far ahead, free will can alter the outcome and the reading becomes less reliable.

Tarot readings should not be used to predict or diagnose any health problems (this includes issues with weight loss); normally readers simply aren’t qualified to do that and it should be left to a medical practitioner. Readings cannot predict if you will ever meet your soulmate, or tell you their name, etc.. This is just something a responsible reader will not try to do. If, however, you would like to know what you can do to improve upon a current relationship in your life, or if you want to gain understanding of your career path, and help in weighing a decision, a reading can help with those types of issues.

A tarot reading cannot predict or tell you what you SHOULD do, no matter the situation. We all have free will, and the decisions in your life are up to you, and you alone. Through a consultation, a reader can only try to help empower you with some valuable insights about the situation you inquire about. These insights will hopefully give you some tools that you may not otherwise have to use toward making a more informed decision.

How much do you really want to know? Be specific with your question, but not to the point of “leading” the reading. Try not to influence the outcome and allow the reader to tell you what they are seeing…then it is up to you to confirm or question what they are seeing.

 

Some examples of good, solid questions:

1) “I’m going through a difficult time at work and must decide whether to continue there as I have been and hope for a promotion or seek employment elsewhere.  What do I need to know about decisions I have to make regarding my career?”
2) “Lately I have noticed a lot of synchronistic events happening around me.  What do I need to know about my spiritual path?”
3) “I recently lost my job due to cutbacks.  What do I need to know about financial issues concerning my family?”
4) “I believe I’ve met the person I want to marry.  What insight can the cards provide about my current love relationship?
5) “The apartment we are living in now has become much too small for our growing family.  What should I know concerning my family’s living arrangements?”

 

Poorly worded questions:

1) “Will I ever be happy in my career?”
2) “Am I psychic?”
3) “Will I ever be financially stable?”
4) “Will I ever meet my soulmate?”
5) “Should my family move this year?”
6) “Am I going to be healthy in the next year?”

If you are having a face-to-face or telephone consultation with a reader, don’t be afraid to interact with them.  Ask questions if you have them, when the time is right.  Give feedback as well, instead of nodding or not saying anything at all.  Avoid ”leading the reading” (i.e. giving your reader all the minute details of the situation as soon as you sit down), because no matter how helpful the reading turns out to be, you’ll walk away left to wonder if it was a genuine experience.  With an even exchange of energy between you and your consultant, a tarot reading can be a very positive, empowering and helpful experience.

My apologies, it’s been such a long time since I posted here! 

I assure you, however, that it has been with good reason.  My good friend Laura and I recently decided to create an online radio program designed to lend a voice to metaphysical practitioners of many different modalities.   

I am pleased to announce that this show is now being broadcast via internet at: www.BlogTalkRadio.com/WalkingthePath.  

We are live each Monday at 11:00 am Eastern Time for one hour, hope you’ll stop by to check it out.  For more information about the show, please visit our main website at www.DawnandLaura.com.  You’ll find links to Twitter and Facebook pages there as well. 

We hope you’ll join us each week, either by listening, calling in, checking out the archives or hanging out in the chat room at BlogTalkRadio during a show.  We are featuring some fantastic guests such as Hay House author and medical intuitive Caroline Sutherland, the incredible psychic counselor known as the “psychic’s psychic”  Vincent J. Barra, Angelologist Elizabeth Foley, Astrologer Dorothy “Anona” Morgan…and so many more to come.  From time to time I’ll be doing free intuitive readings on the air as well. 

Hope everyone is having a fantastic summer, and hope to talk to you soon!

~Dawn

This video was recently brought to my attention and it is chock-full of tarot imagery! Check it out and see how many representations you can find from the traditional tarot deck:

Rosanne Cash – The Wheel (Official Music Video) – Watch the top videos of the week here

 From the article “Karmic Astrology” by Martin Schulman: 

“To you, Gemini, I give the questions without answers so that you may bring to all an understanding of what man sees around him. 

You will never know why men speak or listen, but in your quest for the answer you will find my gift of Knowledge.”

People born under the sign of Gemini are highly communicative individuals.  They are incredibly entertaining, curious, talkative and just love to play!  My Gemini son, for example,  has always been a keenly observant, non-stop talker, and the older he gets, the more he loves to discuss anything and everything under the sun!  In Tarot, the Lovers card beautifully corresponds to that communicative, airy Gemini energy.    

The Lovers card is about important life choices, communication and spiritually motivated decisions.  The differences between a couple are to be praised and celebrated, for each needs the other.  Notice how the male looks to his female counterpart, as she seems more receptively connected to Spirit.  This is a card of consultation with Spirit,  joyful unions, and the conscious mind connecting with the Higher self.

The symbolism contained in the traditional Rider-Waite card depicts Adam and Eve standing beneath the wings of Archangel Raphael, whose name means “God has healed”.  Raphael rules travel, healing, commerce, the media, math and science, communication, perception, wisdom, writing…you get the idea.  There is a choice to be made here…and Spirit is calling for a decision to be rendered. 

Karma, Love at first sight, and Sacred Contracts

Another aspect of this card has to do with finding that special something (or someone) that your soul needs.  The idea is that our soul knows what it wants and needs, even if it makes absolutely no sense to our conscious mind.  The lesson here is that we must trust ourselves to choose to pursue that person, place, thing or idea which we are strongly drawn to, regardless of  how scary or irrational it may seem to do so; because if we fight it or work against that connection that is so deeply embedded in our soul, we can never be truly complete.  Romantic, no? 

The bottom line here is this:  We have to trust that our souls know what they need.  They know our own individual mission in this life (even if we are not consciously aware of it), and it is our job to honor that as we go about our daily activities.  Take some time each day to connect with Spirit through meditation, and this connection will make it easier for you to identify synchronicities in your own life that will act like road signs, letting you know you are heading in the right direction as you walk your path.

My teenage son loves to have philosophical conversations with his teachers. When he comes home each day, we share what he has talked about in school.  This is one of the best parts of my day, as he can be very insightful!  Most recently, a great topic came up with his Psych teacher.  They were discussing opposing forces in nature.  My son came up with these insights:

1)  There is no such thing as cold.  There is only the absence of heat.  (Check your thermometers)  

2)  There is no darkness.  There is only the absence of light.

3)  There is no hatred.  There is only the absence of love.

And to these I will add one more: 

4)  There is no fear.  There is only the absence of faith.

“For the hand that rocks the cradle – Is the hand that rules the world”  ~William Ross Wallace

Reflecting on Mother’s Day, I am reminded of the energy of the Empress. Carrying fertile, nurturing energy, the Empress is associated with the continuous cycle of growth from seed to fruit. She is truly the “Earth Mother”.

Within the Empress’ crown are 12 stars, said to represent the 12 signs of the zodiac, the 12 months, or time itself.  She sits upon a comfortable throne and it is assumed that she is very pregnant under her loosely fitting garments.  A heart shaped shield bearing the symbol of Venus sits at her feet, and a gently flowing waterfall, wheat fields, and loads of lush, green foliage surround her. 

Digging further into the symbolism of this card, I have found the following Bible passage to be a clear association:

Revelation 12

 “¹And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

 ²And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

 ³And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

 ⁴And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

 ⁵And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

 ⁶And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

 ¹⁵And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

 ¹⁶And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

 ¹⁷And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (from www.biblegateway.com)

And so, without much concern for her own life, she has shielded and protected her unborn child with her love (shield with symbol of Venus).  God and the Earth have offered her protective refuge from the wrath of the beast,  and the Earth opened up to swallow the flood that the dragon sent to destroy her. 

Truly, is there anything a mother (animal or human) wouldn’t do to protect her young?  The minute that each of my children were born I felt such a sense of protection (and immense responsibility); a desire to shelter, comfort and nurture them, and there has never been a sweeter gift  than the moment I first laid eyes on them all. 

Fellow moms, grandmothers, aunts, and others in a position to nurture young minds, hearts and souls, I hope that each of you enjoyed your Mother’s Day, as I did, and that you all take a moment to reflect and give thanks each day for the many gifts of motherhood.   Even through the difficult times, it is our job to NURTURE LIFE!  What a crucially important job.