Insights – Melannie Thomas

Archive for the ‘Finding Your Center’ Category

The Page of Pentacles reflects the energies of work these past couple of weeks.  Like a theme weaving itself through life’s tapestry.

Pentacles are the earth element… grounding, and represent wealth, abundance and riches.  It is important to keep in mind that the smaller portion of riches and abundance is material.  The greatest wealth is measured by the intangibles… health, happiness, love and joy with life.

I want to share this passage from the Spiritual Tarot  (Echols, Mueller & Thomson Quill NY 1996).

“I intend to stay busy learning new ideas and skills, and I hope I inspire you to do likewise.  Even if our ideas don’t work exactly as we think they should, we still can learn from trying.”  Life is an education.  Through study, observation, and experimentation, we develop our potential.

“Take time to discover your real dreams and desires before you make long-term commitments, I say.  In career matters, it is important to define your goals and plan how to accomplish them.

“On the other hand, sometimes it serves us to set aside carefully made plans and concentrate our energies on meeting new challenges that arise serendipitously.  It takes both kinds of experience to achieve success, appreciate its joys, and develop the confidence to move on to greater things.

“So stop saying, ‘Someday I will do that,’ and start figuring out just how to do it.  I want to inspire you to take the initiative.  Consider yourself in the right place at the right time.  I do.

“My key phrase is developing creative power.”

Several comments this week have expressed low energy and sadness; a sense of being tired and weary.

Tired of the rain, tired of flooding and cold, weary of the daily political strife, fighting  seasonal illnesses, with some folks expressing feelings of foreboding.

It is these very moments that our spiritual strength is tested; it is these very moments that create strong faith.

We are fortunate to have a truly vast resource of inspirational wisdom to tap into when we are weary.  I share with you the following:

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”  ~Francis of Assisi

“Try to be  a rainbow in some one’s cloud.”  ~Maya Angelou

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”  ~John F. Kennedy

I invite you this week to find the spiritual inspiration that reduces weariness and strengthens faith.

We are getting a lot of it in my neck of the woods.  After six years of drought,  experiencing  ‘normal’ winter rains is challenging.

Good news for California…the snow pack is substantial.  The rain has restored lakes and reservoirs to capacity.  Bad news is underground aquifers are not reaching optimum levels.  Additionally, the quality of water is troublesome, not just here but throughout our country.  Flint, Michigan is a good example, and it is not an isolated event.

“Water is life, and clean water means health.”  ~Audrey Hepburn

Rivers of the Earth, both great and small are akin to the blood system in the human body.  When they are polluted, we are sick.

“I can’t imagine anything more important than air, water, soil, energy and biodiversity.  These are things that keep us alive.”

~David Suzuki

In America, and most of the Western world, we live in water luxury.  Turn on the tap, and there it is…easily accessible water.   We drink it (maybe), we bathe, wash everything, cook with it, and water our plants and gardens.  So easily taken for granted, and so easy to ignore the threat of poor water quality.

“Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.”  ~Jacques Yves Cousteau

Water is a sacred commodity.  (See Blog Post of February 3, 2014). It is a symbol of the Divine Spirit.  The Planet needs our help to keep functioning healthily, caring for our air and water is an essential requirement for our survival.

One aspect of the Tower in Tarot is radical shift.  As a nation we are experiencing ‘radical shift’ regardless of personal perspectives.

We humans don’t much care for change.  We don’t gleefully pack our bags and joyfully embrace moving from point A to point C.  We generally resist, dragging our heels through the process.

We are adaptable creatures, but adaptation is not easy.  The quotes below are both inspiring and encouraging.

“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.  And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom.  A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.”  ~Martin Luther King Jr.

“Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”  ~Stephen Hawkings

“Saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty, advancing economic growth…these are one and the same fight.  We must connect the dots between climate change, water scarcity, energy shortages, food security and women’s empowerment.  Solutions to one problem must be solutions for all.”  ~Ban Ki-Moon

This week’s word means trust, a desire accompanied by an expectation of fulfillment.

May the following quotes inspire renewal and strengthening of hope.

“Love recognizes no barriers.  It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”  ~Maya Angelou

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”  ~Robert Kennedy

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.  Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”  ~Helen Keller

Precious…of great value, of great price, highly esteemed, greatly cherished.

Acknowledging what is precious about life; about our personal lives is like stopping to smell the roses.  The pace of modern life is relentless.  In the act of keeping that pace, we easily take a great deal for granted.

The following quotes are about stopping and smelling precious roses.

“Learn to enjoy every minute of your life.  Be happy now.  Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future.  Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family.  Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.” ~Earl Nightengale

“We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant.  You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think its going to get on by itself.  You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it.”  ~John Lennon

“Ordinary riches can be stolen: real riches cannot.  In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken away.” ~Oscar Wilde

It’s the time of year when many of us focus on getting fit.  Taking off some extra pounds, beginning a workout program, are top of the New Year resolution list.  We join health clubs, walking groups, diet centers and put a  plan in place for achieving our physical fitness goals.

Emotional and spiritual fitness are important too, but often overlooked as part of a fitness program.

I invite you this week to examine positive change from the standpoint of your strengths.  Rather than focus on the negative traits that you want to change or eliminate, make a list of your strongest virtues.

Some examples for your consideration; kindness, love of learning, humor, humility, creativity, perseverance, leadership, gratitude and hope.  Humans tend to focus primarily on the negative aspects of  being.  Changing the focus to virtues and strengths improves the overall perception of ourselves.

We now can function from a positive attitude about who we are, rather than engaging in a battle on the field of disparaging self-esteem.  Positive reinforcement from traits that are already functioning strongly is a powerful tool for achieving success.

“We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves happy.  The amount of work is the same.”  ~Carlos Casteneda

I believe it has been said that life is poetry in motion.  Poetic expression is a powerfully emotive reflection of the human soul in all it’s beauty, and in all it’s horror.  Poets throughout the ages, in all cultures, have shared the ethos and pathos of the human condition in words.

I love Robert Frost’s description of poetry, “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” Edgar Allan Poe said, “I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of Beauty.”  And Maya Angelou remarked, “Human beings love poetry.  They don’t even know it sometimes…whether they’re the songs of Bono, or the songs of Justin Bieber…they’re listening to poetry.”

This week I invite you to sample the world of poetry.

“Mental fight means thinking against the current, not with it.  It is our business to puncture gas bags and discover the seeds of truth.”

~Virginia Woolf

“When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations.  When power narrows the area of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence.  When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.”

~John F. Kennedy

Poetry Society of America, http://www.poetrysociety.org;

Life is Poetry in Motion, http://www.facebook.com;

Poetry Foundation, http://poetryfoundation.org.

It is wet and cold in my part of the world.  As Grandfather Time ushers in 2017, I ponder what the coming year will bring.

Energy is positive or negative, constructive or destructive in its application.  One of my new year resolutions will be to generate positive thinking and action; choosing not to dwell on what I don’t have, but, what I do have.  Not focusing on ‘what might be’, but being with ‘what is’.

Staying grounded and centered in the midst of rapidly swirling change is a spiritual practice.  The New Year is an auspicious time to strengthen our spiritual resolve, our spiritual connection…our spiritual practice.

Many wishes for an awesome New Year!

Seems like the Fall Equinox was here just a short time ago.  Yet, the Winter Solstice is on Wednesday, Christmas follows quickly behind; as do the Festivals of Light.

There is something primitively compelling for me in displays of light.  I feel a childlike wonder viewing the twinkling splendor.  Beacons of light bringing comfort to the long, dark days of winter.

As you and yours celebrate the winter Holy Days, I invite you into the light.

Blessings!