Fire Meditation to Transform Anger to Motivation

Fire Meditation to Transform Anger to Motivation

Anger is something we all deal with, on a personal level and on a societal level. Everyone struggles with the anger that comes from feelings of powerlessness, unhappiness and injustice.

Anger can be a necessary and helpful motivator. A slow-burning anger is what inspires and maintains the fight for social justice. Anger can help us remove ourselves from unhealthy situations. Anger can motivate us to do better and rise higher in life.

Yet, anger can also be debilitating. Anger turned inward becomes depression. Misplaced anger can hurt our ability to have healthy relationships. Even justifiable anger can cause us to be victims in life, rather than survivors.

Certain mental health diagnoses have anger as part of their symptoms. For many people, it is imperative that, in order to be healthy and happy, they learn to manage their anger.

Sometimes anger management isn’t effective or enough. Spiritually, there is a way to transmute our anger into a more helpful energy.

In elemental studies anger is related to the element of Fire. In tarot, that would be the suit of Wands, as well as a large group of Major Arcana cards (Emperor, Strength, Wheel of Fortune, Temperance, Tower, Sun, Judgment). Fire is also related to our creativity, our passions, our motivation, our sexuality, our spirituality and our humor. This gives us an important tool in learning to turn the energy of our anger into something more useful and helpful.

When we ignore our anger, it can fester. When we express our anger inappropriately, we can damage relationships. When we transmute our anger, we can use the power of that vibrant energy in a useful way.

Anger easily transmutes into motivation. We can also transform anger into creativity, or into pursuing any healthy interest about which we are passionate.

Like all four of the classic elements of life, Fire is an energy we can work with in a meditative state. We can identify the Fire within us. When we feel that Fire as anger, that energy can feel uncomfortable. We can acknowledge the Fire and work to transform it into something that feels more helpful. Then, we can often experience a sense of healing from the anger, as well as greater motivation toward something that helps us in life.

Certainly, traditional methods such as psychotherapy are also helpful, and sometimes necessary, in healing our anger. Yet, working with the Fire energy can speed our healing, and inspire us to do great things.

If you want to try a Fire meditation to transmute anger, first consider what you want to direct your Fire energy toward. Would you like to be more creative? If so, what sort of creative activities would you like to pursue? The more specific you can be, the better.

If you prefer, you can direct your energies toward athletic motivation, career advancement or spiritual development. All of these pursuits are related to and inspired by the element of Fire.

Once you have a clear idea of where you want to focus your energy and attention, spend a moment visualizing what your life will look like, and feel like, when you are creating that achievement in your life. The more you can hold that vision in your mind and see it and feel it in the present tense, the more successful you will be with this exercise.

Form a specific picture and feeling in your mind in vivid detail. Picture yourself writing a book, or running a marathon, starting a business or accepting a promotion. Once you have that image, and that feeling, you are ready to begin your meditation.

It will be helpful to have a lit candle, or the Ace of Wands from your tarot deck, or both. You will use the candle, and/or the card, to help you connect to the Fire within you, as you redirect it, moving it from anger to the more constructive motivation you have chosen.

Begin your meditation by focusing on your breath. Breath into the root chakra at the base of your spine and ground yourself to the earth.

With your breath, bring your energy up your spine, stopping at the third chakra, the solar plexus, just below the ribcage. The third chakra is the Fire chakra, and it is the center of your will and self-determination.

Breath into this area as you gaze upon your candle, and/or your Ace of Wands.  See your third chakra as your body’s furnace. As your breath, feel that your breath is like a set of bellows, stoking the flames in your inner furnace.

Feel the Fire within you building, rising up and becoming hotter. Reflect for a moment on the things that have made you angry. Understand your right to your anger, and then affirm your desire to turn that anger into something more productive.

Bring your attention to the image and feeling you have created as your goal. As you breathe, see your furnace as the energy that supports that goal. As your raise the flames of your furnace, you fuel that goal.

You may finish your meditation when you feel ready. Simply return your breathing to normal and once again feel yourself grounded to earth.

You can return to this image, and to the action of stoking your inner furnace to fuel your goals, whenever you feel anger, or lack of motivation. Over time, you will find that you experience less anger, and more motivation toward achieving your goals.

Etiquette for Free Reading Livestreams

Etiquette for Free Reading Livestreams

Everyone knows how important internet etiquette is. Without it, we would misunderstand each other more than we already do!

Recent advances in tech have given us all the opportunity to be video stars; we can livestream on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram with the push of a button. This has revolutionized social media, especially in the world of tarot readers, mystics and psychics.

Now, free mini-readings on livestream is a regular thing. I don’t have time to do a lot of these, but when I do it reminds me of my days as a psychic on FM radio, reading for callers. The only difference between radio and livestreaming is that, on the radio, there was always a DJ to establish and enforce the rules.

Many social media groups have specific rules for how their live sessions should be. Often times the reader will establish a protocol in their video description. Of course, the first rule of etiquette here is to read and follow the established rules.

Yet, even when there aren’t established rules, there are some rules of common sense that I think will apply virtually everywhere.

First, if it’s a busy thread (and they usually are) don’t double-dip! If you have asked a question and had it answered, don’t ask another during that session unless further questions are requested. That’s good manners anywhere. Let someone else have a turn!

Second, a free mini-reading is not the same as a professional reading session. Don’t ask about your job, your love life, your dog and your haircut all in one sentence and pretend that’s a single question. If you have that many questions, schedule a session with a pro.

Third, if the reader has specifically asked for questions, honor that reader by asking an actual question. In a paid session it is perfect okay to rattle off keywords instead of questions, like love-life, job, money. In a free mini-reading livestream, keywords don’t equal questions. Take your time to type out your question. This will give the reader a greater ability to give you the information you need in the shortest period of time possible.

Don’t hop on the comment thread asking, “Can you read me?” or “Can I ask a question?” Simply follow the instructions and ask the question according to the format laid out in the session description or follow the lead of those who are asking questions and getting them answered.

Don’t think that a two-minute reading on a livestream is the same as a professional session. It’s a sample. It’s meant to be helpful, but it’s not a replacement for deep one-on-one work. These live sessions do give you a great opportunity to see the style of many readers and to choose the ones you would like to work with professionally.

You can check out an archive of a free reading livestream session on my Facebook business page. Hit ‘Like’ while you are there, so you can be alerted the next time I go live!

What Tarot Readers See About the World

What Tarot Readers See About the World

What Tarot Readers See About the World

We tarot readers are known for what we see about people. It’s also true that, as a full-time tarot professional for more than two decades, I have been in a position to see societal trends from a unique perspective. I am sure this is true of every busy reader over time.

I had been working as a reader full time for fifteen years when the Crash of 2008 happened. Many people asked me if the Great Recession was something I had predicted. In a weird way, it was.

Back in the first few years of the new millennium, in my office in Central Village, Connecticut, I remember seeing client after client asking about the new homes they were planning to purchase. As I looked at their cards, all I could see was financial difficulty and loss. “I don’t think you can afford this house at this time,” I said gently to at least three clients a week in those few years. Each time, their answer was the same. “My loan has already been approved”. Their reassurance never made me feel better; the cards were very clear. The term ‘predatory lender’ wasn’t yet in our collective vocabulary. Logic told me that if the bank said they could afford it, they were okay. Should I tell my clients they would be better off trusting their tarot reader than their financial advisor? My ethics wouldn’t allow me to suggest that. In hindsight, perhaps I should have found a way to question those loans more stridently. Yet, the few times I did, clients looked at me as if I were crazy.

When the Crash hit in 2008, the memory of all those readings came rushing back. Suddenly, those same folks who had so confidently dismissed my fears for them a few years back were now calling to discuss their new situations; homelessness, short-sales, under-water mortgages and layoffs.

Another sad example of how what’s happening in the world shows up at the tarot table is the devastation of the opioid epidemic. When I first started reading professionally in the early 1990s it was rare that I spoke with someone who had lost a family member to a drug overdose. Things are a little better this year, but over the last few years I spoke with one or two people a week who had suffered this tragic loss.

Many of us do readings about the state of the world, but it’s hard to do such readings without filtering them through our own fears, opinions and beliefs. It’s interesting to note that, if we read for a lot of people, we are de facto performing a reading for the world, over time.

Another sad trend I notice is that year after year, corporate America becomes less and less geared to the well-being of the workers. I wish I could say that I see this trend turning around, but so far, it’s not.

I see trends that I view as positive, as well. There are fewer parents at my table distraught over their children’s sexual identity, or that their kids are marrying outside of their race or religion.

I am often impressed by the younger people I see at my table who are insightful, intelligent and hopeful for their future. Those young people give me hope for the future of the planet.

I suppose we all view the world through a lens given us by our profession. I’m glad that my chosen vocation offers such a crystal-clear view, not only of the individual, but of our society as a whole.

One Commitment for Kindness

I like to write about trends here on my Dark Forest Blog. I think, too, that when we write about trends we are actually promoting them, maybe even making them trendier.

What happens when a trend is actually a shift? Is it possible for a trend to make a permanent shift in the consciousness of the planet? Of course it is!

Recently a tarot colleague, Theresa Reed, started “The Kindness Hustle.” Inspired by that, another tarot colleague, Donnaleigh de LaRose, made a video, “Random Acts of Tarot Kindness.” I used that video as the basis for the “Kindness” of my webcast, “Christiana’s Psychic Café.”

So what happens now?

Now I am going to make a personal commitment to kindness in my own life, by committing to do one thing. Maybe others would like to jump on the kindness bandwagon and do the same thing.

What one thing will you do or change to be more kind?

Here’s mine.

I am going to be more kind by being more patient.

I will be patient when dealing with customer service people who aren’t serving me well. I will learn to firmly and politely ask for what I need without being impatient.

I will cut people some slack. If they didn’t get my order right it’s not the end of the world. I’ll ask them to correct it, but I will do it nicely, and with good humor.

Especially when I am busy, stressed and tired, I will strive to be patient and polite.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a perimenopausal redheaded Scorpio. Patience is not my strong suit.

This is only one commitment for kindness, but it’s a tough one for me.

What’s your one commitment for kindness?

Three Things I Learned from Donald Michael Kraig

I am saddened by the news of the death of one of my favorite Pagan authors, Donald Michael Kraig.

I met Don a couple of times in the late 1990s, when we both were presenters at American Tarot Associations conventions in Albany. At the time, he was already a well-known author.

Over the years we had a few phone conversations and exchanged a few emails. I had always assumed our paths would cross again one day.

That Don passed on March 17^th strikes me. Many modern Pagans celebrate March 17^th as “All Snakes Day,” in recognition of the stories of St. Patrick’s atrocities toward Irish Pagans.

Although there are reasons to doubt the historical accuracy of those stories, All Snakes Day has become something of a modern Pagan holiday. I don’t know if Don celebrated it or not. I do bet that, over the next years and decades, many Pagans will take a moment to honor the life of Donald Michael Kraig each and every March 17^th as part of their All Snakes Day celebration.

I often quote Don in my classes. Although we didn’t spend any significant time together, I learned a lot from him. Here are three things I learned from Donald Michael Kraig.

1. It’s human nature to act against the advice of divination, and that’s ok.

   Readers so often bemoan the fact that clients don’t take our advice. Don assumed and accepted that we have the prerogative to do what we want, regardless of the information we receive from divination. To me that has always been very freeing and affirming. It allows us to use divination in a more proactive way.

2. Divination and magick are linked.

   Don’s books really helped me understand the way magick and divination work together, and the way tarot fits into all of that. Without his work I would not have been able to do mine.

3. Teach with your whole self.

   Don was a truly great teacher. I was fascinated by his stories. When Don taught a class, all of his body, mind and spirit was focused on the task. He would jump up and down and wave his arms around, gesturing wildly. He managed to be funny, grounded and wise. I try to do the same.

I’m grateful that I had a chance to meet Donald Michael Kraig. I know that through his books, and through the people he taught, his wisdom will continue on forever.

During Don’s struggle with pancreatic cancer a fund was established to help with expenses. Please considering making a donation in his memory.

The Tarot Certification Quandary

For almost as long as I have been a professional tarot reader there has been an ongoing (sometimes heated) conversation in the tarot community about tarot certification.

Professional tarot readers like me appreciate the opportunity to work toward comprehensive educational and professional goals. We appreciate the credibility that certification can give us.

The problem is finding certifying organizations that are themselves credible.

Some of the problems I have seen over the years include organizations that grant certification for political reasons rather than merit, and well-intentioned examiners granting certification to candidates who clearly don't deserve it because the examiners feel badly about declining the request.

Another area of concern is the fee structure for many certifying organizations where the candidate pays to be examined and certified at each level. This creates an incentive for the organization to grant the certification whether or not the certification is merited.

One of the things that makes tarot so special is exactly the thing that makes certification so difficult. Each reader has his or her take on the cards. Each reader has his or her own style. There is a question about what is really being certified. Is it knowledge of the cards? Is it psychic ability? Is it the candidate's ability to give a passable reading?

Beyond providing credibility for deserving readers and vetting quality readers for the public does certification have another purpose? Could certification help us preserve our traditions and our roots even as we are exploring new ways to use, design and understand tarot?

There are so many tarot traditions, and tarot is quickly evolving. Most certified readers cannot demonstrate competence in every tarot tradition. Therefore, should certification be more specific than just tarot? Should we certify in Waite tradition and Crowley tradition separately, for instance?

Many designers of unique decks offer special certification programs in working with their specific deck. These certifications are granted after participation in an intensive workshop.

In general, certifications for the successful completion of specific classes seem to make more sense than an overall fee-based certification program. The rubric for completion is verifiable and quantifiable, and the fee is paid to take the class, not to certify the candidate.

As I continue to expand my continuing education program for students I will begin offering examinations and certifications for specific premium classes. If other educational programs offered similar programs for their classes these education-specific endorsements might be helpful in qualifying candidates for more generalized tarot certification programs.

If there are to be valid certification programs the certifying agents must be above reproach. Certification must be granted on demonstrated merit alone. The certifying organization must be responsible for perfect recording-keeping, displaying the certification on a website and verifying certification by phone and email.

It is very likely that tarot organizations will choose to create certification and endorsement programs because many tarot readers desire it, and with good reason. My certification has been extremely helpful in helping me present myself as a legitimate business person at Chamber of Commerce meetings, meetings with town officials and when obtaining business licenses.

Tarot is evolving, technology is evolving and our community must evolve with it. We do have a responsibility to preserve our traditions, educate students and provide the public with access to quality services.

The question we must answer is whether or not tarot certification is a viable way to accomplish these worthy goals.