So often in life, we feel stymied in our efforts to make positive change, to release the past, or to create the future we want.

At least once a week I see in a tarot reading that my client feels blocked, either by their own inability to muster motivation and confidence, or their inability to release a past trauma.

Sometimes the stuck, blocked feeling seems to come from an outside source. A person may be doing all the right things to get a job, find a partner, or to lose weight, for example, but may go for a long time without results. In that case, we start to wonder if some outside energy is limiting us.

Tarot, meditation and yoga are all great ways to identify and remove our blockages, whether those blocks are creative, emotional or motivational.

When we feel blocked, or stuck, we need to recognize that this condition, though frustrating, may be a necessary part of our evolution.

Usually, once the block is removed, our ability to move forward not only returns, but returns stronger than before.

Sometimes an inability to move forward is the Universe’s gentle way of nudging us to another path. Sometimes, though, that block is something for us to push against, something to make us stronger on the long road to eventual success.

There are some simple steps for releasing our blocked state.

First, identify the way in which you are blocked. Are you having trouble being creative or achieving your goals?

Then, identify the source of the blockage. Are you responding to past trauma, or to a negative story you tell about yourself?

If the blockage is internal, find a way to remove it. That may include changing a behavior, changing what you are telling yourself, or doing energy work to release your trauma.

If you perceive the blockage is external, energy work is usually the best answer. That could include energetic clearing and cleansing, chakra work, protection, or cord-cutting, for example.

As with most things, a combination of practical solutions and spiritual practices is the solution to release you from your stuck place.

Release Your Muse Tarot Spread

Often we feel creatively blocked, or blocked from finding the beauty and joy that surrounds us.

Here’s a tarot spread to release your creative blockages and find your inner muse!

Arrange six cards in a triangle, with card one at the top, card two to the left, card three to the right, and the bottom three cards dealt left to right. Then, add another row of three cards underneath those. Finally, place a tenth card on the bottom middle, so it looks like the trunk of a tree.
 
Card one: What it is that you want to do or experience

Card two: Your vision of success

Card three: Things of the past that may be blocking you

Card four: Fears that may be blocking you

Card five: Outside influences that may be blocking you

Card six: The extent to which pursuing this is your best path

Card seven: How to release the past

Card eight: How to deal with outside energies

Card nine: Insight and direction from the Universe

Card ten: your natural talent, calling or path

From my Desk to Yours

This week, I experimented with going Live on Facebook. You can find my first two attempts on my Facebook Business Page, or on my website. While you are on my FB Business Page, please hit “Like”!
 

From Around the Web

Mary K. Greer shared a wonderful blog post about reading tarot. Read “Removing the last thin veil”.

From mindbodygreen, here are 3 signs your energy is blocked.

From Tarot Musings, try this Chakra tarot spread.

Song of the Week

Here’s one of my recent favorites," Wake Me Up", from Avicii.

Orbifold Tarot

with Michael Bridge-Dickson

Breaking Down Tarot’s Elements Part 5 — Fire

Last week we saw that Air dislikes confinement, but when controlled can give us direction and inspiration. We also noted that there is great power in Air from this directedness, and it builds force when compressed. If Air is compressed enough, it releases this force not only as directive power, but it also builds heat until it combusts into Fire.

The most dynamic of the Four Elements, Fire marks the breaking point between the dense and subtle Elements. Its unique quality — heat — ignites, consolidates, processes, transforms, and disperses, allowing for the possibility of Elements to transition from one state to another. These transitions either require heat to take place or release heat in the process, or both. For Elements to retain a constant state, heat must also be kept steady. So, to create or prevent change, heat must always be considered.

Fire, then, has to do with anything that produces or releases heat, and by extension anything having to do with transformation, transition, combining, separating, creation, and destruction.

We generally create both heat and change through our actions, our efforts. Where effort is lacking, heat is low and change either occurs slowly or not at all. Where effort is great, heat is generated, and change also often occurs — though not always positively!

Effort also involves a degree of tension. It creates tension in our bodies and in our interactions. This tension is necessary to facilitate change through action, but there are also times when our efforts are wasted — it could be that our efforts are unnecessary because the situation is already moving in that direction, that we are fighting an equal amount of opposing effort, or the opposing effort is so great that our efforts are consumed without result.

This tension also build the heat of transformation. In our bodies, tension resist the effects of gravity, allows us to move, and fuels our activities. It also accumulates as and is caused by stress. Tension, whether resting or active, produces heat and burns calories — but before you go abandoning your diet regime and create a bunch of unnecessary tension, consider too that as Fire burns, it also consumes its own fuel, making us feel stiff and brittle like charcoal.

This is as true within our own bodies as it is in our interactions and environment. When our muscles are stiff and tense from excessive or sustained effort, not only do they burn through their own resources, they also break down the connection, the possibility for Fire — or action — to move efficiently through our bodies which in turn affects our ability to carry our efforts through. Similarly, our efforts in all realms can burn through resources and disintegrate the healthy and dynamic interactivity.

Some situations are only made worse by our continued efforts. These efforts, when excessive or in the wrong direction burn us out and burn our bridges. To make matters worse, these stresses, tensions, and wrong efforts breed frustration and anger — Fires that burn wild and destructively, feeding on each other and destroying all possibility for repair. Here, Fire builds from action to reaction, a release of effort that can easily grow out of control.

It’s not all bad though, this same Fire that consumes and destroys also clears obstruction. Fire’s capacity through effort can help realize desires and passions, to exert will and move situations forward. These same efforts transform monotonous behaviours, refine raw materials, sharpen vague ideas, excite dull relationships, and brightens dreary days. 

The key to mastering Fire within us is in knowing when and how much effort to invest in any particular deed so that we don’t burn ourselves out or destroy valuable connections, waste our energy on impossible tasks through excessive effort, and yet maintain our momentum and execute our ideas, develop warm and caring relationships, and reduce anger and reactivity when things get a little too heated.

This balancing of efforts in Fire can explored by using just the Fire cards in the tarot.

Any tarot deck will do, as the suit of Wands expresses these various efforts. However, sometimes the lower numbered “effort” cards can depict happy scenes even when effort is inadequate, and not so pleasing scenes when more effort may be required. In this way, a pipstyle deck like The Orbifold Tarot can be helpful when exploring degrees of helpful and unhelpful effort.

As we explored last week with the Air cards only, here are some similar ways to investigate effort using only Fire cards.
In this first example, the first card is the degree of effort that will be unhelpful in the situation, and the second the amount that will be helpful:

The Ten of Fire indicates over-effort. While it may be in the right direction, it is unnecessary. The Six of Fire suggests that a little over half of the current effort is still necessary. 60% effort is still quite a bit, but it will more harmoniously merge with whatever active influences are surrounding the situation.

Even with this simple 2-card spread, we could also incorporate reversals to indicate where effort may be more effectively applied — outward or inward:
 

The Eight of Fire reversed indicates that unhelpful effort is being directed inward. Perhaps this person is working against themselves with every action, and is working pretty hard at it! They should reduce that effort by half, but redirect the effort outward. There could be self-sabotage or jealousy at play here, where the actions are destructive but are really only hurting the person performing those actions. Reducing the effort, and therefore also the hostility, may ease the feelings of anger, which in turn will change the result of the efforts, even if they are less. Those more restful efforts will also be more constructive.

Let’s look at one last example for the interaction of efforts between two people. This could be a romantic or work relationship, a friendship, or a family connection. The first card on the left is the degree of effort required by the querent, the second card on the right is the effort being put forth by the other person, and the third card elevated in the middle is the result:

Here, the querent doesn’t need to do much, but perhaps what the other person is looking for is a gesture, something original and unique that they can then build upon and run with. The second person is a mover, and puts momentum into even small shifts. There’s a great deal of passion between them, to the extent that neither needs to put forth much effort fir them to really be cooking! Again, that doesn’t have to mean romantically, but it could indicate that their surrounding influences are such that together they can get a great deal done with not a whole lot of effort, though the other person is putting a little more effort into the current relationship.

Our actions create our futures, and affect the futures of others. Utilize Fire well, and it will ignite positive change within you and around you, but beware that your efforts are constructive rather than destructive.

Next week we’ll cool and calm the flame in Water... until then, bask in the heat!

 

I'm grateful to have Michael Bridge-Dickson as a guest contributor to Tarot Topics. Check out the Orbifold Tarot and Michael's work!

Announcing the The Spiritual Path of Tarot Telesummit 3 - Tarot Wisdom

I am excited to share with you a new FREE event I'm going to be a part of: The Spiritual Path of Tarot Telesummit 3 - Tarot Wisdom. 
20 Tarot teachers are coming together July 25 through August 5, for two one-hour calls every weekday, to show you how to access your wisdom & higher guidance through deepening (or re-energizing!) your understanding of the Tarot.
 
Host Kim Wilborn has asked every teacher to speak about the tarot topics they find most meaningful, with each presentation focused on helping you engage with the wisdom of the Tarot in a deeper way.
 
I’ll be speaking about tarot as a tool of healing.
 
I chose this topic because, over the years, I have seen so much healing come out of tarot readings, tarot study, and other tarot techniques. I am so excited to share the ways tarot heals us with you.
Each call will be like a mini-class, complete with guided meditations! You’ll be able to listen to live calls online, by phone, or via skype, and free 48-hour replays will allow you to listen at your convenience. (Low-priced recordings are also available to make it even easier!)
  
I hope you’ll be my guest at this one-of-a-kind event and experience for yourself a deeper connection to the wisdom of the Tarot.
 
I’m excited about the good company I am in for this summit! Look at this list of presenter~
 
~Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone – Birth Cards: A Powerful Tool for Self-Knowledge
~Lisa de St. Croix – Tarot Visual Journaling
~Scott Martin – Tarot Goes to Acting School
~Robert Place – History of Divination with Cards
~Sheilaa Hite – The Fool, The Hermit & the 4 Knights - Energetic & Spiritual Soulmates on the     Quest to Discover their Own Personal Legends
~Brigit Esselmont – Reading with Reversals Without the Doom & Gloom
~Kooch Daniels – The Magic of Birth Date Tarot Spreads
~Suzanne Corbie – Ancient Wisdom for a Modern Age
~Ferol Humphrey – Loosening Up - For Starters & Sophisticates
~ Pamela Eakins – Claim the Power of your Birthright: Tarot of the Spirit. The Tree of Life. The Ancient and Future Mystery School
~Lisa Allen – Timing with Tarot Cards
~Katrina Wynne – Dreamwork in Tarot
 ~Gina Thies – The Keys to Multi-Awareness Tarot Readings
 ~Christiana Gaudet – The Healing Tarot: Tarot as a Tool for Cultivating Well-Being
~Ellen Goldberg – Influence your Personal Evolution by Activating the Major Arcana Archetypes
~Kim Wilborn – Access the Guardian Energies of the Tarot to Express Your Life Purpose
 
If you would like to deepen (or refresh!) your alignment with a spiritual tool that can bring you clarity and insight while it lights your way to joyfully fulfilling your personal Soul Purpose, register today for our telesummit!

Image from Crystal Vision Tarot by Jennifer Galasso

Your One-Card Weekly Reading

The World

This week, the World describes the energy that is available to you.

Now is the time to finish projects, and to allow cycles to complete. It may be a time to say goodbye to something or someone.

In your thoughts and conversations, try to open your mind to a larger perspective. Make sure you are getting the big picture.

Recognize you own influence, in your own life, and in the lives of others. To the extent that you can, create the world of which you want to be a part.

Upcoming Events

Monday, June 18, 2016 6:00 pm
An Evening of Tarot Especially for Teens!Thonotosassa Branch Library
10715 Main Street Thonotosassa, FL, 33592

Young people, and the young at heart, will enjoy this presentation of the art, history and culture of tarot.
 

July 25th - August 5th
The Spiritual Path of Tarot Telesummit 3 - Tarot WisdomSign up now to participate in this amazing opportunity!

Coming Soon:

I will be available for private readings and house parties in Connecticut and surrounding areas from August 3 to August 17. Call 561-655-1160 to get on the schedule now!
 
TarotCon (Florida) 2016 will take place October 8th and 9th, with a special Professional Development Day on the 7th, in Palm Beach Gardens. Make your reservations now!

About Christiana

Christiana Gaudet
Origins Spa and Wellness Center
1537 N Dale Mabry Highway #102
Lutz, FL 33548
 

Private telephone, Skype and in person readings and instruction are available by appointment.

Tarot parties at your home or office are available throughout Florida. 

Call 813-948-4488, toll free 866-99TAROT, or text or call 561-655-1160 for more information or to schedule your event.

Agent inquiries are welcome.