The Mysteries of Faith and Prayer

Spirituality is about faith, not fear.

Nothing tests our faith more than misfortune. I often say that the funny thing about faith is that when you need it most, it’s hardest to have.

I’m writing this from my office in South Florida, where most of us are breathing a sigh of relief that Hurricane Dorian passed us by. Many people feel that the fact that we were spared this time was an answer to prayer, or the result of good weather magic.

Yet, just a few miles away from us, our neighbors in the Bahamas were devastated. Do we believe that their prayers were less effective than our own?

When we see the misfortune of others, it is easy to say that what happened to them could never happen to us. We count on our healthy lifestyle to keep us from getting sick, or our acts of charity to protect us from ill-fortune. Yet, bad things happen to good people all the time. Those who pray for protection from illness, accident and misfortune sometimes have their prayers answered, but not always.

When I was growing up in Sunday School, we were taught that God answers all prayers, but sometimes the answer is ‘no’. The Bible tells us that God works in mysterious ways.

This concept of mystery is central to most spiritual faiths. Truly, anyone who eschews spiritual mystery in favor of a more fundamental spiritual certainty is using religion to assuage fear rather than to cultivate faith.

Energy work, whether we call it prayer, magic, or the Law of Attraction, is real and effective. Yet, energy work is not a guarantee of protection or good fortune.

If there is no guarantee that our prayers will shield us from disaster, then what good are our prayers?

I think the energy work we do can put a thumb on the scale in our favor, even in difficult times. Energy work gives us our best chances of success, no matter what. Our prayers and rituals connect us with our Higher Power. Our spiritual focus gives us strength and helps us nurture healthy priorities.

When I was a teenager in Christian high school we would pray before each test we took. The teachers made it clear, though, that God couldn’t do our studying for us. We shouldn’t pray to pass the test. We should pray to remember what we studied. This distinction is important. It informs my spiritual practice to this day.

One of my favor poems, Desiderata, by Max Ehrmann, contains this wise line. “Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune”. Our prayers may or may not prevent disaster, but our prayers will most certainly give us strength in difficult times.

Why a higher power sees fit to allow suffering can be a spiritual mystery. Another spiritual mystery is the grace and gratitude we are able to cultivate in times of difficulty. Yet another is our ability to love one another with a love that seems greater than life itself.

We cannot have faith that things will always go the way we want them to. Yet, we can have faith in the power of love, in the cycles of nature, and it the spiritual mysteries that surround us all.

Your Journey Through the Minor Arcana: Numbers, Elements and Truth

Don’t miss this premium class to be held in my conference room in Palm City, Florida, on Sunday, September 15th from 4 to 6PM.

In this in-person class tarot enthusiasts of all levels of experience will learn simple-yet-profound techniques to remember, understand and interpret the Minor Arcana cards of the tarot.

This class is appropriate for all tarot enthusiasts. New readers will learn basic skills, while experienced readers will discover new ways to understand and interpret the forty numbered cards of the Minor Arcana.

Class size is limited. Class fee is $37.50. You must be registered in order to attend. Register online today with Eventbrite.

Using Tarot in Prayer

Whether you call it prayer, energy work, manifestation, or magic, tarot is a great tool to help us call to ourselves that which we need.

Each tarot card holds a particular focus and draws a particular energy. When we use tarot in divination, we can see what energies are currently at play in our lives. When we use the cards for prayer and energy work, we can cognitively choose cards that represent our hopes and requests. This process serves us in two ways. Choosing the cards helps us focus our energy. Once we have chosen the cards, we can think of them as drawing in to our lives the energy that they represent.

If you are praying for a specific person, you can choose a card to represent that person, and however many cards you want to represent your hopes for that person, or that person’s needs.

If you are making an energetic request for yourself, do the same thing by choosing a card to represent you, and other cards to represent your needs.

Place the cards on a table, or an altar. You can surround them with crystals, flowers, candles or other sacred objects if you like. As you place each card, say, either aloud or silently, what it is you want the card to represent, and why you need that energy in your life.

Praying does not always mean asking for something. Sometimes prayers are worshipful, or grateful. In that case, choose cards to represent the things for which you have gratitude.

You may leave the cards out overnight if you like, or just for the time that you are actively praying. When you are finished, shuffle them back into your deck.

See me in Tampa!

I will be returning to the greater Tampa Bay Area this month. From September 27 through 30 I will be available for house calls and psychic house parties throughout the Tampa Bay Area. You can also arrange to visit with me at my location in Wesley Chapel.

On Sunday, September 29, from 3 pm to 5pm we will have our Tarot Meetup at Panera Bread in Lutz. It’s fun, informative and free to attend, so please plan to join us there.

To schedule your session with me, and for more information, please call or text 561-655-1160.

The Week in Review

This week I did my Three-Card Weekly Reading using Tiny Tarot, and then wrote a blog post about my new-found love for this novelty deck.

If you missed either the Three-Card Weekly Reading or Global Tarot Circle last week, you can find both in archive on my Facebook Business Page and my YouTube channel.

From Around the Web

If you would like to help the Bahamas in their effort to recover from Hurricane Dorian, here are some great organizations to support.

Here is a deeply vulnerable and moving post from Maddy Elruna about her emotional experiences as a tarot reader.

Here is an older post from the late great Donald Michael Kraig about tarot magick.

Image from Tarot Grand Luxe by Ciro Marchetti, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. Copyright 2019, Used with permission.

Cards for Your Consideration

When we speak of spiritual mysteries, Major Arcana 18, the Moon, is a card that often comes to mind.

The moon in the sky, as well as the Moon in tarot, is considered both a symbol of feminine spirituality and power, and a harbinger of insanity. In fact, the word ‘lunacy’ has as its root word ‘luna’, meaning related to the moon!

When we think of the Moon card in tarot, we sometimes see treachery and lunacy, and sometimes we see intuition and magic. Those can be widely divergent interpretations!

What is always true about this card is the concept of mystery. It may be a mundane mystery that needs to be solved. Why is a person behaving the way they are? What secrets are being kept? Or, it may be a spiritual mystery, asking us to have faith, to wait for answers, to trust the power of prayer and intuition. This card may ask us to use our own spiritual power to solve our problems.

When we see this card, we must remember that, in the moonlight, nothing looks the same as it does in the light of day. On the path to spiritual enlightenment we must tread cautiously, aware of the many pitfalls that could ensnare us if we don’t watch our steps carefully.

Anything with great power has great consequence, most especially the journey of spiritual mystery that the Moon invites us to take.