The Fight with White

Added a bunch more white to the first panel of my triptych yesterday. Trying to layer the flowing veil and curtains, covering some things and exposing others...argh...feels like a struggle! I'll be back at it tomorrow. My cards are telling me to trust my intuition and that I may need to make some drastic changes!

Mandorla

I received The World card in my Tarot reading this morning, using my Golden Tarot deck. There is a beautiful example of a mandorla in this image.


From http://www.kyrie.com/:

Mandorla is the Italian word for "almond." It is also another word for the Vesica Piscis, the Yoni of the Goddess. As the almond-shaped overlapping of two circles, it represents the union of opposites.

"To step into the Mandorla is to move beyond "either-or" thinking - even beyond ideas of common ground or compromise - and stand in the tension of opposites long enough for something new to emerge. In the realm of the Mandorla, the whole truly yields something greater than the sum of its parts, opening doors of possibility, discovery, and creativity.

Although the (mandorla) has its origins before the Christian era, the early Christians used the symbol as a method to describe the coming together of heaven and earth, between the divine and human.The circles symbolise interacting but complementary opposites. The space within the overlap is the place in which we are called to "remain", the "liminal space."

This is the place where you arrive after you leave one room and have not yet entered another.


In this place, you are living on the threshold and this requires faith. All transformation takes place in liminal space.

Anna Korver

Mandorla I, II, III

If we deny one of the opposites (eg. our shadow, death, ..), the circles may only touch; they do not intersect. In this situation, we are polarised, out of balance. Perhaps too when we become wholly integrated, the overlap is total and there appears to be only one circle (for awhile anyway).The Mandorla, known in both East and West, expresses the standpoint of the mystic. It symbolises for us the tensions of life, the tension of complementary opposites:

Heaven <--------> Earth
Natural <--------> Supernatural
Divine <--------> Human
Life <--------> Death
The Inner world <--------> the Outer world
Esotericism <--------> Exotericism
Apophatic spirituality <--------> Katophatic spirituality
The Self <--------> the Shadow
The rational "calculative" mind <--------> the contemplative mind

and/or,

DOG: shivering Outside on the Cold Porch<--------> CAT: purring Inside the Warm Kitchen

(nyah, nyah!)

Vision

Saint Jerome contemplating the Trinity...

My daughter Lisbeth experiencing a seizure aura.

Lisbeth's Mother and Child mandala.

Lisbeth's Passion mandala.

Lisbeth's Love Flames mandala.

Lisbeth's Lantern Flower mandala.

Lisbeth's Four of Hearts mandala.

Lisbeth's Flaming Oak mandala.

Lisbeth's Heavy with Child mandala.

Lisbeth's Birth mandala.

And these are my Tarot cards today. Above is the card representing my project with Lisbeth. The Wheel of Fortune. I love the mother and child in this image, and the mandala/wheel/angel thoughts over their heads! And the fire beneath them!

Card representing Martha. (This happens to be my Soul Card!)

Card representing Lisbeth. (Bless her heart ~ she is built just like this!)

Card representing the gift of this project. Two of Cups. Deep Connection between two individuals. Sharing. A Collaboration. A Happy Compromise. This feels so true. After taking a long break from one-on-one caring of Lisbeth, I am at her creative service right now. Her art is becoming my art. I am like one of the eleventh century artists who drew for Hildegard de Bingen her visions as she dictated them from Spirit.

Monday's Muses

Jasper, and magnets from my sister Sue...

An embroidered heart...

A painted hummingbird...

The Magician...

Snowflakes. Indoors...

...and out.

And this exhibit. What are you using your hands to make, build, or bake on this fine Monday?

Cut the Deck

Last night I shuffled my Golden Tarot deck and pulled cards to see who I am in this new collaboration with my daughter, Lisbeth, and who she is. The tarot never ceases to amaze me with its story telling power. In my reading, Lisbeth turned out to be the card pictured here, the Two of Swords. I like to look at the tarot card and first interpret what I see, before shuffling through books of traditional meanings. And when I look at this card, the first thing I see is those crossed swords. SCISSORS! And the figure is a bit slumped, and sad. She has a halo, so she seems to be a sort of martyr figure. She is outdoors by the sea, alone, and it is night. But the ground beneath her feet is glowing gold, and there is a moon in the dark sky. There is light!

Off the top of my head I do know that the Two of Swords can be about working with intuition (in the Rider Waite deck, the figure in the Two of Swords is blindfolded, and I read it as giving a feel the Force, Luke! message...). This is befitting for Lisbeth, considering what she is able to do despite her "blindfold;" her disabilities. I did then take a peek at the little book that comes with the Golden Tarot, and one line that popped out at me in the description of the Two of Swords, was this: You have the ability to make the best of a bad situation.
As Lis would say, Mmmmmm Hmmmmm. Mmmmmm Hmmmmm. True...

And this is the card that came up to represent me in this endeavor with Lisbeth. The Queen of Wands. Again, I first interpreted the card by myself. A queen - a mother figure...and then the RED - heart, passion, fire, blood, hell. These all describe my love for my daughter, and yes, this includes the hell that she and I have been through together. (I have written here about the heartbreak and pain of having a child with chronic illness, and some of the art that I created to deal with this pain...). I also saw the crossed hands echoing the crossed hands and swords in Lisbeth's card. Like daughter, like mother. And the bits that stand out in the Golden Tarot description about this Queen: She is flanked by red angels glowing in the darkness. Passionate and creative. Mmmmmm Hmmmmm. True.

After the tarot reading I went on-line and googled paper cutting. WOW! What a world of gorgeous art is out there! This dress looks like it could be worn by the Queen of Wands...

And so does this skirt!!!

And then I found this artist. Wow, wow, wow. Her work is enchanting. Scroll down and see for yourself...

!!!!!!

AMAZING!!!

(One of Lisbeth's perseverative phrases is, Oooooooooh, little monkey, monkey! :*)
Have a great weekend, folks!

Empressed

The Empress card from Kat Black's Golden Tarot . (I received this deck for my birthday a couple of years ago. It's sumptuous...)

Yesterday I did a tarot reading for the first time in weeks, and I asked about my new project, my daughter Lisbeth's new etsy site. The card that appeared in the "what I most need to look at" spot was The Empress. I was delighted to see this - The Empress represents promise, femininity, abundance, creativity and assurance. And that she is a mother is also relevant to my situation. I took care of my daughter for 14 years before she was transitioned to her her own assisted living home, and I really burned out. I went back to school at that time to get my soul back. I've wanted to help Lisbeth develop a business for a long time now but needed to take care of myself first. (A former therapist of mine likened this process to putting the oxygen mask on oneself first in an airplane emergency so that one can then tend to the waiting child...)

So I finally feel ready.

And when I snuggled up with my husband on the couch last night and waited out the last few minutes of his Ultimate Fighting match (ugh) before switching the channel to TCM, lo and behold! the 8:00 film was The Scarlet Empress, starring Marlene Dietrich. I took this as a good sign. (The Scarlet Empress tells the story of 18th century Russian Empress Catherine the Great's rise to power. What a visual feast! The costumes, and the sets! Wow!! So over the top and fabulous! You get a glimpse of it all here in these film stills. I loved it.)

The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts.