Mantis .'s Blog, page 3

3 of Wands: Ready to Fly

I honor and welcome this period of expansion that I find myself in. The other day, as I was driving back home, I saw a balloon emerge, far in the desert: blue with a horizontal reflective stripe that made it partially disappear into the sky. The next morning, the 3 of Wands appeared just at the right time. This card appears as we are ready to exert our energies outward as creation and liberation. Particularly after an extended period of healing, contraction, and spirit searching; this card shows...

2021 Year Card: Learning, Teaching and Working with The Hierophant in the Social and Personal Arenas

According to tarot numerology, the year card for 2021 is the Hierophant. After the deep restructuring lessons of 2020, in which The Emperor ruled, we go on to the next stop in a master sequence of tarot cards that goes uninterrupted from Aries through Virgo (The Emperor through The Hermit), culminating in 2025. We are in for heightened teachings through this period, folks. And we are in good hands with The Hierophant as our next teacher in this master course. In this article, we overview what Th...

The 2021 Hierophant Spread!

Enjoy this spread to dive into the topics covered in our post about The Hierophant as the Year Card for 2021!

The New Year, the Desert Winter and the Promise of New Life

The shortest day of the year for us in the Northern Hemisphere is behind us. For those in the South, the longest day has passed. Here in the desert, the coldest few days of the year normally follow the Sun’s descent to its lowest elevation in the sky. From now on, each passing day will be about a minute longer than the previous one, and the sun a little higher on the horizon. While it’s the coldest outside, the desert life senses that things are about to change, and that they best hurry up befor...

Death and Thanatos: Transcending the Barriers to Unity Consciousness

The formula is simple but hard to actually grasp. You see, we originally came from an indivisible Whole with the entire universe and all of existence. That is the primary state to which everything returns. In our human form, we create a sense of self that is separate from that primordial Wholeness. Boundaries are created they keep our individual sense apart from everything else. The thing is, Death (or Thanatos) will always work to tear down those boundaries. “Wherever there is boundary, the Tha...

Monumental Nonexistence

We exist, yet we don’t. We are here but are only briefly temporary. At first that may seem frightening, but as you dwell on it, it’s actually a source of ultimate safety and indestructibility. “… this principle of basic goodness is non-ego, nothing to dwell on anywhere, but utterly sharp and superbly immovable and steady. It is monumental nonexistence.” (C. Trungpa, “Smile at Fear”)

I am taken by these words. “Monumental nonexistence.” Just a few days ago, I took this picture of a face on a r...

The Conjunction + Solstice Spread

A New Chapter for 2021

Today feels like a major closure to me, as different aspects of life converge and are being concluded or paused for now. There is lightness in the air. This year took a major push but it all makes more sense now. Plus, there is the sweet aroma of rest and healing up ahead. But just as this chapter ends, a new one beings. The Ace of Cups as the Major Lesson for the period ahead states that I—and you, if you are in a similar path—will be undergoing deep teachings in opening the heart, in trusting ...

Basic Goodness: The Original Spectacle

On the path of awakening and liberation, there is much more to undo than to actually do. Rather than striving for this spiritual achievement or that, we are uncovering our original face. In this journey, we are rediscovering ourselves as the innocent soulblameless, bright, and radiant. Over the course of our lifetimes, there is so much that covers up that original innocence. Just by way of being born and growing in this world, and by undergoing experiencesgood or badwe accumulate shadows. We...

Judgement Card: the Music of the Cycles

The Judgement card speaks of soul callings, awakenings, and rebirths. Its title and imagery, however, may draw uneasy images and feelings of divine retribution, karma, and the ultimate—perhaps even punishing—results of our actions. But could the second-to-last card of the Major Arcana be inviting us into an open, courageous, and receptive relationship with our reality? Could the medicine of this card be attuning us to the music of our ups and downs in life? As we will see, our successes and fail...