Misha Hoo's Blog, page 2

Making Friends with Loss

I remember when I first showed my mum the Tarot in Black & White deck which I created. She loved the design, the striking images, thought it was well written, looked very professional…..and then came the concern, “what if you get a bad card?”

I have always maintained that there are no ‘bad’ cards in any Tarot deck, warnings perhaps, lessons - definitely, but no bad cards as such. However there are certainly some cards in the tarot which are just not popular and one of those is Loss.

No one likes to see the Loss card. Although not quite as scary as the Death card (more on that later) the very idea of Loss brings up anxiety for most people. “What, will I lose money?” “Lose my job?” “My house?” The first things that come to mind are the material things.

As I mention burdens from the past which we no longer need to carry I see the shoulders relax a little. We all carry burdens which become heavy over time and I find it a good exercise to ask yourself, “What could I let go of now that would make me feel lighter? “What could I let go of that would make my life easier?” Loss then, becomes our friend.

The purpose of Loss is to make way for new growth, for new opportunities to appear in our lives and that requires letting go of the stuff which no longer serves. Like spring cleaning the house, we sometimes need to give our schedules and priorities a good sweeping out. The memory of painful losses can make us delay the changes that we know are really necessary. The bad news is that if we delay long enough, the sweeping sometimes gets done for us.

I often hear from clients a long list of reasons to stay in a dead end job or unproductive relationship simply because their fear of change is greater than their desire for happiness. Then come the excuses, the justifications, the “what if’s...” We’ve all been there. My job as a Tarot Reader (counsellor, therapist) is to guide them to the choices that will serve their long term growth rather than short term ease and sometimes that is just about as challenging as taking a well-loved but broken toy away from a 3 year old.

Every structure we choose will eventually become limiting as we outgrow it. It is great when our lifestyle, job or relationships grow with us but when they don’t, we need to reassess. We may need to create newer, roomier or more sophisticated structures to support our new growth and nurture our future choices. We get stuck when we refuse to let go of an out-dated situation, we refuse to let an old habit die and there we are, 3 years old, clinging to our toy with a red face and clenched fists.

Recently I’ve been working part time in a reptile centre which houses snakes. Every so often they shed their scaly skin to accommodate their growth, and they do this their entire lives. Snakes know that to grow they must shed the very skin that has encased them and protected them for quite some time. They get a bit anti-social, hide under a log for a few days, shed their skin and then emerge - fresh and ready for the next stage of life.

If you have drawn the Loss card, you might want to consider - what things in your life need shedding right now? Which structures feel too tight, too restrictive? Are you willing to let go, in order to make room for something new to emerge?

For questions and tips about reading Tarot ~ Ask The Hoo

Tarot in Black & White: A Path to Personal Transformation

Navigating the Winds of Change

The young woman sat down brusquely in the chair, arranged her shopping bags to the side and looked at me with a confident smile.

“So,” the accent was unmistakably German, “tell me something nice about my future!” she commanded and I could tell it was going to be one of those days…

As a Tarot Reader, my forte is guidance and healing; I prefer to assist clients in finding their own wisdom, rather than telling them what to do. “I don’t do future predictions” is my fall-back position. It sends the dreamers scurrying.

I have pondered on what is behind the desire to gaze into a crystal ball and know certainties about our future. Apart from the frivolous interest, like future gossip, “oooh you’re going to meet a dark handsome man…” we want to be assured that all will be well. We want to know that nothing really bad will happen to us and, like my young German friend, we want to hear someone tell us something positive or uplifting so we can walk away feeling better about our current problems, despite having done nothing to actually change the things we may be unsatisfied with.

By placing our future in the hands of fate, we avoid taking responsibility for our choices. In traditional Tarot, the Change card is called the Wheel of Fortune and reminds us that life is cyclical - we reap what we sow. The beauty of that realisation is that when we are not satisfied with our current situation, we can look back and discover how our choices led us to that place and make changes for the future.

A few months ago I watched a large flock of Egrets arrive from the south and take up residence in a small cluster of trees. They do it every year, their instinct telling them it is time to move, time to change. They took a while to settle in after their long haul flight, flapping and jostling each other until they found a comfortable spot. It was a bit like watching the flocks of tourists arriving at the start of the dry season, excited to be on holidays but a little frazzled at being out of their comfort zone.

As a Tarot Reader I am often asked “Will I quit my job? Will I get another job? Will I sell my house?” and the answer is always “Yes, of course…” the question really is when...

In truth, we will only change when we are really ready. If the change is an easy one, we usually jump at the chance. If the change is a bit intimidating or we have a lot of fear around instability, then we are likely to put it off until we are pushed. People often come for a Tarot Reading when they need a push. They have made up their minds, you can see it written all over their face and they just need someone to give them a little push, to confirm that their decision is the right one and off they go, wings flapping, flying off on their next adventure.

The other factor we need to consider is when the universe (big picture, outside forces, cosmic order, Divine Will or all that stuff out there) is ready to change. We are not alone, we are part of a very big ecosystem and, as anyone who has ever nervously watched an approaching cyclone knows, there are forces in the universe way beyond our control. Your choice then, is how you react.

When change is unexpected, we often resist and change, like a strong wind, can sometimes throw you around. Life can become frantic, difficult, out of control... In the centre of the chaos however, there is stillness, the eye of the storm is calm and wisdom is found within. We do not learn by avoiding difficulties, we grow through our experience of them. By weathering life’s storms we develop inner strength and fine tune our internal navigation system to respond to life’s changes. The wheel of Change reminds you that when life gets tumultuous you must return to the centre of yourself and find the stillness within. Now, from that central place of strength and serenity, decide your next move.

For questions and tips about reading Tarot ~ Ask The Hoo

Ten Tips for Reading Tarot (for yourself)

1. Make sure that you are not going to be interrupted and that includes switching off your mobile phone. Nothing breaks the flow of intuition like an unexpected phone call or visitor. I know you love your cards and you really want to share them with everyone, but if you really want to read cards and not just play with them you need to tune in to your intuition and that requires focus.

2. Take a few deep breaths and set your intention to read for yourself. Take a moment to sort through the deck and look at each card one by one. This gets you in touch with the cards and also makes sure that none of them are stuck together.

3. Start with a general spread like the Celtic Cross so that you can get a sense of where your energy is at right now and what the cards are going to show you. Sometimes we just want an answer to a specific question but there may be other issues going on that we are unaware of and these will show up in the cards. If you begin a reading with a definitive question, you may not get a clear answer as there may be other influences which need your attention first. Think of it as warming up, establishing your connection to the cards and remain open to what shows up.

4. Avoid asking questions which require prediction. You will empower yourself more by asking "what kind of approach or attitude is required?" than you will by asking "what is going to happen?" If you must ask about the future, I suggest phrasing it like this - "if I continue in this direction/in this way/with this current attitude what will the consequences be?"

5. Don't repeat the same question to the cards just because you don't like the answer you got the first time! I know you want to...but don't!!! Remember that we always know the truth within, and the cards are there to show us, literally in black and white what we need to acknowledge, realize and accept. If the answer you feel you are getting does not sit with you intuitively, try rephrasing the question. Our interpretation is always very subjective when we are reading for ourselves.

6. Choosing one card for the day is a great way to get familiar with the cards and to create a strong intuitive connection. Just choose one card out of the pack (without peeking of course :)) in the morning and take that as your message for the day. You will notice opportunities to use the wise counsel of the card, like avoiding Temptation, making a Choice or being Enthusiastic or you will notice how it is manifesting in your life, like Happiness, Struggle or Rebirth.

7. Decide if you want to use reverse cards and stick with your decision. Personally I don't like upside down cards in my deck and I also don't like it when people "shuffle" by spreading the cards all around the table and mixing them up with both hands. This is the best way to get a lot of upside down cards. Every card has a reverse meaning or a shadow side, if you prefer, which is either signified by the card displaying upside down in your spread or by you intuitively feeling the reverse meaning is most applicable to the current situation. I prefer the latter, and if you do too then you can begin each reading by going through the deck and ensuring that all the cards are facing the same way. Aaaaah that feels just soooo much better...

8. Keep your number of spreads down to something realistic like, 3-5 spreads in a reading. Six or seven if you are feeling really enthusiastic, but if you are throwing out ten or more spreads in a sitting then you are not really taking the time to receive what the cards have to say. Pull it back a bit and take your time with each spread.

9. Don't doubt yourself.

10. If in doubt ~ Ask The Hoo