Michele Knight's Blog, page 189
January 19, 2014
Tarot Reading 101: Reversal of Fortune – How to Read Reversed Cards
Even experienced Tarot readers can approach reversed cards with trepidation and when you are just starting on your Tarot journey the appearance of a reversed card is enough to fill most people with dread! If your Tarot deck came with a book on how to interpret the cards – reversed or otherwise, or if you have also read a few books on the Tarot it soon becomes clear that there are as many different approaches and interpretations of reversed cards as there are books and Tarot decks out there. So, what is the best way to deal with reversed cards when they show up?
I can only share with you the philosophy I’ve developed for reversed cards over the years and which also stems from my astrological knowledge. In astrology in the past some planets have been termed ‘benefic’ – in other words seen to deliver good things – these being Venus and Jupiter – while others were labelled ‘malefic’ and associated with challenges, conflicts and even disasters such as Mars and Saturn. As our understanding of the universe and the planetary energies has expanded however, we have come to understand that each planet no matter what we have associated it with in the past, contains both positive and negative energy and how we experience this energy is not in how it manifests but in our reaction to it. For example, Venus is the planet of love and a good Venus transit in our chart can bring through a romance. However, there is no guarantee the romance will last or that we won’t end up heartbroken at the end of it. Saturn has been seen in the past to bring restrictions and endings but he can also bestow rewards, fame and accolades for hard work. So, we can see how labelling planets ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is actually not only inaccurate but also doesn’t allow us to access that planets potential for us. And it’s the same with the Tarot.
If you’re familiar with most of the cards in a Tarot deck you will know by now the cards that can indicate soul challenges – Death, the Tower, the 3 of Swords, the 9 of Swords, the 10 of Swords being the most familiar. Then there’s the cards we tend to associate with very positive things happening for us – the Empress, the Lovers, the Ace of Cups, the 9 of Cups, the Ace of Pentacles. Yet like the planetary example I gave you earlier, all these cards no matter their classic interpretations, contain both positive and negative energy. The Death card can indicate an ending but it also promises a rebirth. The heartbreak and grief we associate with the 3 of Swords can also be liked to lancing a boil and letting out infection – yes, this is going to hurt if the boil was not treated the infection would poison our entire lives. By experiencing this pain we can now begin to truly heal – a positive thing. While the card of the Empress usually does bring with it pleasure as it is associated with Venus it can also bring with it indolence and over-indulgence which would be its reversal.
So, how do we read reversed cards? Well, I don’t believe we do in a literal sense. As each card contains a balance of energies we look to the position of the card whether upright or reversed in the reading and also to the cards that surround it. This doesn’t mean to say that we (if we are reading for ourselves) or the person we are reading for isn’t experiencing challenges on a soul level right now – it just means we look closely at how the energy is playing itself out. Just like too many trines or sextiles in an astrology chart can rob someone of the impetus needed to fulfil their potential, we can say that despite the fact the reading is filled with upright or ‘positive’ cards doesn’t necessarily mean everything will go our way or that we don’t need to make an effort to manifest a positive outcome.
See each card as an energy portal – for positive and occasionally more challenging energy and read the energy – not whether the card is upright or not! And above all, remember none of us can avoid challenges and we wouldn’t grow on a soul level if we did.
January 16, 2014
Are your psychic boundaries working?
Do you soak up other people’s feelings like a sponge? Have you ever left a discussion with someone who held really strong views about something and agreed with them at the time, only to realise later that you actually think quite differently? Do you get pulled around by other people’s highs and lows?
If this is something that you recognise as being a problem, you might be psychically sensitive. It’s not quite the same as being an Empath. Being an Empath falls under the category of psychic skills, but, even though an Empath can psychically tune into other people’s feelings, they always know that what they are feeling belongs to someone else. In contrast, being psychically sensitive means that you absorb the feelings or energy of others in a way that means you can’t distinguish them or it from your own.
If you are psychically sensitive, you may feel overwhelmed or overpowered by what other people feel. It can leave you feeling confused and drained, and that’s when it becomes a problem.
It’s perfectly normal to be affected and influenced by the views and feelings of others. On a quantum level, we are all one. But as individuals, we have a distinct existence that means we are distinguishable from that one great psychic energy field and it is that point of distinct differentiation that that you are losing connection with when you become overwhelmed.
So what can you do? Here are a few tips that might help
1/ Make sure that you get to spend some time alone as often as you need it or do something that you love regularly enough to help you connect with your essential, authentic and unique self.
2/Give yourself permission not to feel what others feel. That might sound strange, but there can be an odd kind of group pressure to go along with what others are feeling. Appearing happy when others are sad is considered callous, or staying calm when others are panicking might be viewed as being cold. At such times, it’s good to remember that if we all jump in the same hole there isn’t anyone left to pull anyone out. You can be present to someone who is feeling upset or angry without having to join in.
3/Smudging helps, so have a smudge stick at home to clear other people’s emotions or for when you get home from a tough day at work.
4/Have a salt water bath each week and let any negativity go down the plughole.
5/Put a gold light around you, just like in the old Ready Brek adverts, every morning just before you leave the house.
6/Carry a Tigers Eye gemstone in your pocket to hold when you feel other people’s moods might affect you.
All in all, make sure that you take care of your own boundaries and yourself. That way, you can carry on enjoying the company of other people without being overwhelmed by them.
Much love,
Michele x
January 11, 2014
January 6, 2014
January 3, 2014
Quantum Creating: The Physics of Inspiration
Inspiration – literally ‘in spirit’ has always been associated with those ideas that come out of nowhere, fire us up and also allow us to make connections between things we couldn’t see before. Many creative people say they feel that it’s not actually them painting the picture/writing the book/composing the music, but they feel it is ‘channelled’ from something outside of them!
Jung referred to accessing this as the ‘collective subconscious’ and the new physics would describe this as tapping into the holographic energy field from which the universe is formed. Quantum physics which has allowed us to delve into theories such as Unified Field Theory also has a history of people using inspiration – those ideas which apparently come our of the blue – to enable them to make incredible leaps and connections to formulate their theories. We all know that Einstein was a patent clerk and came up with his Theory of Relativity while travelling on his daily commute (more on Einstein in another article). Quantum theory has been a branch of physics that has relied on inspiration more than any other. What amazes me is that physicists like Werner Heisenberg in the 1920’s used inspiration to formulate theories they could not at that time prove but which have since been accepted by physicists as accurate interpretations of the universe. Today we see even more complex theories being extrapolated as our understanding of the universe and what constitutes ‘reality’ expands. What led Stephen Hawking to posit that the universe contains not four but eight and possibly more dimensions? Inspiration.
Often we discount our inspiration and its close relative intuition. We can initially be inspired to do something or head towards a specific goal. Then perhaps because others do not share our vision or we discount even the little steps we are taking towards reaching that goal, we think we’ve had a bad or worthless idea and drop it. But inspiration is what your soul needs to grow and create your future! Inspiration responds to your soul’s desire to experience all it can while here on this dimension (I’m leaving the other seven or more out of it for now!). When we begin to discount our vision of what is possible for us to achieve for ourselves we turn off the flow of inspiration.
Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr’s inspired theories flew against accepted scientific thought at the time. But their work is now accepted as mainstream physics. Acting on your inspiration often means walking your own path and being true to your own vision. It also sometimes means being a little ahead of your time. If you are not ahead of time – how can you create the future?
Inspiration plays a huge part in our scientific development as well as our individual soul progress. Without it none of us would have those big ideas that have the ability to not only change our lives – but our entire outlook on reality.
December 31, 2013
New Year Resolutions: Empowering or Undermining?
Yes, it’s that time of the year again. When the calendar reminds us of all the things we didn’t accomplish in the past 12 months and exerts its yearly guilt-trip on us to do better in the subsequent dozen about to head our way. The scales and our waistbands are now reminding us of our lack of self-control over the holiday season. Then there’s those credit card bills to show our lack of fiduciary restraint. Many of us will have attended get-togethers where relatives and friends we’ve not seen for a while share their glittering success stories while we may have little to contribute. They bought a new house following a promotion. You bought a new coffee table from IKEA having sold all that stuff you didn’t want anymore on eBay. Your cousin Caroline who has always been so competitive showed off her enormous engagement ring and spent the entire time talking up her fiancé who she makes sound like a combination of Johnny Depp and the head of the World Bank and all you have to brag about is a series of one-date wonders you met on Plenty of Fish. Not quite the same ring to it, has it?
The New Year rolls around and we resolve that we are going to do better – be better/thinner/richer/more successful and next year we’ll be the one with the success stories to share. Yet so many New Year’s Resolutions tank after just a few weeks despite our best intentions and that gym membership we splashed out on or that course on managing our money we signed up for or those self-help books we ordered from Amazon which come April we have yet to crack the spines of. Why?
First of all, many New Year’s Resolutions come from a place of not loving and accepting ourselves right now just as we are. They focus on what we feel is wrong with ourselves as opposed to what is right. What we focus on is what the universe reflects back at us. If you are saying ‘Oh my God! Look at how much weight I have gained. I’m disgusting. I can’t do up my jeans’ – all the universe hears are the words ‘weight gain’ and the fact you don’t feel good about yourself. At this point no matter what you do – join a gym, pour the wine down the sink and clear your fridge of fat and carbs – your subconscious is now focussed on nothing but the fact you’re saying you are a person who doesn’t like themselves and is not in control. Don’t be surprised when you come up with all kinds of excuses why you’re not going to the gym today or that you end up bingeing on the very things you told yourself you couldn’t eat any more – probably by the second week in January.
So, what can you do? Take the attitude that if you don’t make any resolutions you therefore can’t break them? I’m not advocating that either. I believe in goal-setting but for all the right reasons and in setting goals that empower us rather than undermine us. To help you I’ve prepared a little Resolution Checklist. As you start to think about what you really want to achieve in 2014, check those resolutions against it.
1: Is now the best time? Just because it’s a calendar New Year doesn’t mean you have to embark on a resolution or goal. The fact is, we can commit to a new way of living, being and thinking at any point during the coming year – not just on January 1 so don’t feel pressured to do so. This doesn’t say self-love – just the reverse.
2: Make a list. Include in your list not just what you would like to achieve in the coming year but what you are already committed to doing. Have you taken all this into consideration? Many people fail with their resolutions because they have just taken on too much at one time. Be realistic and don’t be afraid to prioritise your goals. Go for the one that excites you the most and once you have achieved that – move on to the next – and with a sense of accomplishment.
3: Look to your achievements in the past year. And then relate them back to your present resolution. This is all about making sure you are coming from a place of empowerment. Let’s say you want to budget your finances better and/or attract more money in 2014. Instead of saying things like ‘My credit cards are always maxed out/I live off my overdraft/I can’t afford the things I want so I have to get a handle on my finances’ – review all the sound financial decisions you made during the year. Remember that example I used at the start about selling stuff on eBay to buy something you REALLY wanted? Now some people might say this is small potatoes to someone buying their dream home. But if you are trying to build a better relationship with money and stick to a financial resolution then this would be a great example of how you managed to buy something you wanted without getting into debt. If you look back at the past 12 months chances are there are many little victories in a key area you can use when stating a resolution that empower you rather than undermine you such as ‘I am getting more and more adept at achieving my financial goals without getting into debt and I am continuing this process in 2014’.
Making our New Year’s Resolutions work for us is a key step to achieving what we all want for the New Year – happiness, prosperity, health and success.
December 30, 2013
December 24, 2013
Jan Astrology Forecast Overview video
Wishing you a fabulous 2014 beautiful soul!
