Transcending the Ego - “The Power of Simply Existing”

#1, Existence from the
OSHO Zen Tarot© by
Deva Padma

Ego is both a Latin and Greek word meaning ‘I,’ or ‘self.’  Ego is also one of the layers that Freud defined as part of our psyche, or mental make up.  Spiritually, we are advised to surrender our ego to attain a truly enlightened state.  Dr. Wayne Dyer often uses the acronym, Edging God Out for his definition of ego consciousness.  He contends, as do most spiritual philosophers, that we close ourselves off from our ever-present link to Divine consciousness, as well as to our link with all living things when we view our life experiences solely through the lens of our own ego. 

Linda Jane Becker, in her book, “Living With Soul,” describes the healthy ego as an internal device designed purely as a safety mechanism.  Becker defines the ego’s function as one of assimilating information about our environment and in dangerous situations, activating our sense of self-preservation to help us avoid harm.  She states that when we depend solely on the

The Source from the
OSHO Zen Tarot© by
Deva Padma

ego to judge and guide our actions however, we pull life through the filter of our mind instead of through our heart.  By doing so, we trap ourselves inside our own perceptions of how life should be lived, rather than actually experiencing the life surrounding us. 

Our relationship to our ego-self often feels like the relationship between a behavioralist and a lab rat.  Our ego conditions us to react to certain situations with set responses much like a rat is conditioned to push a lever and collect a food pellet.  Gratification, or validation.  When we allow the ego to train us, we stand at a metaphorical food bar all day, every day, continually pushing that lever to get the same reward – a

#22 Beyond Illusion from the
OSHO Zen Tarot© by
Deva Padma

feeling of rightness and a sense of who we are as defined by what we have.  When we step away from the need for validation, we allow our hearts to open to the power of the Divine.  Make the effort to reconnect to your spiritual self today.  Use the path that is the most familiar and effortless for you and enjoy your journey.

LADY ORACLE

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Practically Magic

                                                        “Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death.”  

                                  Rosalind Russell in “Auntie Mame”  1958

I was in my early 30s when I stopped struggling and accepted

the amazing Kris Waldherr's "Magician" from
her deck, "The Goddess Tarot"©

the fact that magic is real and no matter what my attitude - good, bad or indifferent - I hold the ability to create my reality.  Life itself is magical.  It is a fantastic network of energy and vibration all linking back to one source of origin - the Invisible Divine.  When we allow energy to flow naturally between ourselves and Source, the miraculous becomes an everyday experience.  Here’s the kicker.  Our connection to Source energy is both personal and constant.  We are never out there going it alone, so to speak.  We are connected to Source and through Its network, we are linked to every other life form on this planet and beyond.  

Your relationship with divine energy is defined by who you believe yourself to be, what you’ve experienced in your life and, also by how you where raised.  If working with universal flow to create your life sounds like a daunting task, believe me, it is.  The first Step is a doozy. You have to give up excuses. You must accept responsibility for your own choices and live with their consequences.  

Conscious - our eternal link to the Divine
from Deva Padma's "OSHO Zen Tarot"©

Step two requires that you face your true intentions and attitudes when it comes to magical thinking.  It’s difficult to create positive and happy results when your thought process stems from a place of judgment, bitterness and anger.  The code word here is RELEASE.  Whether it’s a relationship, an attitude or a situation - if it does not promote your life in a positive manner, clear it out of your space.  Again, not the easiest thing to do, but the results will be well worth the struggle.

Step three is where the fun starts.  Suspend your disbelief.  Play the ‘what if’ game from a light-hearted, positive place.  What it I got that promotion?  What would my life look like?  What if I got my bills paid off?  How would that feel?   Mentally walk yourself through the sights, smells and tastes of achieving.  Perceive it, achieve it.  Do you think that sounds silly?  Why?  You do it every morning, but most likely in a negative way.  Perhaps you stand in front of a mirror telling yourself why things aren’t going to work for you, or creating fantastical scenarios in your head where people slight you and you get to deliver an amazing monolog that really shows them, boy.  You imagine being right, but in a very negative way.  

Life is magic and magic is real no matter what your belief

Corrine Kenner and John J. Blumen's
terrific image of #21, The World from
"Wizard's Tarot"©

system.  Honor the magical connection to the Divine that lives in you and watch your life become filled with amazing texture, color and vibrancy.  This is your life.  Use it.

LADY ORACLE

Abundance, Gratitude and the Joyous Heart

Candles, crystals and tarot cards - now that is joyful!
Corrine Kenner's and John J. Blumen's "Wizards Tarot"©
in the foreground

When we practice the abundant life, we strive to stay focused and positive on the people and things that makes us feel abundant.  We are told that it is essential to explore gratitude as we meditate on abundance and prosperity.  Today, in my meditation practice, I focused on gratitude.  Often when I do, I’m moved to tears as I count the blessings in my life.  Today I wasn’t and at first I didn’t understand why.

I love meditation.  It’s where I go for Divine connection, inspiration and comfort.  Today my feelings of gratitude, while they were sincerely meant, lacked the emotion, the elation that I often feel as I recount my blessings. My gratitude lacked the ‘kick-start,’ if you will.  I wondered why my expressions of thankfulness rang hollow until a realized that I was not in joy.  Joy, or rather a joyous heart is an intrinsic part of gratitude and therefore vital to the process of manifesting abundance in your life.  

Joy opens us to experiences.  Our hearts become accepting 

3 of Cups - celebration
from "Tarot of the Pagan Cats"©
by Lola Airaghi and Magdelina Messina

of pure possibility when we are in joy. Joy takes us away from negative projections and judgments about ourselves and others that confine and limit us.  In joy, we focus on the moment where life is lived in its entirety.  Within the present moment we can recount all that we are and hold dear without effort.  Joy links us to our Creator.  Joy allows us to examine the fullness of our gratitude and within that moment of actualization, we hold the creative force of the entire Universe in our hands. 

We all have moments, days, months, etc. when we are not happy.  I realized today that joy is different from happiness.  Joy is force all its own and not dependent on a happy state of mind.  I propose to you that true joy in the moment is not an emotion, but an energy field of its own.  As such, we can tap into joy, use it and direct it to power our meditative and creative processes.  Manifesting if a multitiered process.  Today i believe I reached another tier.

LADY ORACLE

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend."

Melody Beattie - writer

For more thoughts on the workings of gratitude, please click this link and follow it to "The Moment Is Now"  our online radio show!

#1, The Magician or, "Linking Merlin With the Divine"

#1, The Magician - my personal
favorite depiction from "The
Wizar'ds Tarot"© by Corrine Kenner
and John J. Blumen

In tarot, The Magician bears witness to the fundamental truth he we are always connected to our divine creator.  The depiction of the Magician in RWSC decks shows us a wizard standing at his work table.  He has the power of all the elements literally at his finger tips as symbolized by the suits in tarot’s Minor Arcana: Wand, Cup, Sword and Pentacle (fire, water, air and earth respectively).  

The Magician represents consciousness, directed action and intentional creation.  He stands at his work table, his wand held aloft while his other hand pointed to the earth.  He is a living conduit between the power of divine consciousness and Its physical manifestation on earth.  He embodies the words on the Emerald Tablet, “As it is above, so it is below.”  Unlike Fool, the Magician doesn’t nonchalantly toss his consciousness over his shoulder, moving through life on a whim.  He takes responsibility for his

life force and his gifts by using them to shape his world.  Flowers grow around his table - signs that the power of his potential is in full and directed use.  He blooms where he’s planted.  He shows us that our gifts are the currency by which we purchase our dreams. If you waste your gifts, or let them stand idle, you not only bankrupt yourself, but you squander all of your potential.

We are conduits for cosmic energy.  It passes through us for

use in creating actualities - job, lifestyle, or to effect lasting change in the world around us. Our personal power must be allowed to flow freely guided by our directed thought.  Otherwise we create chaos in our lives and the lives of those around us.  Often we want to hold fast to our power base, fearing it will disappear.  However when you act as a conduit, you carry current from an infinite source - a universal power plant if you will.  Think about the batteries you bought last year for your emergency flashlights.  They are still in the package, their power contained.  What is their shelf life? Are they still good?  Just as the charge in an unused battery will eventually dissipate, so will the consciousness or cosmic power you struggle to contain.  As with water, electricity and air, there must be a flow through.

From "OSHO Zen Tarot"© by Deva Padma,
we see the #22, The World - a culmination
of the hero's journey.

Today ask yourself: Am I part of the Divine flow?  Do I direction to my power and manifest things that benefit myself as well as those around me, or do I react to whatever direction life takes me and create chaos in my wake?  This is a magic day and you get to decide what you will do with it. 

LADY ORACLE