June 27, 2014, New Moon in Cancer – "A Terrific Night For A Moon Dance"

Sarasvati is the goddess Kris Waldherr chose
as #2, The High Priestess for her
wonderful "The Goddess Tarot"©, tarot's
card for Lady Moon

Our lunar reboot occurs on June 27th at 1:08 a.m., PDT in five degrees and thirty-seven minutes of Cancer.  This is terrific, because the Moon rules Cancer and is exalted during its passage through this sign.  Exalted, you say? Yup.  A planetary body (and the Moon falls within this category for the sake of astrology) that’s exalted has a purer, more direct form of its natural energy and characteristics.  This all adds up to a powerhouse of a New Moon whose energy can be used to reaffirm our commitment to our life path, goals and projects.  

While Mercury’s retrograde has had us reviewing, revamping and rethinking decisions, Neptune’s retrograde pattern has connected us more strongly to our mystic and spiritual sides.  This New Moon gives us the opportunity to adopt the strategies and philosophies we’ve been contemplating during Mercury Retrograde.  Our intellect (Mercury in Gemini),  our emotions (New Moon in Cancer), and our spirit (Neptune in Pisces) are in harmony.  Also, the New Moon on the 27th trines Neptune, giving us a super charge of mystical energy.  Use that intuition.  Allow all that amazing creativity you feel within you to flow free.  Set your plans so you can hit the ground running when Mercury turns direct on July 1st.  Then get out of your own way and watch your dreams manifest during the next thirty days.  The theme for this New Moon, like the tarot association for Cancer, The Chariot, is 'up and over.'

Rhiannon represents #7 The Chariot,
Cancer's tarot association. From
Kris Waldherr's "The Goddess Tarot"©

People with Moon in Cancer in their birth chart, or those born under the sign of Cancer  feel the effects of this New Moon more strongly, however Venus in Gemini lends  stability to the strong, emotional currents our favorite crustaceans might feel swirling around them.  Remember, this will be a New Moon with deep, meaningful subtext, both spiritual and emotional.  It’s important to stay focused on where you want to be in life and who you wish to have with you – friends, co-workers, or partners.

The power of June’s New Moon is a great opportunity to rise above that sense stagnation we’ve endured with Cardinal Crosses and so forth earlier this year.  Work with this new emotional template for the coming lunar cycle and you’ll amaze yourself.  

LADY ORACLE

Astrological Trends for June 2014 – “Dreams of the Spirit”

The Magician is tarot's card for Mercury
representing conscious thought, or the
active mind. Seen here from "The Wizard's Tarot"©
by Corrine Kenner and John J. Blumen

June is the month for planetary retrogrades. Take three, they’re small.  See blog: “Mercury Retrograde, Tarot and You”  for a definition of what a retrograde cycle actually is. June 7th, Mercury starts its retrograde in Cancer and then slip-slides back to Gemini on June 17th. Neptune begins its retro-fitting journey in Pisces on June 9th and last, though still influential, Chiron turns retrograde in Pisces as well on June 20th. There is a central theme for this month and it is dreams of the spirit.

Mercury Retrograde in Cancer asks us to halt for a moment and carefully consider any communications we receive pertaining to financial matters. Don’t forget to check those pesky emails from your bank that signal low balance alerts, or God forbid, the dreaded, “your account is overdrawn” email.  No, Mercury Retrograde in Cancer doesn’t make you short of cash, but it can create miscommunications in the financial area.  Listen to your voicemails and read your emails particularly if you have various and sundry financial deals in the works.  Don’t assume that everything is taken care of just because it’s happening under someone else’s watch.  On June 17th Mercury drifts back to Gemini, its home sign.  Mercury in Gemini is a quick mind and a quicker wit.  Although Mercury’s retro period may leave you feeling as if you hit a wall during your mental calisthenics, simply remember to rethink your ideas and recalculate the outcome twice and issues will eventually resolve themselves.  Follow the rules for Mercury retrograde and keep them holy. 

Pisces figures prominently in this month’s astrology and in a

#12, The Hanged Man is tarot's card for Neptune.
From "Shadowscapes"©
by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

very exciting way.  Neptune, exalted in its home sign of Pisces, goes retrograde on June 9th.  Unlike drifty Mercury, Neptune remains in the sign of the fish for its entire retrograde period.  In it to win it.  Pisces is the sign of dreams, intuition, spirituality and creativity.  Likewise, Neptune is the planet of dreamers and the higher self.  Here’s the exciting part.  When Neptune goes retrograde it acts as a touchstone for our spirituality.  In Pisces this effect is magnified.  We more readily identify ourselves as members of one species – humanity.  We grasp the idea that faith is not something to simply be given by rout, but a thing that needs to be examined.  The results of our queries push us to the point where faith is validated as our truth and therefore becomes unshakeable.  Expect to see a spiritual reawakening for yourself and others during Neptune’s retrograde cycle which lasts until November 16th.  

Lady Moon herself symbolizes
the sign of Pisces. From "The
Wizard's Tarot"© by Corrine Kenner and
John J. Blumen

Neptune retrograde in Pisces is an excellent time to examine your dreams for clues about yourself and the world around you.  Read up on basic dream symbolism. (See Blog: "Dream Symbolism – I Know I Was Wearing Pants When I Left The House" )  Start a dream journal. What do your dreams want you to know?  Use the super charged spiritual energy of this June to connect to your higher, intuitive self and open the pathway that connects you to the Devine. Let yourself find the path that speaks to you.

The third retrograde of the month is Chiron in Pisces.  Here we see the same theme of creativity and spirituality, but this time coupled with Chiron’s healing energy.  Look for deep and powerful meditations this month that transform your old patterns.  This month is geared towards facilitating lasting changes in your life.  Remember Pluto is also in retrograde now, prompting you to ask the big questions about your relationship to Source and your responsibility to your fellow man.  Not easy stuff, granted, but all part of the wonderful spiritual shift coming this month. You don’t have to force your reawakening, just let it happen. Enjoy it.

On June 11th Jupiter in Cancer goes sesquiquadrate to

#5, The Hierophant is shown as Chiron,
the wounded healer in "Wizard's Tarot"©

Neptune in Pisces.  That’s a mildly adverse aspect or 135 degrees between the two planets.  This aspect won’t cause too many waves, but it will juxtapose the material bounty of Jupiter with the spirituality of Neptune.  If anything it will prod us to come to terms with any conflicts between our material world and our higher self.

On June 13th we enjoy a Full Moon in Sagittarius and on 27th, a powerful New Moon in Cancer.  I’ll have more on those later this month.  In the meantime, use June’s rich Piscean energy to deepen your meditations, expand your spirit and enrich your life.

LADY ORACLE

“Seeking the Profound in the Ordinary”

Dan Millman, in his book, “The Peaceful Warrior,” states that there are no ordinary moments.  Each fragment of time and space is sufficient to itself and the expansion of the entire universe occurs as one dewdrop falls from a leaf.  Pretty weighty stuff and a concept that’s much easier to understand while sitting in a meditation garden with lutes playing in the background.  How many of us have the opportunity to retreat to a place of such ultimate contemplation, though, and for how long?  Sure, we can meditate for ten or twenty minutes a couple of times a day if we’re disciplined and lucky enough to grab the time, and that’s a great thing, but we must still exist in the ordinary world for more than twenty-three hours each day. No lutes, no garden. Each day we preform mundane tasks that on the surface appear to have little to do with enlightenment, but when viewed from another perspective, hold wonder.

What is the nature of the profound and why do so many of us

The culmination of the OSHO's Zen Tarot©
Major Arcana, #22, beyond illusion
deck by Deva Padma

seek it?  When you are immersed in a profound thought or occurrence your connection to spirit is so direct, so pure that you see past yourself and your particular reality.  You glimpse the core of spiritual oneness that links all existence.  Those glimpses are a promise that there is more than just us in the universe and that we are all interconnected. Kahili Gibran, in “The Prophet,” says that children “are life’s longing for itself.”  If that’s true, then as spiritual beings having a human experience, isn’t our quest for the miraculous and the profound simply our longing for our spiritual home?

Assuming we sleep seven hours a day, we have sixteen hours filled with school, work, commuting, chores, errands and common tasks.  With this tight of a schedule it only makes sense to seek the profound in the ordinary if you wish to live a conscious-filled life.  Think about the rhythm of mundane tasks; raking leaves, washing floors, folding laundry. Your body steps into a flow. Contemplate the way your muscles work together to move – how many unseen cells join harmoniously to accomplish a single movement.  You fold a towel in half, measuring the edges so they match up just so.  You fold it in half again and place it on a stack to be stored in the linen closet.  In this simple chore you learn continuance, how pieces of life stack together in natural order and that once something has served its purpose in life, it’s time to let go and move on.

There’s a world of enlightenment in the ordinary.  Today try seeking the profound in your everyday routine – be it work, or errands.  Be the moment and see what you discover.

LADY ORACLE    

OSHO Zen Tarot is available through my website!

Check out cool decks!

You Are What You Speak - The Power of Words on the Physical Body

OSHO Zen Tarot © by
Deva Padma
Amazing Deck!!!

There was a mother and her son pushing their cart along the aisle at the grocery store this afternoon.  The mother's T-shirt said, "Bad Attitude," underneath a picture of Oscar, the Grouch from Sesame Street.  Her son's shirt read, "I didn't ask for your opinion, so shut your f(ing) mouth."  We can all agree that negative messages can't produce positive growth.  If you wear a message shirt while in the public eye, that message is the first impression you make on the people around you.  And that's fine because what you wear is a matter of choice and individual freedom.  However, what about the message you're sending yourself?

If you're familiar with the work of Masaru Emoto ("The

OSHO Zen Tarot© by Deva Padma

Message From Water")  you're already familiar with his contention that ordinary words carry the power to actually alter matter.  More correctly, Emoto theorizes that each word we speak is imbued with a creative energy simply because we use that particular word to define and recognize an item, or trait we are describing.  Emoto photographed the frozen crystals of various types of water directly from their source and then photographed samples of the same water after they'd been labeled with words such as, beautiful, ugly, love, hate, frightened, happy, etc.  His photographs are astounding.  The more positive the messages written on the water, the brighter and more clearly defined the crystal structure of the sample.  When a negative word or message was written on the water, the resulting crystal appeared less symmetrical in shape and darker in color.  Whether or not you agree with the outcome of Emoto's experiments, you have to admit that that the concept is fascinating and is certainly worthy of further exploration.

OSHO Zen Tarot© by Deva Padma

We know that words can psychologically wound and that positive reinforcement does more to teach appropriate behavior than yelling and name calling.  If we understand this about the world outside of ourselves, why wouldn't our inner world, our physical body, respond in the same way?  Think about why meditation works in the first place.  You disengage from outer stimulus and by focusing on your inner being, achieve harmony between your physical, mental and spiritual selves.  

The messages we send ourselves via the type of music we

OSHO Zen Tarot© by Deva Padma

listen to, the movies we watch and the cultural memes we endorse effect us just as surely as our religious and political upbringings.   However, as adults, we get to choose what we allow to cross into our personal territory and we can label ourselves in any fashion we want.  If you subscribe to the theory that  words hold the power to either nourish or malnourish your physical form, then it only makes sense to carefully consider the messages you use for self-expression.  Catch phrase zingers are all well and good on a thirty minute sit-com, but don't usually translate well as an endorsement for a lifetime philosophy. 

To own your truth you must live your truth and choosing your truth can be a difficult thing.  To borrow from a cultural meme, "Choose wisely."

LADY ORACLE

Have an opinion?  Please share!

OSHO Zen Tarot© is available for purchase through Lady Oracle Tarot®

The Zen of Tarot

"Zen - the philosophy that enlightenment is gained by meditation, self-reflection and contemplation."

Existence, the OSHO© deck's counterpart to
The Magician

Generally speaking, tarot sites and blogs talk about the meanings of card in terms of symbolism and keywords.  That's extremely useful information, but any of us who read tarot consistently know that readings are also about our personal connection to our cards and the connotation that each of those cards holds for us as individuals.  For example, what my cards recognize as a pattern for repressed anger and secrets in a client and what your cards recognize as those traits for the same person, can display differently in the spread because of how our deck relates to us.  Too often the term, "intuitive," becomes a catch all phrase and the bond between a reader and their deck, or decks, gets lost in the shuffle.  Pun intended.  Good readers will convey the same information to the same client, albeit a little differently.

One of the best and most insightful decks on the market is "Osho Zen Tarot."  I refer to it as my bunny slippers deck.  It's my comfort deck when engaging in the not always pleasant work of sorting through personal issues.  Though many prefer the images of traditional Ryder Waite (RWCS) based decks, there are times when the kings and queens are too weighed down by the consequence of their own archetypes.  That's when I head for the colorful and contemplative Osho deck.  Believe it or not, the messages from both decks go hand in hand.  Okay, that's the last pun.  I promise.

Below are some of the keywords for both  #1, The Magician and #2, The High Priestess in RWCS and verbiage from the Ohso card book.  Osho's #1 is, Existence and #2, is Inner Voice.  My take on the lessons portrayed in both cards is printed in italics.

Magician                                            Existence

Action                                               "go outside." "Get out of your head." (Make something happen.)

Conscious Awareness                      "You are not accidental."  (Make decisions with your eyes open.)

Concentration                                   "take time to savior it so it can deepen"  (Set your intention. Focus!)

Power                                               "the whole of existence will miss you." (You have an established 
                                                           place in the Universe that you, and only you, can fill.  This gives
                                                           you great power. Use it productively.)


High Priestess                                    Inner Voice


Non-action                                          "Seek silence and centering within."(Contemplate your path)

Unconscious Awareness                    "wordless language of the heart" (Use your divine intuition)

Potential Mystery                               "an oracle that speaks only the truth." (To truly live is the biggest
                                                             mystery of all.)


Both decks give us the same information, however, the

OSHO's Inner Voice match's The High Priestess
Note the lunar horn head dress

presentations are different.  RWCS offers information to a querent, who seeks to identify his own character through the form of actual archetypes. First, we have a powerful Magician, who through concentrated effort, bends and forms his world to manifest his desires.  Next we have the intuitive and reclusive High Priestess; aligned with the moon and lighting the path of the inner journey.

Osho,  presents the same information without form, as concepts rather than as beings.  #1 is the concept of Existence and # 2, Inner Voice.  The Osho deck offers information to aspirants - seekers who aspire to embrace the concepts rather than specific traits.  Two philosophies, two sides of the same coin.

If you're not familiar with the Osho deck, you can follow this link to my on-line store. Please take the opportunity to look at this deck.  Tarot is a living and evolving form of self discovery.  You can go as far down the rabbit hole as you wish and there will still be more depth for you to discover on your next trip.  Be bold and experiment.  And as Alice said on her jaunt through Wonderland, "Curiouser and curiouser."


LADY ORACLE

OSHO Zen Tarot is 
available through 
www.ladyoracle.net