happy New Year, happy New You

I’m sorry for being very busy & tired this month that I have not much time & energy left to update. However, I’m really happy & thankful for my newfound clients (hopefully we’re all friends now), & I hope that I’ve been able to help you sort out your issues. To celebrate our 13th post, hehe, I would like to share some of these insights gleaned from Christine Jette’s Tarot Shadow Work target="new" book. 2007 is, after all, a good year for change, & reassessing ourselves is all an inevitable part of that. Change has to begin within ourselves, & yes, even yours truly is dealing with it now (like getting a new day job supposedly). May these lines from our featured book be enlightening for you:

Any type of therapy or spiritual system that moves us closer to a state of wholeness is worthy of our attention. Whatever works, works.

We can certainly plan & have a direction, but the results may be different from anything we could ever imagine on our own.

Change is not an orderly & coherent process, but a complex, lovely, & sometimes frightening mess.

How can I support others while allowing them their own truths?

By taking loving care of ourselves each & everyday, the future unfolds & takes care of itself.

Yes, sometimes we need temporary teachers & guides, but we forget we all have the answers about ourselves inside us — if we learn to trust our inner knowledge.

So the idea is to be open to other forms of healing, counselling, & expression. Never underestimate your gut feelings, & always pray for guidance & consolation when in dire stress. The question stated above is my principal role/mission/objective as a reader. It is indeed great responsibility for me to disseminate necessary & relevant information & advice. I hope the said question will also help you in your introspection & in your daily work. We cannot just impose our beliefs & feelings on anyone; we have to consider everyone else’s differences & sentiments. We need to understand others & to meet all difficulties in life with a joyful heart. We need to be able to pass on that spirit of benevolence to whoever we’re helping at the moment as well. It’s pretty much a huge challenge, & so I apologize at this point if I would rather not delve on a subject fully when reading in public. Some subjects are quite touchy, & I would like to keep my vow of confidentiality. I can reschedule at a later, more conducive-for-trust-&-communication time for querents with rather delicate issues.

Our card for this post would then be the High Priestess. According to Christine Jette, the ff. are the High Priestess’s gifts & lessons to the querent:

• balancing intellect & intuition
• making logical decisions based on intuition
• involvement with a group of women
• exploring the unconscious
• seeking hidden knowledge through dreams, images, feelings, art, tarot, & astrology
• seeking a counselor to help you explore things unseen

It’s always advisable to seek help when we can’t take it anymore. Especially regarding heartbreak & singlehood. We are all entitled to our own sense of privacy & seclusion, but let us consider all aspects first before making an important choice or undertaking a new endeavor, & if weighing all that muddles us, let us feel free to ask for assistance. Going that extra mile in terms of counsel, research, meditation, & rest will definitely benefit the querent in more ways than one.

So, yes, I wish you all the best of luck, & I hope to hear from everyone else before February, when I’ll be much busier & more tired to socialize & study Tarot. Up next, I’ll be featuring this very much overlooked spread with a reading I’ve done for a new client.

pseudo-science = love

According to my biorhythm chart, I won’t be at the top of my game right after Christmas, which I think is already in effect at this time. I’d be at my dullest & weakest on the 27th up to the 29th, & at my most neurotic come 31st until the 2nd. January 6 would be a most auspicious time for me to get back on track then, while I’m still thinking whether to attend yoga tomorrow. Maybe I should. Wish me luck. Traffic could be so bad. I knew I should’ve done tai chi yesterday but the 8 of Swords (please look it up elsewhere) just worried me to death, even if the card’s message was apparently positive.

Saturday, December 23rd, 2006 PST

Libra (Sep 23 - Oct 22)

Your current idea of enjoyment might not necessarily be the same as everyone else’s. In fact, others may think that you have lost touch with reality as you talk about what you want to do now. Don’t give in too quickly, for your fantasies can provide an interesting starting point to a discussion about how to turn your previous obligations into a day of fun and games.

I’m not going to expound traditionally-considered warning cards here anymore, unfortunately, because for some reason they magnify their influence everytime I think about them, or even try to focus on their ‘benign’ points. It’s easy to do so during actual readings, though.

You can go here to check your own online charts. It could help. Most of the time the readings are accurate, eerily enough. Then again, stranger things have happened. I’m going to provide a spread soon that can work as a biorhythm chart, then we all can compare notes with the actual meters, hehe.

shameless plugging part 1

I’m currently reading The Little Book of Detox Tips but I haven’t really started on detoxifying myself as suggested by the author yet. I’m loving the exercise & stress-management reminders, though. & I could use a whole box of Twinings camomile tea.



Sometimes we take ourselves for granted, thinking we could do so much more for others if we keep on denying ourselves that much-needed rest, relaxation, & recreation. We forget the irony of how taking care of ourselves first & foremost (while serving others anyway) will enable us to become more pleasant & productive people along the way. The Tarot can remind us exactly just that, but I’ve learned the hard way that readers like me should practise what they preach, so to speak, so as to reassure & guide querents toward rejuvenation. This is an excellent read, especially if you’re looking for no-fuss recipes to (re)discover. I hope the author doesn’t mind me posting some of his tips here on how to relax, along with a few notes of my own (in italics), especially that I intend to give copies of the book to some lucky people for Christmas, hehe:


FOUR WAYS TO BEAT THE STRESS

1) Holidays

Taking a long holiday can create almost more stress than staying at work. It requires complex planning & then you may worry while you’re away about the work you left behind & the pile that will be waiting for you when you get back. If this happens, it’s often more beneficial to take 3- or 4-day breaks. But don’t take your mobile phone & laptop with you, or leave a dozen contact numbers with the people at the office.

Whatever you do, stay safe while you’re away, & please notify at least one key person where you’re going & when will you be possibly coming back. Then again, don’t worry too much. Make the most out of your well-deserved vacation leave! Sip a piña colada or some champagne or even just a cup of hot unsweetened tea for me!


2) Learn a new skill

Join workshops on just about anything that interests you (whether it be painting, acting, singing, dancing, pottery, photography, cooking, writing) or learn a foreign language. These are great ways of meeting non-work-related people & using a different set of skills.

Workshops cost a rather considerable amount of money nowadays, but if you look around, you might just find something that suits both your fancy & your budget. Or, why not DIY? Get books & DVDs about the subjects you’re interested in, which are always pretty good investments, trust me. Just don’t let your newfound interest & paraphernalia go to waste by not committing to it. Remember, you have to like something enough to really pursue it, just like what yours truly did with Tarot.


3) Involve the family

If you have a family then involve them in your leisure activities too. It doesn’t matter whether it’s following a football team, going camping, doing jigsaw puzzles or playing Scrabble together. Activities like these not only represent a huge investment in your physical health, but are an important prop for the emotional health & wellbeing of your family unit.

For those of you who have no family members close by for some reason, or whose family doesn’t share your interests, like in my case, well, find friends who can help you have fun. If you don’t have anyone talaga, well, let’s go back to step #2. What I did was I joined a health club. Even if my production assistant can’t be with me at all times & I still haven’t made new steady friends in the establishment ever since, I’m still trying to make full use of my membership solo flight. Why? Because yes, it costs much, & I think I’ve come a long way to not just drop out of the program.


4) Make sure you’re really having fun

Many people, even when they do make time in their busy schedules for leisure activities, are so afraid that they might be seen to be enjoying themselves that they spend their time doing punishing exercise regimes, obsessional competitive games, or ‘team-building’ activities. This is NOT leisure for pleasure & does nothing to improve your health. In fact,  the reverse is true.

Well, happiness can be relative. Sometimes what people think to be downtime is doing something invigorating, like partying late at night, boozing & smoking one’s life away. Then what can be considered "work" is going to church, praying & fasting for days. It’s your business, I really don’t care. My idea of fun nowadays can be stupid — going crazy at arcades, browsing bookstores & record bars, catching a movie at the theater, indulging in really fatty stuff, getting a massage, in a very random order. It’s tiring, costly, & toxic in a way — but I still do it all with much gusto. Talk about hedonism. Seriously, all I ask from the heavens for now is a good pair of in-line skates so I can go back to the runway in my childhood home & get lost in the empty golf course + firing range + breakwater watching the sunset, being at peace with myself & the world, while I can’t be with the one I love to share my ultimate Zen moment with yet.


Tune in for more excerpts & commentaries. Tell me what you think. For now, ENJOY. We’ve only got a few days left before Christmas & the New Year *groan* so let’s make the most of things before rushing for preparations. Happy heydays!