Magician, Four of Pentacles, 10 of Cups
The Magician is card number 1 in the Major Arcana. Of all the manifestation cards, this one is the leader. This is the “I AM” of the deck. This card has all parts of the entire deck all in this one card reminding us that we have all the power that we need to make our life happen and turn out exactly the way we want it to. We are powerful and it is in our best interest to accept this truth. The Four of Pentacles is suggesting that now is a time for conservation and channeling this energy toward what we want the future to look like. Also, since today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of lent, this may be suggesting to focus what you would like to sacrifice for 40 days to lead you to an outcome that aligns with what you want out of the future. Perhaps that is giving up your daily coffee, that saves you caffeine intake as well as about $200. It is a reminder that the little things add up and now is the time to focus on the bigger picture. It is ok if it isn’t comfortable at first, most important things in life tend to go that way. The 10 of Cups is encouraging you and letting you know that this is all worth it. 10 of Cups is also about divine relationships. Relationships that are aligned with you and your true self. Sometimes giving some things up that aren’t serving us anymore push us in the direction of those that are after the same things in life. The idea of giving things up to bring in what serves us best is the strongest theme of the reading. We have the power to make changes and sacrifices. It is okay to take time to figure out what that is and take little action steps along the way. It is okay to shift and pivot as needed. There are no right or wrong decisions, only decisions and we are strong enough to navigate life as it unfolds and changes. A suggestion at this time is to focus on self-love and what love looks and feels like to you. This is very important. As the great and fabulous Ru Paul says, “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else? Can I get an amen!”
Machig Labdrön – The diamond-hearted dakini
I see light in my own darkness, I face my ego beliefs to feel free.
Who She Is: Machig Labdrön takes the dark and transmutes it into only more light. Tibetan Buddhists believe that Yeshe Tsogyal was reborn as Machig Labdrön and that both were incarnations of the female Buddha Vajrayogini. Machig’s mother had an auspicious dream right before giving birth. Seven dakinis poured water over her body, blessing her, purifying her, and prophetically relating that this little baby girl would also be a dakini.
As a young woman, Machig made a living by reading the Prajnaparamita sutra or the Heart sutra, which is the most beloved wisdom text in Mahayana Buddhism. People considered it a great blessing to have it read in their homes. After leaving a monastic order, Machig married and lived what is referred to as “the red and white essence” of mystical union. She practiced tantric union with her husband while raising a family together. Her son became one of her greatest successors.
Machig developed the tantric Buddhist practice of Chöd. These teachings were the first Buddhist teachings to emerge in Tibet. Chöd is referred to as the Cutting Off Ritual. A demon, according to Machig, is anything that obstructs the achievement of freedom. Demons then are ego beliefs – not scary, hairy beasts, but inner barriers that keep us from realizing the nature of reality. The Chöd practitioner visualizes their demon and then mentally cuts off parts of their own body as an offering to the demon. Machig holds a traditional Tibetan Chöd drum (a damaru) in one hand and a bell (Ghanta) in the other.
Machig, like Yeshe Tsogyal, lived until she was 99. And then according to Tibetan Buddhists, she reincarnated as Lama Tsultrim Allione, an American Buddhist teacher. Allione explains in her book, Feeding Your Demons, that Chöd is a “a method for bringing our shadow into consciousness and accessing the treasures it holds rather than repressing it.” This powerful, unbroken lineage of female transmission reveals to us that enlightenment is about making the darkness conscious.
When Your Soul Selects Her Card: From Machig’s perspective as an enlightened female, she knew that the difference between god and a demon had to do with our reaction to them. Those who cause us pain, she explained, also teach us patience, whereas those who bring us gifts can distract us from our spiritual paths. No one and no single situation has the power to derail us, that is unless we let it. The power rests within us.
The spiritual path for Machig was to become intimate with her inner demons: those thoughts or beliefs that kept her from experiencing joy, bliss, and pure love.
The darkness within us isn’t actually dark. It often feels threatening because some aspect of our intuition knows that when we face it, we will reclaim a lost part of our soul. We will heal. We will become more whole, and that ironically can be terrifying.
We get so used to functioning with only one wing. We wonder, How can I fly now with two? I’ll go too far, too high. Who will I become now that I am free? And who will I lose in the elevation of my soul?
Machig is here to support us in seeing what’s ready to come to consciousness. She’s here with her diamond heart to hold us as we feed one of our demons not with fear, but with the knowledge that bringing it to life, and into the light will help set us free.
Soul-Voice Meditation: Is there an ego belief that I am ready to see and release within me?
Intention: I see the light in my own darkness. I face my ego.
I am courageous, steady and strong
When we awaken to the power of our own courage and strength, we’re more in tune with our purpose. We feel freedom and confidence in our voice – allowing very little to deviate our mission. Lions carry a regal beauty combined with resilient power. They’re excellent hunters who have learned the art of patience and timing with an ability to overcome challenges. Lion is here to remind you that you’re a rare and powerful beauty, capable of achieving anything you choose with strong and steady courage. This may also be a call to embody to specific role of leadership in your life. Pause to feel what is true for you. Whenever you lack courage or feel emotionally depleted, channel the mighty regal lion to regain your deep inner roar.
New Moon in Taurus – Prosperity lies ahead
This card will often come up when you’re enquiring about a financial matter or when you’re doubting your self-worth. The card suggests you can have what you want – including material things – but you must believe in yourself. This comes down to the laws of attraction: value yourself and others will value you too. You can create abundance! Taurus is associated with luxurious Venus and this card holds the New Moon energy, so now is a good time to make a 12-month financial plan. This card can signal the start of a new relationship, or of sexier times. If you’ve been wrestling with something for a long time, the New Moon is sturdy Taurus is a sign not to give up just yet!
Attune to the Moon: Get or give a massage – healthy body, healthy mind.
Additional meanings for this card:
· You will soon be able to afford the thing you’re dreaming of.
· Getting clear on what you value most will help you find peace.
· Take some time out to pamper yourself.
· Start a standing order to a savings account, no matter how small.
The teaching:
We often feel that it’s somehow wrong to focus on our finances but the truth is that money can make life far more comfortable from a physical point of view. Taurus knows this and the New Moon in Taurus is the time to work your magic to create the money you want so you can have the creature comforts you want. Remember, though, that someone else is still wishing for what you already have.
Sarah-La-Kali – Queen of the Outsiders
I have arrived. I am where I will always be: in love.
Who She Is: Sarah-la-Kali is the symbol of the love that endures, the love that never dies. There are three main legends that surround Saint Sarah. First, she is known as a charitable noblewoman who collected alms for the poor in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the south of France at the beginning of the 1st century.
She had a vision that the female saints who were present at Jesus’s death would arrive on their shores. And when they did, around the year 42, Saint Sarah was the first to lovingly welcome them with open arms.
The “golden legend” from the 13th century says that Saint Sarah arrived with the three Marys – Mary Magdalene, Mother Mary, and Mary of Bethany – as one of their slaves. She was said to be an Egyptian, very beautiful, and endowed with healing powers.
The third legend is that Saint Sarah is the daughter of Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ. During the persecution of the early Christians, it is believed that Mary Magdalene fled with young Sarah, Jesus’s mother, and Mary of Bethany to the south of France. There she raised Sarah and continued her ministry of love, of becoming what Christ referred to as “true human beings,” meaning both fully human and fully divine.
Saint Sarah is known as the Queen of the Outsiders. She is the beloved patron saint of the Romany people. She is carried from her crypt in the cathedral to the sea on horseback every May 24 by thousands of Romany who gather annually to celebrate her. There’s an ancient chest in Saint Sarah’s cathedral that contains the relics of the three Marys. Saint Sarah represents the spiritual tenets of the Camargue cross: faith and hope, but above all, love.
When Your Soul Selects Her Card:
No matter who you are, or where you are, Saint Sarah’s love is the kind that reaches you. There’s nothing you need to perfect or prove. There’s nothing you need to wait to become. There’s only the deep, abiding truth that love is not outside of you. You are never an outsider to love. You are love.
Saint Sarah is the ultimate love card. The one that whispers what you’ve always known: that love is our true purpose and our only true home.
Love is where we will all arrive. No matter how persecuted, how lonely, how outcast we might feel. No matter how long it has been since we’ve felt loved. Saint Sarah is the healing that comes when we embody love again. She is here to welcome us back to the singular destination we actually never left. Home is only ever as far as we allow ourselves to be separate from the space of our own heart.
Soul-Voice Meditation: Enter the heart. Ask to experience love, true love. And let it fill you head to soul.
Intention: I have arrived. I am where I will always be: in love.