writing activity

Gideon’s Challenge

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KnowledgeKnowledge…

It is not straightforward
nor organized
It is tangled
and multifaceted.
Complex.
It must be untangled
just to be understood.
In combing out the strands
we find the each one
a treasure
to be added to our own
Pandora’s Box.

When we learn, it is a form of organization.  We take a jumble of information and we organize it into our minds in a way that creates its own sense.  Its own interconnections and meanings.   This is how knowledge is created, by the obtaining the tangled soruces of information and the de-tangling of those strands as we suss out meaning… and absorb it as our own.

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Gideon’s Challenge

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StrengthStrength…

Sometimes,
it isn’t about
what you can do
on your own,
but rather
about what you
can accomplish
Together.

I am very much guilty of trying to take everything upon my own shoulders and not “bother” others with requests for help or assistance, even when I desperately need it.  Instead, I continue to pretend all is well, even as I drown under the weight of too much.

That is not strength.

Real strength comes in reaching out to others and allowing them in to help.  Real strength is about love and trust.

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Weekly Creativity Prompt – Childhood Antics

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Draw up to three cards from your tarot (or oracle) and use them for guidance in choosing  something to share with us about your childhood.

IMG_4794The Emperor (Ego) –  Once when I was very young (around the age of 9 or 10) my sister and I decided to do an impromptu ritual in our front yard.   We had been doing our own rituals and spellcraft for quite some time, and we were both very confident in our abilities.

The Star (Elation) – We set  up everything outside and began our ritual.  Everything was going along great.  We had been very careful in our set up and things were going smoothly.

Justice (The Lesson) – Until I accidentally bumped the small makeshift altar we’d set up using a wooden stool, and one of the candles toppled off into the dry summer grass.  We were both barefoot and the little cup of water we had for offering didn’t put out the flames (which are incredibly difficult to SEE on dry grass in the middle of the day, by the way.  I had to run and untangle the hose, turn it on and then bring it back, because we were not prepared!   Half the yard burned before we managed to get the fire out.

Moral of the Story –  When preparing for ritual or spellcraft?  It’s not enough to prepare to do the ritual or spell.  You have to prepare for if things go wrong as well.   ie: If you’re playing with fire in the middle of a yard of dry grass?  Have the hose ready and the water already turned on.

DECK USED:  THE STITCH RABBIT TAROT

 

Gideon’s Challenge

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DesireDesire…

Come my love
and lie with me
upon spongy moss
and fallen leaves.
Roll among the ferns
with me
as laughter fills the air.
Dappled sunlight
kissing skin
as Fae watch on
and sigh.

You are my love.  My heart.  My desire.

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Weekly Creativity Prompt – The Pages

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Pull the Pages from a deck of your choice. Do you have someone in your life that fits with one of these cards? Do you have people in your life that would fit with each of them? Tell us about the connection you see between each Page card and the person in your life it represents.

Trippin' Waite Tarot

Page of Pentacles –  Slow and steady wins the race is the story of her life.  She always loved the story of the turtle and the hare growing up, and she has spent her life following the example the turtle set.  She saves her pennies and contributes to the dreams of others, and now as she finally comes to a point in her life where she has everything together and security in place, it’s time to turn her attention to learning how to preserve what she has gained and help it to flourish and grow.

Page of Cups – Curiosity and self expression have filled his life with a journey filled with flavors and colors and a vast world of imagination and swirling seas of emotional experiences.  He’s loved and lost and loved again, and he brings his heart and soul and vulnerability into each project and relationship he is a part of.  This has served him well and he’s grown and learned from mistakes, gathered in those that are just right for him and support his dreams, letting others fall away that do not.   Now with those that make his heart sing around him, he seeks to step forward and learn more about his emotions, his relationships, and the world around him through the eyes of imagination and intuition.

Page of Wands – An entrepreneur at heart, he is a man of many hats and has explored every interest and passion that has come his way.  He started a business all his own and rode the ups and downs that come with striking out on your own.  He follows his passions and sometimes? It doesn’t work out quite as planned.  Now, finds himself once more at the first step of a journey… except this time? He will do things differently.  This business will have all of the benefits of the lessons learned from the one that failed before.

Page of Swords – Her life has been filled with struggle and strife. She’s been knocked down once and again, stabbed in the back by others and battled her own inner demons. Coming out the other side, she has learned that even the worst of experiences have something to learn within them. She takes these experiences with with her now, and seeks to turn them into expertise.

DECK USED:  THE TRIPPIN’ WAITE TAROT

Weekly Creativity Prompt – Jason

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Pull (at least) three cards and use them as the basis to write something that ends with the word “wrath”.

IMG_4423

Jason’s Story

One early spring day I was out for a walk with my girl (The Lovers) without a care in the world (Temperance) when an old man approached us and stopped us upon our path. Man was old and weathered, and yet he had a strange energy about him it made him feel as if he was in the know on many many things (The Hierophant and The High Priestess).

He told me that I would be tempted (The Devil) in the near future and that whatever choice I made in this that moment would be the choice to decide my fate (Wheel of Fortune), and so I should choose wisely and follow my heart (The Star).

At the time I thought he was talking gibberish (The Fool).

Later in the day when I was back at home alone (The Hermit), I got a phone call from an ex (Death) who wanted to get back together with me and I have to admit I feel really flattered and it was a huge ego boost (The Emperor) because she broke up with me… not the other way around.

Suddenly the temptation was before me and I remembered with the old man had said.

Thought about my girlfriend and how she would feel (Judgement)… and about how I feel about her and I realize that I already had everything I need. So I told my ex to take a hike (Strength and The Chariot).

Little did I know at the time, but a private investigator (The Magician) had been hired by my girlfriends father and he had orchestrated the whole thing!  Fortunately, I managed to pass his test and avoid his wrath (The Sun).

DECK USED:  THE BLUE BIRDS’ TAROT BY TADAHIKO KAWAGUCHI