Meet Your Shadow

Welcome to the Samhain Blog Hop.

If you have just arrived from Carolyn's contribution, thank you for stopping by.

You can jump back onto the blog hop train and continue your journey by clicking on the link to Amethyst's blog at the end of this article.

Samhain is an ancient Celtic festival that was celebrated on the first day of November and marked the beginning of winter and also the Celtic New Year.

As you can imagine, in the olden days this would be a dark and cold time; no wonder our ancestors would be thinking about death, ghosts and sheer survival during the harsh winter months ahead.

Today, we celebrate Halloween on the eve of the 31 October, which nowadays marks the start of the party season up to Christmas.

But if you would like to commemorate Samhain in a more contemplative way, then this year you may want to explore your dark - shadow - side, and what better way to do it than with a Tarot deck?

What is your Shadow?

It's that aspect of your personality you prefer to keep hidden. Weaknesses you'd rather ignore, blocked personality traits you dislike or may be seen as inappropriate by society; desires, fears, secrets, latent talents, suppressed emotions, your dark side.

At Samhain, the evening of Halloween, prepare to meet your Shadow and face it. Uncover and explore your hidden and true self. Acknowledge it, embrace it, make friends with it, release it or turn it into something positive.

Identify your Shadow Zodiac Card

First, meet your Shadow by selecting the opposing zodiac of your sun sign:

Emperor (Aries) – Justice (Libra)
Hierophant (Taurus) – Death (Scorpio)
Lovers (Gemini) – Temperance (Sagittarius)
Chariot (Cancer) – Devil (Capricorn)
Strength (Leo) – Star (Aquarius)
Hermit (Virgo) - Moon (Pisces)

For example, if Scorpio is your sun sign, then Taurus is your opposing zodiac, and the Hierophant is your shadow card.

Before you move on to the next step, explore your shadow card in more detail:

What does it say about your hidden personality, your fears, weaknesses and so forth? Explore the challenging aspects of the card. Which ones resonate with you?

Your Shadow is uncharted territory. And just like real shadows, it fluctuates, changes shape, becomes larger or smaller. Different shadow aspects come through at different times and in different situations.

For your Samhain exploration, pull two more cards that will focus on a particular aspect in relation to your zodiac shadow card and a task that may help you overcome or at least integrate that aspect into your life more comfortably.

Here's the spread:

1. Your Shadow Zodiac Card (see above)
2. What particular aspect do you need to focus on at this moment in time?
3. What can you do to make a positive change?

I invite you to take a glimpse into my Shadow world:

As a Pisces, my shadow zodiac card is the Hermit, which is also my personality card. What do these cards reveal to you about me that I would rather keep hidden?

Have fun exploring your Shadow and dark side with this simple spread.

Thanks for being here. Please enjoy more Samhain / Halloween explorations by visiting Amethyst's blog, and before you go, please consider subscribing to my feed.

Warmest wishes,

Christiane





Tarot Readings - Insightful guidance when you need it.
Learn Tarot - A magickal, inspirational tool for life.

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram

Tarot Astrology: Sun in Scorpio, Full Moon in Taurus

Tarot of the Vampyres  © Llewellyn 2010

It's full moon in Taurus tonight, and I dare to admit that I've nearly missed it!

Trying to combine half-term holidays and Halloween preparations with a busy workload is my lame excuse, but here we are, at that dark time of the year, when Scorpio's intense emotions and transformational powers are kept in check by down-to-earth Taurus.

Since it is Halloween in two days time, I have chosen the zodiac card images for today's post from Ian Daniels' Tarot of the Vampyres; Death (Scorpio) and the Hierophant (Taurus).

2012, the year of the Hierophant, is soon coming to an end, and according to the Mayan calendar a new era is beginning on the 21 December. Scorpio is the sign of transformation, so it is an apt match with Death as its Tarot zodiac card.

Scorpio/Death as the current sun sign influence may encourage a strong urge within ourselves to follow our primal needs and emotions, which can indeed bring about long-lasting changes and an unsettling time ahead coming to terms with the new order we are creating.

Tonight, the energy of the Taurus full moon, the Hierophant, will help us determine, if we want to go all the way into an unknown, risky, adventurous direction or stay as we are, in a secure but unexciting comfort zone.

But the Taurus/Hierophant energy is not entirely a killjoy; it may prevent you from making choices that are completely mad, bonkers and regrettable in a few months time.

Whatever direction the Death/Hierophant energies are taking you over the forthcoming 24 - 36 hours, they will most likely be for the best.

Warmest wishes,

Christiane

Transform your life this year:

Tarot Readings - Insightful guidance when you need it
Learn Tarot - A magickal, inspirational tool for life.
Tarot eBooks - Great value, innovative Tarot study and creative journaling material

Starlight Tarot Astrology Course

Learn more about Tarot and Astrology with my Starlight Tarot Astrology Course.

Make sure you subscribe to my feed to receive the latest articles straight into your inbox when published.

You can also connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

A Message from Strength

Tarot of Quotes

“Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. 

Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. 

Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.”

August Wilson



Affirmation: I create harmony by gently balancing my opposing needs and desires.




For more inspiring quotes and affirmations for each card please check out my ebook Empowering Messages from the Tarot



Transform your life this year: 

Tarot Readings - Insightful guidance when you need it
Learn Tarot - A magickal, inspirational tool for life
Tarot eBooks - Great value, innovative Tarot study material

Make sure you subscribe to my feed to receive the latest articles straight into your inbox when published.

You can also connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Zodiac Card of the Month: Death

Death is associated with the zodiac sign Scorpio. If Scorpio is either your sun or moon sign, then Death is one of your zodiac cards.

As a sun sign card, Death may reflect your conscious, expressive, outward, open personality; how you engage with people and the world around you.

As a moon sign card, Death reflects your unconscious, hidden, blocked personality traits, instincts and emotions; you feel them within.

Personality Traits associated with Death: 

Positive: passionate, steadfast, intense, intuitive, perceptive, loyal, resourceful, dynamic, healing, ability to transform and regenerate

Negative: possessive, jealous, unrelenting, manipulative, secretive, suspicious, vengeful, controlling, judgemental, extreme


Death/Scorpio Life lessons:

• learn to trust intuition and sensitivity in order to heal others 
• delving deep into the soul to discover and follow passions and motivations
• overcoming the desire to be possessive of others
• learning to be neutral rather than judgemental in order to be at peace
• exploring and facing the deeper truths beyond appearances to allow for personal transformation 
• taming the desire for revenge and instead releasing negative energies held towards others, not transferring own emotions onto others 

The following Scorpio correspondences also relate to Death:

Element: Water
Season/Timing: Autumn (October 24 - November 23)
Ruling Planets: Mars (also associated with the Emperor and Tower) and Pluto (also associated with Judgement) 
Stone: Bloodstone, Topaz
Key Word: Sex
Key Phrase: I Desire

Learn more about Tarot and Astrology with my new online course.

Make sure you subscribe to my feed to receive the latest Tarot Astrology articles straight into your inbox when published.

You can also connect with me on Facebook and on Twitter.

Tarot & Quotes: Wheel of Fortune

Animalis Arcanum Tarot 
© Oephebia 2011

"Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant, filled with odd waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like." - Lemony Snicket

The Wheel of Fortune is relentlessly spinning throughout our lives. Sometimes we're in luck, at other times we need to deal with a misfortune.

Most of these events seem to be out of our control, but quite often we will have done something beforehand, perhaps unknown to us, that will have led to the Wheel of Fortune moment: cause and effect, karma.

"We create our fate every day we live." - Henry Miller

In a few non-traditional decks, the Wheel of Fortune is represented by a fortune-teller; the unknown future can be scary when you want to stay in control.

The Wheel of Fortune in the Animalis Arcanum Tarot by Oephebia is a delightful image of a cat, whose curiosity and playfulness leads her to spin the Wheel. She's probably also keen to catch the bird, which no doubt will fly off any moment having already spotted the little predator. The cat is unaware of having set the "wheel in motion"; the bird flies off, just when the cat is about to pounce and in that movement may even knock over the wheel.

The cat, unaware, has taken fate into her own "paws", and in a reading, the Wheel of Fortune may suggest that you need to do the same. When this card comes up, why not spin the Wheel? Ask yourself, what can you do or change, even just for a month or so, that might have a big, positive, nurturing impact on your life? 

Of course, when we cannot find an explanation for an unexpected event that has long-term consequences, it often seems that higher forces beyond our control influence our lives. In that moment all we can do is control our reaction to it.

"How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours." - Wayne Dyer

Whatever fate has in store for you, it's up to you to make the most of it.

"All of us have bad luck and good luck. The man who persists through the bad luck - who keeps right on going - is the man who is there when the good luck comes - and is ready to receive it." - Robert Collier

"If you can't change your fate, change your attitude." - Amy Tan

Oephebia's Animalis Arcanum Tarot is a visually attractive deck-in-progress with a wealth of symbolism and the presence of animals on each card. The Major Arcana is nearly completed. Take a look at the other beautiful images on her website: Animalis Arcanum Tarot.

Warmest wishes,

Christiane

Transform your life this year: 

Tarot Readings - Insightful guidance when you need it
Learn Tarot - A magickal, inspirational tool for life
Tarot eBooks - Great value, innovative Tarot study material

Make sure you subscribe to my feed to receive the latest articles straight into your inbox when published.

You can also connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.