Well here is something fun

Good afternoon,

Nice fall day in the Bay Area.

I. The days are shorter.
II. The nights are colder.
III. Winter is coming.

La Nina will be messing with us out West this year.

Good time to do a quick Tarot Card reading, don't you think?

Here goes: shuffle, shuffle shuffle...

I find Tarot a good way to get in touch with archetypical imagery and the Unconscious energy that affects us all on a daily basis, it is very literary in a sense, too.

I pulled Five of Swords for my super quick Tarot reading...

The image is as follows: "A strong young man carries two swords on his shoulder, and a third sword ported to the ground. Two other swords lie on the empty battlefield behind him, left by his defeated enemies. He is the master in possession of the field."

"Meanings--Degradation, destruction, infamy, revocation, dishonor, loss. Reverse--The same as above."

I used The New Palladini Tarot deck for this super quick reading (decks vary in images, even themes, there are literally thousands of Tarot decks out there in the world now!)

So, today, Five of Swords shows me that I should guard against degradation, loss, and be aware of destructive situations, infamous individuals, and incurring dishonor. Watch out for revocation, the taking back of something.

These are not imminent predictions, only the possible directions of the day's energies. The cards of this deck are beautifully done, too. I was attracted to the artistic as much as the play element of the Tarot universe.

So many great, inspiring, instructive choices. And the spirit of crazy wisdom abounds in the Tarot card play, I believe.

The great thing is that Tarot can take you, as Alan Watts is quoted as saying, "out of your mind."

The mind is the generator of most of our problems. It is usually when we let go and give ourselves to inspiration, spirit, and honest 'looking' at the things of our lives that we gain our solutions. Lao-Tzu, the great Chinese philosopher said this, as well, "Stop thinking, and end your problems."

"Tao never does anything:/Yet through it all things are done." Another Lao-Tzu.

Don't you find that when you are really in the "moment", there is no mind, no image-creating machine behind your eyes, you are RIGHT IN IT, and everything flows as it should, as if it never was any different...and when you not in the "moment" you are always looking to some past image, or future image or false perception of expectation upon yourself or another?

Get out your mind at least once a day somehow, not in a domineering or pushy way, but in a personal, intimate, peaceful, harmonious way... this is our ultimate happiness, this is what we all need and want as modern humans. When we don't fulfill this in our day, we feel a bit off, not good, knotted up in ourselves.

Try running, or Tarot, or writing, or being with your pet, or meditating or something that makes you feel humane and takes out 'out of your mind', and let's you see behind the imagery and illusions of problems and existence, and pulls you into focus for yourself, not for anyone else.

"There you are, I see you!" I said to myself. Peaceful and in the light.

Love yourself first without ego, and stop the mind by watching its daily workings without getting embroiled, and then your love will flow like a river from you to each and every thing and person you meet, naturally and without effort. Then you will be directly with Tat-tvam-asi "That which Is", whether it's a deity or the universe or your deepest Face, the Self beyond the small 'self'.

Om-tat-tsat.