Christmas Countdown - Day 1: Six of Swords

Today is the first day of my Tarot Advent Calendar Christmas Countdown, Thursday 1st of December 2011. Here's a quick reminder of my intention for this 24 day advent calendar reading: "Please show for myself & all living beings a clear path to creating a solid foundation for our collective great wisdom and transformation." 

So here we are on the very first step of the journey aiming for great wisdom & transformation for myself and all living beings. The card is Six of Swords of The Shadowscape Tarot.

I get a sense of our collective exhaustion having overcome many trials and tribulations. As this year draws to an end, there is an accompanying feeling of collapse, having managed to deal with all the challenges and now being able to rise far above them, finally getting a chance to rest and reflect with the advantage of some breathing space and perspective.

Do you ever find yourself getting ill or run down when you get to your holidays? In today's busy busy busy society, finding a bit of sanctuary space can be a rarity unless we are able to actively schedule it in. If we aren't able to look after ourselves well most of the time eventually our bodies force us to take a break, even if that means confined to your bed with colds or flus. The end of the yearly cycle is a good time to nourish ourselves and look within, especially if we 'haven't had time' to do so throughout the year.

The swords represent the air element which can indicate the worries, concerns, the fraught nervous systems that have been the result of all the stresses we have had to endure this year. In this card, the person is snuggled up in comfort on the back of a swan, a symbol for grace and beauty, and looks like she or he is getting some much needed respite from the bleak and daunting scene below.

The sparseness in this image also brings to mind the harshness of winter and our natural desire to hibernate. Although nature reminds us that it is time to slow down at winter time, our man-made landscape, electric lighting, the 9-5s, shift work and alarm clocks keep us imprisoned behind imaginary metal bars (the swords) and exhausts us by forcing us to go against the grain. 

Is this a sustainable way to live? Unless we ensure that we are getting adequate rest, relaxation & connection to nature, we can endanger ourselves with chronic fatigue, adrenal burn out, severe ill health, or even accidents due to poor concentration and lack of mindfulness. 

Winter is time for recuperation and recovery from the year's onslaughts. This six of swords gives us the wisdom and good fortune of some time out this festive season to assess the way we live our life. Boost your immune system by eating well and keeping warm and cosy. Let's get plenty of sleep and dream deeply of all our hopes and wishes for the coming year.

With love & wisdom,

Fiona

Cosmic Countdown to Christmas! Creating your own Tarot Advent Calender

Feeling inspired by Barbara Moore's Tarot Advent Calender, I intend to make my own christmas tarot countdown creation. While the cauldron of creativity bubbles and before I reveal my own work of art in the near future, I have decided to pull my own 24 advent cards share each of my 24 daily cards till Christmas with you starting today, Thursday the 1st of December 2011.


A lovely fellow tarot loving & herbalist friend, Elly, came to stay with me this summer. As a thank you gift gave me a beautiful deck of cards: The Shadowscape Tarot.


Needless to say if you have ever laid eyes on this deck, I fell in love immediately with the beautiful flowing details, dancing colours and stunning symbols. These cards were illustrated by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and the accompanying book by Barbara Moore herself. So I choose these cards out of my quite extensive collection as the ones currently closest to my heart and that I would like to connect with more deeply.


Since I am sharing these with all of you here, rather than just for myself privately, with greatest respect for all of life's mysteries the intention I put into these cards is motivated by great kindness, love & compassion: "Please show for myself & all living beings a clear path to creating a solid foundation for our collective great wisdom and transformation."


My spread starts at the top and spirals round ending with the last card in the centre, representing the sense that great wisdom and the foundations for transformation lie within, symbolised by the candle in the middle. I have decorated it temporarily with some ivy and red berries that I picked on a foraging walk recently to make a festive wreath. Perhaps these will become incorporated into the final creation?

Hope you feel inspired to have a go at creating your own tarot advent calendar or even just pulling out a card from your own beloved packs to reflect on daily until christmas day. Just follow your intuition for ideas. This is a lovely creative way to deepen your connection to your cards.


Feel free to join me on my tarot journey till Christmas whether you are new to the tarot or experienced. I always find other people's perspectives on the cards continually shed new lights and insights that I had never previously considered, the tarot is a constant treasure box of wisdom and always full of surprises, each card a gift of profound universal wisdom.