Monthly readings & curiosities

NOVEMBER 2022 - Oracle card reading

The power of transformation and of change

After a break, today I felt compelled to pick up a card from the Crystal Mandala Oracle, by Alana Fairchild. I needed some guidance to help me understand the forces that are at sake in these last months of 2022. Incredibly enough I picked up the card of goddess Kali and Black Obsidian (below an image of this beautiful card)

For those who are not familiar with the Black Obsidian, it is common thought that this crystal is extremely powerful and useful for grounding oneself and as a protection against difficult energies. The connection to the energy repre’sented by the goddess Kali is quite strong and important, for both of them are related to deep transformation.

How telling of the period we are currently in!

Change takes courage, and this is what we are all, as a collectivity, called upon now. These energies will accompany us for some time and, very likely, we will have the impression of a wild and out of control journey. As Alana writes in her book’

“although there will probabily be chaos, you can be sure that the new [reality] […] will be worth it”

let’s fasten our seatbelts and try to follow the flow…

love and light

Artemida

E’ passato del tempo da quando ho scritto la prima parte dall’articolo sulla storia (breve) dei tarocchi, e stasera, presa dall’ispirazione, mi appresto a scrivere la parte seconda con la complicita’ di Mercurio in retrogradazione nei Gemelli. In genere questa posizione e’ molto favorevole alla scrittura, provare per credere.

Abbiamo finito il racconto precedente lasciando i nostri beneamati tarocchi, anzi Trionfi, a spopolare nelle corti rinascimentali del nord Italia. Come potete immaginare, il successo e’ stato di tale portata che questo gioco di societa’ (licenzioso e il piu’ delle volte d’azzardo, ma pur sempre con un fine moralistico e di indottrinamento) inizia, nei decenni (e secoli) successivi, ad essere esportato, prodotto e copiato un po’ ovunque in Europa. Nascono cosi’ i tarocchi francesi (i tarocchi marsigliesi sono i piu’ famosi, anche se, ironia della sorte, non erano stampati ne’ ideati a Marsiglia, bensi’ a Parigi), quelli tedeschi, quelli svizzeri, i trionfi dell’impero austro-ungarico (di cui Milano al tempo, faceva parte) e cosi’ via. Pareva che appena qualche stampatore potesse metterci le mani sopra, iniziassero la produzione con immagini originali, anche traendo ispirazione da eventi attuali (dedicati al sovrano del tempo, all’evento mondano del momento, e cosi’ via). Insomma, c’era spazio per la fantasia e la creativita’, nonostante la struttura fosse ormai codificata: 78 carte in tutto, tra carte numerali, onori (oggigiorno chiamate carte di corte) e 22 trionfi (o arcani maggiori, o carte allegoriche).

La genesi dei tarocchi, per quanto affascinante, lascia spazio alla domanda, piu’ che legittima, di come abbia fatto un gioco di societa’ a passare dalla fase ludica e di passatempo per poi diventare uno strumento di divinazione, come lo conosciamo oggi. Anche in questo caso, la risposta non e’ cosi’ ovvia. Berti afferma che pur in presenza di documenti storici, le origini della cartomanzia, sia con le carte comuni sia con i Tarocchi, non sono chiare. Dalla meta’ del Settecento questa pratica era molto popolare tra i ceti piu’ bassi della societa’ e solo verso la fine del medesimo vengono stabilite regole e significati ben definiti. Interessante notare che e’ proprio durante il secolo dei Lumi che la cartomanzia si sviluppa e diviene oggetto di sistematizzazione, un processo che cambiera’ per sempre l’antico gioco italiano.

Interessante vero? Tutto questo mi ha riportato alla mente il momento in cui sono venuta in contatto per la prima volta con questi oggetti negli anni dell’adolescenza. La curiosita’ che la mia prima lettura ha esercitato su di me, e come tutto questo abbia influito sulla mia vita. Eppure, nessuno, dico nessuno, sapeva dirmi delle origini della cartomanzia. Forse non era troppo importante per loro?

Nonostante questo ho sempre trovato molto affascinante constatare come la cartomanzia sia una pratica molto diffusa nella cultura popolare delle aree in cui sono nata e cresciuta. Il piu’ delle volte questa e’ affiancata da altre pratiche “magiche” quali la rabdomanzia, la pranoterapia, i settimini e i guaritori e via discorrendo. Quanti tra di noi non sono andati almeno una volta dal settimino per i “nervi accavallati”? (come possano i nervi essere accavallati e’ ancora un bel mistero per me, ma tant’e’...). Nelle lande della Polonia, dove ormai vivo da anni, e’ ancora popolare nei villaggi delle regioni orientali contattare il rabdomante per cercare l’acqua, o andare dalle guaritrici che curano attraverso erbe, invocazioni e preghiere, chiamate “szeptuchy” (dal verbo “szeptać” sussurrare, in pratica “donne che sussurrano”). A titolo di esempio, seguo da qualche tempo il canale YouTube di un famoso chiaroveggente, Krzysztof Jackowski, che addirittura collabora con la polizia per ricercare persone scomparse.

Tornando, quindi, ai nostri amati Tarocchi, vediamo che il passaggio da gioco di societa’ a scienza divinatoria non e’ stato ne’ semplice e ne’ immediato. Dobbiamo, infatti, pazientare un po’ e attendere l’arrivo e l’opera di alcuni esoteristi francesi che hanno iniziato ad interessarsene. Siamo nella Francia del XVIII secolo.

Se osserviamo un po’ piu’ da vicino, vediamo che in quel periodo iniziano ad esserci le prime scoperte di resti di civilta’ antiche, reperti archeologici vari che catturano l’interesse (e la fantasia) delle persone, inizia anche a crescere a livello collettivo una necessita’ nuova: la ricerca delle proprie radici. Non piu’ legate, pero’, all’Impero Romano, che era qualcosa di lontano nel tempo e nello spazio (siamo pur sempre in Francia), bensi’ le radici nazionali. La gente, quindi, si rivolge al periodo medievale con sempre piu’ grande trasporto ed interesse. Contemporaneamente inizia a maturare, sempre a livello colllettivo, il senso storico, ovvero il riconoscimento del valore storico di edifici e monumenti provenienti dal passato. Nascono nuove discipline e scienze, quali ad esempio il restauro e la conservazione dei monumenti, cosa che prima non esisteva. Gli edifici “vecchi” venivano demoliti o modernizzati secondo il gusto del tempo senza porsi troppe domande. Anzi. Quanti rimaneggiamenti vediamo ancora oggi? Se ci fate caso, quante chiese fondate, ad esempio, nel XIII secolo sono state poi completamente rifatte nei secoli successivi? Una cosa del genere oggigiorno sarebbe inimmaginabile, eppure possibile fino ad allora. Tanto per fare un esempio vicino a noi in termini temporali: alla distruzione per incendio della guglia di Notre Dame de Paris, si e’ accesa (in tutti i sensi) una disputa infuocata (ironia della sorte) circa la decisione o meno di ricostruirla. Ebbene, forse non tutti sanno che la guglia e’ un falso storico conclamato e che la cattedrale stessa e’ frutto di una ricostruzione molto ardita di un celebre architetto restauratore di meta’ XIX secolo (Violet-Le-Duc).

Atra nota di merito, in questo stesso periodo vediamo nascere e fiorire logge massoniche, movimenti esoterici, occultisti di ogni dove, la teosofia (da Louis Claude de Saint-Martine fino ad approdare a fine XIX negli Stati Uniti con la medium russa Helena Piotrovna Blavatsky – in origine Blavackij) e via discorrendo. Insomma, assistiamo in questo periodo alla nascita di quello che in tempi a noi piu’ vicini verra’ definito il movimento “New Age”.

I personaggi di spicco nella Francia del XVIII e XIX secolo, fondatori della scuola francese, e che hanno dato il via all’interpretazione esoterica dei Tarocchi sono Court de Gebellin ed Etteilla (fine Settecento), Eliphas Levi, Paul Christian, Gerard “Papus” Encausse e Oswald Wirth (seconda meta’ dell’Ottocento) (p. 139, Op. Cit)

Il concetto base, che personalmente trovo affascinante, e’ la commistione con le varie filosofie orientali, le tradizioni Giudaico-Cristiane, la Cabbala (oggetto di grande interesse e studio), le tradizioni alchemiche medievali e l’antico Egitto. A titolo di esempio, secondo Etteilla (fine Settecento) e i suoi discepoli i tarocchi sono il Libro di Toth, piu’ avanti Gerarde Encausse, conosciuto con lo pseudonimo di Papus, afferma che sono invece la bibbia degli Zingari. Questa tesi e’ sostenuta dal romanziere francese Jean-Alexandre Vaillant (1804-1886) il quale scrive che il gioco dei Tarocchi e’ la sintesi di tutta la religione dei popoli antichi e che e’ stato inventato in Oriente e portato in Romania in tempi antichissimi da un popolo nomade. Questa teoria, ahime’ contraddiceva un po’ la teoria dell’origine egiziana di Eliphas Levi che quindi, per salvare la sua teoria personale, ha aggiunto che i Tarocchi, in possesso agli zingari, provenivano dall’Egitto passando per la Giudea.

Ancora oggi questa teoria delle origini zingare dei Tarocchi e della cartomanzia e’ molto conosciuta. Qualche anno fa ero stata avvicinata da una persona che si sentiva affascinata dai tarocchi e dal fatto che, essendo rumena, ne condivideva le stesse origini. Al tempo ero ancora pervasa dalla fiamma della verita’ (un po’ ruvida, ahime’) e invece di rassicurare la persona, credo di averle detto che la sua teoria non era sostenuta da prove storiche. Non l’aveva presa molto bene questa informazione...

Chiudo il capitolo con le parole scritte da Giordano Berti, circa la scuola francese e l’opera di uno dei suoi maggiori esponenti di fine Ottocento, ovvero Papus. Parole che trovo molto attuali:

[...] il valore dell’opera di Papus consiste nel rinnovamento di un messaggio [...] che si distacca nettamente dalle concezioni cattoliche e protestanti, in quanto affida alla volonta’ di ogni individuo la possibilita’ di tornare nel centro della perfezione primordiale, definito “Paradiso”. D’altra parte, e’ proprio in questa ambizione che trovano la loro ragione d’essere numerose tradizioni esoteriche. La filosofia neoplatonica, come le dottrine gnostiche, taoiste e tantriche, la tradizione cabbalistica, sufica e alchimistica, le stesse filosofie martiniste, martineziste e neocatare sorte tra Sette e Ottocento sono tutte espressioni del desiderio, intrinseco nell’essere umano, di “ritornare al centro della sacralita’”da cui si sente espulso. Tutte queste correnti hanno preteso di conoscere la via che porta a quel centro e hanno definito i modi per raggiungerlo. [...] i Tarocchi sono diventati, per molti esoteristi, il “Libro di Adamo” in cui e’ spiegata la strada del ritorno al paradiso” [p. 129-130, Op.cit]

La terza e ultima parte sara’ dedicata alla scuola inglese.

Riferimenti bibliografici e curiosità:

La Teosofia, secondo Wikipedia: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teosofia

La societa’ teosofica italiana: https://www.teosofica.org/it/

I personaggi citati:

Giordano Berti : https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Berti

Court de Gebelin: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Court_de_G%C3%A9belin

Etteilla: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etteilla

Eliphas Levi: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliphas_L%C3%A9vi

Paul Christian: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Pitois

Gerard Encausse Papus: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A9rard_Encausse

Oswald Wirth: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Wirth

I testi a cui faccio riferimento sono i seguenti:

Giordano Berti, Storia dei Tarocchi, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.P.A., Milano 2007

Rafał T. Prinke, Tarot - dzieje niezwykłej talii kart (Tarocchi – un insolito mazzo di carte), Editrice Głodnych duchów, Varsavia 1991

Fin dagli anni della prima adolescenza i tarocchi e il mondo dell’esoterico, che al tempo vedevo ancora come un tutt’uno indistinto, hanno esericato su di me un fascino quasi irresistibile. Forse questo era in parte dovuto al fatto che in casa erano considerati come oggetti proibiti e c’erano molti tabu’ attorno a tutto cio’ che veniva considerato come “altro” o (peggio) non convenzionale. Ovviamente tutta questa poca apertura ha avuto come effetto opposto (da questo punto di vista gli adolescenti sono una fonte inesuaribile di creativita’ e fantasia) quello di spingermi proprio in quella direzione, contribuendo a creare la mia strada di oggi. Piu’ sentivo su di me le restrizioni famigliari e i dogmi (con tanto di paternali e sfortunati tentativi di farmi desistere dalla mia ricerca) e piu’ mi sentivo attirata verso il mondo esoterico, lo spiritismo e ovviamente i tarocchi e l’astrologia. Ricordo le ore passate a cercare con avidita’ informazioni, qualunque informazione, nella bibblioteca locale che potesse placare, almeno per un po’, quella sete di sapere. Poi questa ricerca si e’ estesa nel tempo, con alterne fortune. Lasciata e poi ripresa piu’ volte, fino a quando, preso il coraggio a due mani (non esagero!), ho finalmente potuto dedicare tempo ed energie allo studio dei tarocchi e dell’astrologia.

Stasera mentre scrivevo questo breve articolo sulla storia dei tarocchi mi sono piu’ volte chiesta da dove iniziare. Il terrore del foglio bianco mi ha sempre perseguitata dall’epoca della scuola dell’obbligo. Iniziare dall’inizio sarebbe la cosa piu’ logica e saggia. Gia’, ma qual e’ il vero inizio? Eh gia’, effettivamente non si sa. Nessuno lo sa. Non e’ come per la fondazione di una chiesa o di un palazzo con tanto di concio di pietra benedetto o la presenza di un documento con su scritto data e anno di fondazione. I tarocchi sono oggetti di natura piu’ fragile ed e’ facile che venissero dispersi o si perdesse traccia. Nonstante il crescente interesse per questi splendidi mazzi (basti pensare che ogni anno le case editrici ne pubblicano di nuovi) alla fine si sa ben poco di chi li ha ideati e soprattutto da dove provengono. Oltretutto, credo sia necessario anche rispondere ad un’altra domanda: a che cosa servivano? Perche’ un bel giorno una persona ha sentito la necessita’ di ideare e di creare un mazzo, il primo mazzo?

Oggigiorno, piu’ o meno tutti, sappiamo che vengono usati come strumento di divinazione (non mi trovo d’accordo con questo uso) oppure come strumento di introspezione e di crescita personale (mi trovo piu’ in linea con questo uso). Ma era veramente cosi’ fin da subito?

E poi, dove sono stati inventati? Se il nome del primo inventore si perde nella notte dei tempi, almeno sara’ possibile capirne la provenienza?

Per oltre 150 anni le numerose e varie scuole esoteriche facevano risalire queste carte agli antichi egizi o li facevano derivare dalla tradizione kabalistica ebraica. A livello popolare, i tarocchi sono opera del demonio e questo lo potete notare se avete amici e conoscenti molto osservanti che potrebbero storcere il naso di fronte a questi oggetti o alle persone che si occupano della decifrazione dei simboli.

Ma e’ veramente cosi?

Spinta dal desiderio di sapere, mi sono avventurata per questa strada con fare un po’ timoroso (ero pur sempre sotto il condizionamento famigliare e sociale) per capirne un po’ di piu’. La cosa soprendente e’ che proprio nella cattolicissima e tradizionale Polonia ho trovato le risposte che stavo cercando. Negli anni mi sono imbattuta in uno storico, professore di storia dell’universita’ di Poznan (Polonia occidentale), Prof. Rafał Prinke, esperto di simbolismo del medioevo in Europa e autore di studi sui Tarocchi. Grazie a lui ho poi scoperto Giordano Berti, autore del testo, pressoche’ introvabile, “Storia dei Tarocchi” (che ho consultato in lungo e in largo per quest’articolo).

Per la pace dei piu’, i tarocchi, chiamati anche Tronfi, vantano natali decisamente meno sofisticati. Erano, infatti, carte da gioco molto apprezzate alle corti dei Duchi Visconti e Visconti-Sforza di Milano e alla corte d’Este di Ferrara nel tardo Quattrocento.

Esatto, proprio cosi’, erano carte per un gioco di carte chiamato Tronfi. Ovviamente i primi mazzi (di cui rimangono solo piu’ alcune tracce nei documenti di spesa o qualche mazzo parziale) erano veri e propri oggetti d’arte ed erano stati commissionati ai pittori piu’ famosi della fine del XV secolo, quali Bonifacio Bembo, o il Cicognara.

Per capire l’importanza del gioco delle carte, bisogna fare un passo indietro al tempo dei Saraceni, grazie ai quali il gioco e’ giunto in Europa, attravrso la Spagna, e contemporaneamente in Italia (direttamente dai Saraceni). Il gioco d’azzardo con le carte era diventato il passatempo piu’ popolare nell’Europa del Trecento. Questo e’ testimoniato dai numerosi editti e disposizioni di vario genere emanati dai magistrati e volti a combattere i cattivi costumi. Si raccontano, infatti, di numerose e furibonde zuffe scatenatesi persino davanti alle chiese. Pare, addirittura, che i magistrati fossero intervenuti per ristabilire l’ordine pubblico perche’ le persone del popolo (gli aristocratici erano ovviamente lasciati da parte) preferivano passare la maggior parte del loro tempo a giocare d’azzardo trascurando gli obblighi lavorativi, religiosi e familiari. Credo che questi obblighi compaiano in ordine di importanza.

Riporto, a titolo di esempio, un estratto dal libro di Giordano Berti, che ho trovato molto significativo, e, non nascondo, molto umano se non in parte comico:

[...] Un successivo editto milanese, del 1420, proibiva di giocare a carte se non rispettando le buone regole antiche: “ iactando foras figuras et alia signa pro tali signo et tali figura” , cioe’ rispondendo al seme giocato dall’avversario, in modo da limitare il ruolo della fortuna [...] (G.Berti, Stori dei Tarocchi, Mondandori, Milano, 2007 pag. 8)

Questi episodi mi hanno fatto tornare in mente i racconti di mia nonna e di quando, alla fine della guerra, la sua famiglia aveva in gestione il bar Roma a Vinadio (ridente paesino arroccato in Valle Stura in Piemonte). Raccontava spesso a noi nipotine di quando ogni sera si scatenavano liti furibonde tra i giocatori di carte che sedevano ai tavolini del bar. In genere queste liti scoppiavano alla fine di una partita, quasi a compensazione dei lunghi silenzi carichi di tensione, dove l’unico rumore consentito era lo strisciare delle carte sulla tovaglia.

Siamo poi cosi’ tanto diversi dagli uomini del Trecento?

Ritornando ai nostri Tronfi, possiamo dire che i mazzi di carte commissioniati dai Signori del tempo offrivano uno spaccato della societa’ tardo-medievale. Comparivno, infatti, una serie di carte di corte (Re, Regine, Dame a cavallo, Cavalieri, Fanti e Fantesca), carte che indicavano le virtu’ della tradizione cristiana, oltre che le carte numerali divise nei quattro semi: denari, coppe, bastoni e spade.

Ovviamente composizione, sequenza e numeri delle carte allegoriche dei mazzi, non erano codificati come lo sono invece nei mazzi dei tempi moderni. Si possono, quindi, notare delle differenze tra i primi a noi giunti e quelli successivi.

Quindi, ricapitolando, possiamo affermare, grazie al paziente e preciso lavoro di Giordano Berti, che il Gioco dei Trionfi e’ nato attorno al 1430 probabilmente ad opera di Filippo Maria Visconti, ed era il prodotto di una cultura aristocratica tipica delle corti padane. Questo gioco era il risultato della mescolanza di 56 carte comuni con un insieme di figure educative, vale a dire allegorie a sfondo etico e morale, raccolte da opere enciclopediche, letterarie e religiose risalenti al secolo precedente.

[…]Le regole del nuovo mazzo erano senza dubbio piu’ complesse di quelle delle carte comuni e permettevano cosi’ di aggirare la severa legislazione contro il gioco d’azzardo. (G. Berti, op.cit, pag. 20).

Quindi per dare un riferimento temporale, il primo mazzo di cui si conserva testimonianza e’ il mazzo creato per Filippo Maria Visconti datato 1442-47, chiamato Cary-Yale, seguito dai Tarocchi del mazzo Brambilla, 1442-47 (di stessa committenza) ed infine i Tarocchi Visconti-Sforza del 1450-51 ca. La popolarita’ di questi mazzi, che a tutti gli effetti erano vere e proprie opere d’arte, e’ tale che proprio questo ultimo mazzo di carte e’ divenuto il prototipo per i fabbricanti di trionfi miniati attivi nel ducato di Milano.

Credo sia utile aggiungere che contemporaneamente alla corte di Milano, anche quella di Ferrara era molto attiva nella produzione di carte di Trionfi con pero’ alcune differenze. La principale committenza, Borso d’Este, era uomo particolarmente colto, raffinato e sensibile all’influsso delle costellazioni e dei decani zodiacali. Questo aspetto e’ importante perche’ nei trionfi prodotti a Ferrara si riflette la cultura astrologica del tempo, in particolare nelle carte della Luna, del Sole e delle Stelle.

Come spesso accade, un oggetto creato ad hoc per una committenza diventa subito oggetto del desiderio anche per gli appartenenti ad altre fasce della popolazione. Come conseguenza, dalla seconda meta’ del XV inizia la produzione in serie dei Trionfi, dove il disegno di base e’ una stampa xilografica di 78 carte successivamente dipinte a tempera e con sfondo in lamina d’oro, per la clientela piu’ agiata, e senza interventi di colore per la clientela piu’ popolare.

La prima tappa del nostro viaggio nel mondo dei tarocchi si ferma qui e se provate il desiderio di approfondire un po’, vi lascio alcuni riferimenti bibliografici e pagine internet:

Riferimenti bibliografici e curiosita’:

• Il sito de La Repubblica scrive (https://oroscopo.d.repubblica.it/tarocchi.php) :

• [...] I tarocchi traggono la loro origine secoli fa e si sono legati anche ad una tradizione esoterica, legandoli a un’immagine che il destino stesso ci fornisce. Interpretandola nel modo corretto se ne possono trarre consigli, avvertimenti e indicazioni preziosi Sono compsti da 78 carte, suddivise in Arcani Minori e Trionfi o Arcani Maggiori, ossia 22 carte rappresentanti ruoli sociali, virtu’ e concetti filosofici e religiosi [...]

Per chi non teme il confronto con la lingua anglosassone e vorrebbe sapere qualcosa di piu’ sui cosidetti tarocchi del Mantegna (di cui parleremo successivamente), puo’ trovare un po’ di informazioni al seguente link:

• https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/mystery-mantegna-tarocchi/

• Wikipedia in inglese: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visconti-Sforza_tarot_deck

• Wikiedia in italiano: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazzi_Visconti-Sforza

I testi a cui faccio riferimento sono i seguenti:

• Giordano Berti, Storia dei Tarocchi, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.P.A., Milano 2007

• Rafał T. Prinke, Tarot - dzieje niezwykłej talii kart (Tarocchi – un insolito mazzo di carte), Editrice Głodnych duchów, Varsavia 1991

Beloveds,

With the beginning of the month of July we enter summer. Pleasant temperatures, good weather, well at least here, in Northern Poland. Living on the coast has some advantages, but I still prefer the quietness and apparent stillness of the forest. I like to walk there to regenerate, far from the crowd, and yet only few minutes away from my home.

Today I decided that it was time to give more space to feeling the pleasantness of the late afternoon sun on my body. Its warmth was a caress of calmness and I felt safe and held by nature. The birds were chirping and the view was simply outstanding. I know very well those hills, since I use to go walking there both alone or with friends, but today it was as if I was watching all this for the first time.

After all this pleasantness, I felt it was time to pick up a card for the new month and to write this short article. There was no questioning, I went for the Goddesses and their strong energies. So, pointless to say, the card that I picked up was “Sacred Pleasure”, with goddess Bastet and the crystal Cat’s eye.

I started to read the explanation, and suddenly understood the message. I asked myself how many times do I really allow playfulness and pleasure into my life? Sometimes I have the impression that my life is more a long list of “dos” and “must”. I realized that even today, that it should have been a day of idle relax, at the end it was all about work. I needed to push myself to go out and have a nice and restoring walk in the forest.

All too often, we grow up with the idea that pleasure is idle, so is relax and regeneration. Also play is a matter of seriousness. This, of course, makes me laugh quite a lot, and yet, this is exactly what I experienced today. I need to remind myself that pleasure and pain, as Alana puts it in her guide book, are part of the dance of life.

Deeply connected to this concept of allowing pleasure in our life is the concept of addiction. Sometimes the yearning for pleasure can become a craving for an artificial high. We may feel pushed in different directions and try to control ourselves more in an effort to overcome the yearning for pleasure. Control is an attempt at suppression and denial based on fear and lack of acceptance. Loving and firm holding, on the other hand, provides a sense of safe and healthy discipline. Realizing the difference between the two is a way to shift out from the inner battle for and against our own pleasure.

The experience of the sacredness of pleasure is an act of loving life.

Stay blessed

Artemida

Beloveds,

This time I felt the need to seek for a different kind of insight, let’s say from a higher perspective and I took my deck of Crystal Mandala, by Alana Fairchild.

I like very much her work and her creations, and I think this deck is really inspiring. Maybe yes, this is what I deeply needed, I needed inspiration and connection to the Universe. Moreover, I needed to read words of wisdom and of love, to feel once more the connection to the higher realms (aka to lighter energies). Dense energies sometimes create a sense of fog and I find it difficult to connect to my higher self. With this I do not want to judge nor to fall back into a sort of dualistic point of view (positive Vs negative, dense Vs light high vibration Vs low vibrations). Dense energies and lighter energies are the two sides of the same medal. One cannot exist without the other. With no darkness there could be no light, and vice versa. This is something that we need to bear in our minds, for far too often I hear so-called gurus or people who believe to be on a spiritual journey, avoiding more difficult feelings like fear, anger, violence. But all emotions are our teachers. Avoidance does not make us more “spiritual”, on the opposite, it drags us into a deeper state of disconnection from ourselves.

So, returning to our reading. The card that will accompany us during this exciting month is “Revelation”.

You might say “Oh, fine! Right, revelation of what?” A just question, I would say.

The answer may differ from one another. But let’s proceed in order, shall we? So, for instance, not knowing things in advance could be a bliss, or more simply, helpful. Not knowing the bigger picture, as Alana puts it, can help us to stay focused on what we need to do in this precise moment and to cultivate unconditional trust in the Universe. When we find ourselves labouring through darkness and confusion and when we are not really sure what we are doing, or supposed to be doing we are learning and we are developing spiritual strength. The unconditional trust will help us have the courage to act on insights and revelations when they come. Other times the revelation can be so confusing or difficult to accept, that it will be given us only when we will be truly ready for it.

There is no way we can push or force events. Only when time will be ripe will we be open to receiving this new information. During this month you might be facing all this. The partial Solar eclipse and Jupiter and Neptune in Pisces will really increase our receptivity. Be sure that this will be a month to remember!

To better welcome all these new energies I would suggest to keep an open and receptive heart and an open mind. For it may arrive from very different sources. Sometimes a song, a conversation, a conference, a teaching. The Universe usually has different and creative ways to have its message conveyed to us.

You may use this time to meditate and to question yourself, always with compassion and patience, if you are ready to accept whatever truth will reach you with an open heart. Know that once received it, nothing will be the same. Be reassured that a revelation is coming to you and you have the possibility to choose what to do something with it. Using Alana’s words “Believe in what you see, feel and know within your heart now and over the coming time.”

Stay blessed

Artemida

Beloveds,

The weather here in the north of Poland is not one of the mildest. Yesterday we had a lovely and sunny day, but today we have been caught by surprise by a blizzard. I had the impression that the sudden change of the weather might somehow been seen as a sort of reflection of the energy of the new month. April is also the month of my birthday, that I am always very much welcoming. I like celebrations and this month reminds me of how sweet and pleasant can be the new season. Flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping and the buds on the trees are getting larger and larger. We went through a very difficult and rigid winter and now we can experience the blooming of nature. No winter, as long and difficult as it could be, will lasts for ever. Life is always stronger.

After these considerations, I decided that it was high time to chat a bit with my cards and see if they had any guidance for me, for us, with regards to the energies that we will witness in the coming month. On the astrological level, Mercury left Pisces, and entered Aries. The fog we have been immersed in during the past weeks has left us, and the communication, though nervous and fiery, is now clear. The conjunction with Neptune was not easy for many of us.

So, let’s just give a look to what we may have: the two cards I picked up are the 3 of Scrolls, reversed, “setting your course”, the Major arcana 19 “Reflections”, and for the heart connection “Keep an open mind”.

The first card depicts three men on a ship, two talking to one another and the third pointing his spyglass looking for something in the distance and maybe trying to find a direction to follow. Only, the card is reversed. If before this man was looking towards right (the future), now he is looking towards left (the past). The impression I receive from observing this card is a delay, or something that is not helping us to proceed towards the goals we had in mind, or we hoped for. Something is pulling us back. Maybe there are some details from the past that we have overlooked and that now are influencing heavily our moves in the direction we chose for ourselves. Or maybe there is a quarrel with other people with regards to a common project or a common course of action. Maybe we would like to proceed, but we cannot because we still continue to focus our attention to the past, instead of accepting things for what they are. Nostalgic thoughts may also arise, thoughts of what once was and is no more. Whatever the situation, give a closer look, an eventually decide to honour that feeling but then let it go, for we must go.

The following card, the Major Arcana 19, Reflections, is quite clearly indicating the need, or I would rather say, the urge to take back control over our emotions. We might have felt unclear and uncertain in our hearts. We have followed the mass without really stopping and reflecting on our real motives. Now, we need to tap into ourselves and we will find all answers within. With our surprise we will understand that they were there all along, simply we didn’t pay attention to them. Consequently, to the previous card, we now see from a distance, the same ship sailing away. We can assume that once we will have been able to gain the clarity of mind and let go of the illusions of the past, we will be able to proceed in our journey. We will need to use are most yin part and eventually spend some time in meditation. Our receptivity is now really high. A precious instrument that will help us set our course.

As the last and final card, I selected the card “keep an open mind” from the deck of the romantic angels. I think that there is not much to say about it. Of course, this does not apply only to romantic situations, but I would see here a more general meaning. We left something, or someone, behind us, and this process has not been easy at all. Additionally to this, we are asked to embrace the new with an open mind. Whatever this “new” might be. Of course, it could be a love interest, but it could be also new opportunities, something that enters our lives to change it for ever. Something that we were not expecting to happen in certain way. Maybe a love interest that is greatly different from what we always had in mind.

So, keep an open heart and be ready to embrace the new, whatever shape this will take and allow yourself to be surprised.

Stay blessed

Artemida

Beloveds,

The month of March has recently started and all of us already feel the imminent awakening of nature. The days are longer and the great frost is a reminiscence of the past. Well, in all honesty, today there was a blizzard. Few moments of wind and snow, and an hour later the sun was back, shining and the birds nesting and chirping, the snow melted quite immediately.

While I picked up the cards for the monthly reading, I could see a sort of similarity with what was going on in nature. The first card, the 5 of forces reversed, shows us a winter landscape. A call for us to be less active, receptive and passive to allow a stronger connection to Spirit. But this time should not be used idly, because the new beginning is close by. It’s important, in fact, to already prepare making plans while yielding to the receptive energy of the time. This is no good time for action, rather for rest and planning.

The second card, on the contrary, announces a sudden action. A bolt, during a storm, hits a tree and puts it aflame. It seems like we have been touched by the finger of Spirit, when a sudden energy passes through us. Understandably, if not well mastered, this huge and sudden amount of energy could be disruptive. Much depends on our self-awareness, on our maturity. When we feel this approaching, we need to ask ourselves: “how do I want to direct this energy in my life?” Do I want to use it to be free of the chains that block my freedom, my self-realization? Will I use this in a most constructive way? For the higher good? Or will I just feel swept by this external force?

On one side we feel ready to break the “yin” phase and get started with the new cycle that is about to begin. Nevertheless, we need to use intelligently this apparent stillness and get ready to use the enormous energy of sudden change in a constructive way. The border between sheer destruction and clearing the way for a better future and a fresh start could be subtle.

A similar message arrives with the Romantic Angels’ card, where the message is about letting go of a relationship, when there is not enough attraction. It could be that we continue to stay in a relationship for fear of being alone, even when the love has long finished. Or we keep feeling rejected by a person and feel we are unable to close this unhealthy situation. Whatever the case, it’s important to keep in mind that when we find the strength to free ourselves from dead-end situations, a new world opens up in front of us.

May you be able to constructively use this energy that will set you free from the chains of the past and allow a new phase of life to start. There cannot be a new beginning, if we are not willing to let go of the past.

Stay blessed

Artemida

ORACLE CARD READING - FEBRUARY 2021

Unknown paths

Beloveds,

The month of February has just begun and I already feel a different energy in the air. It might be too early to talk about new changes ahead, or about new beginnings. From the astrological point of view, one of my passions, the sky shows that challenges are still in front of us. In other words, even if there is a general feeling of distension and some optimism, we are witnessing an important square between Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius with a very active Uranus in Taurus. Mercury will be retrograde till the end of the month (up until the 22nd) and Mars is still in loose conjunction with Lilith in Taurus. We will soon witness the effects of all these aspects. Emotional wounds, the perceived and urgent need for a drastic change, that at times could be sudden and disruptive, misunderstandings and unclear information. All this is what might affect us during the next month. For a better understanding of what I mean, I will borrow an image that was used by the first astrologer I consulted over 10 years ago. She used it as a colourful attempt to describe my way of moving through life. Though, I do not remember her exact words, the sense of it was something like “moving in life for you is like driving a car with just 3 wheels and with the handbrake on”. For those who remember their first attempts with driving a car, this image might be evocative enough.

So, returning to the tarot reading that I prepared for this month, the general idea is very similar. But let’s see in details: I picked two cards from my favourite deck the Akashic Tarot, and one from the oracle cards of the Romance Angels, just to receive guidance in our emotional life as well.

The situation and the challenge are respectively represented by the 8 of Scrolls, reverse, and the Queen of Roses.

We find ourselves in front of a crossroad. Many different and unknown paths open in front of us. But we are unable to take a decision, to move in one direction or another. Why? Because it’s not a time of action but of reflection. We need to give a closer look to ourselves, our motivations but also to something from the past. Be it a past situation, love, relationship, decision, or be it something from a distant past (a past life memory) which now is asking for our attention. In order to be able to move forward we need to be able to go back and tackle this issue and/or reconnect with this past person, occupation or deed. Only then we will be able to open the way to future success and all decisions will become clearer. Using the words of the authors, “it’s amazing how many unexpected opportunities can pop into your future when you look behind you – and how much you can bring to light when you step into the dark.”

The challenge represented by the Queen of Roses, can be quite interesting. A lovely figure, full of love and goodwill, nurturing and caring like a mother. How can this be a challenge? Well, in moment of distress and confusion it can be quite difficult to maintain a lovely and soft attitude. Fear can take the best of us and we can harden and lose altogether our heart. The message, if we take into account also the first card, is to use love and kindness when going back to the past. This is something that needs to be done for our highest good. As uncomfortable as it can be, especially at the beginning, this action will help us become a better version of ourselves.

The card from the Romance Angels – Retreat - reinforces this need to detach from the world and to find a quiet place for oneself. What we now need is time for introspection and insight. This momentary and apparent lack of action, is in preparation for the next course of events. How we will be able to master the next wave of change is largely dependent on how well we have dealt with our past.

I will finish this article with a quote by Jung

The more you deliberately seek happiness the more sure you are not to find it. It is therefore far better to take things as they come along, with patience and equanimity”

May this month bring you insight and love,

 Artemida

ORACLE CARD READING - NEW YEAR READING - JANUARY 2021

Are you on track?

Finally, after months of silence, I felt a sudden surge of energy and inspiration and here I am, back again. I think I missed this. The past year has been difficult for many and I simply couldn’t read tarots if not with some effort. A series of revelations somehow shook and scattered my whole belief system, of course for the best, and opened my eyes to a different and wider reality. Though, this change of paradigm had its price. My energy ran really low and I needed to learn patience and the meaning of self-care, treating myself as a baby and concentrating mainly on daily activities, with little or no time to dedicate to my passion: The Tarots.

But no more, today I felt a huge shift in the energy around me, and I hope you felt it too, as if a weight was suddenly lifted from my shoulders. As I felt inspired, I reached out to my favourite deck, the Akashic Tarot. Last year, I remember preparing the reading with the Crystal Master Oracle Cards, but today I felt more compelled towards the Akasha deck. Maybe it’s because I start to feel more connected with the world of Akasha? Just to help the memory, Akasha is what Jung used to call the collective unconscious, where all memories of all Human Beings are stored.

So, back to the topic, I shuffled the card and asked the Universe: what should we know about the new year ahead?

I picked 3 cards: On Track – 1 of Scrolls, The Scribe – major Arcana 12, The Bird’s Nest – 3 of Forces.

When observing the cards, we can see there is a progression in the events, they show us an interesting, albeit potential, outcome. All what we need to do is to tune in with inner guidance and follow the flow of energy. Of course some effort is required from us, such as taking the first step (the rolling of the first stones that announce an avalanche). In fact, in order to have the full potential manifest, we need to take a decision that, at least at the beginning, might sound hazardous. Something like “hurry up, the train is leaving! Step on it! Even if you are not sure it’s going in the right direction. Allow fate to work for you and what best way if not to trust your gut feelings? But hard work is required, but rest assured that it will pay off (no pain, no gain, someone used to say) and we will find the new stability we were looking for. Let’s analyse one by one the cards.

1 - On Track: it’s time to take a decision, to move in a certain direction and to abandon ambivalence once for all. If we do not find this strength from within, life will push us into one direction or another. Let us not forget that Uranus is transiting in Taurus, which soon will return direct. All the sleeping forces will awaken, do not be unprepared, for the internal push and pressure might be of a certain importance.

What ever your decision, it will have an impact on your future that might surprise you.

2 - The Scribe: could it be that the upper mentioned change or decision-making refers to study? Maybe some of us will be compelled to return back to study, maybe to take a course, to study a subject we always wanted to deepen, a new/old interest, a passion, even something totally different from our daily activities and profession. Whatever the case, it might be something that broadens our minds and maybe sets up a new path in our profession, not to mention a growth as human beings. Moreover, this card is a Major Arcana, which represents life changing lessons. I believe the effect could be greater and encompass even several years. As if it represents a starting point, but not the arrival, so to speak.

3 - The Bird’s Nest - The Outcome. As incredible as it may sound, this card represents the logic outcome of the upper mentioned efforts. It talks about the importance of expansion in all spheres of life. It urges us to focus, for example, on starting something new or expanding an existing business, or network of friends, family and so on, or maybe even renovating or buying a new home. Why not? It is indeed the time to dedicate energies into this, because the effort will bear its fruits and will bring great joy.

So, contrary to last year where all energies seemed to be frozen and all activities suspended, this year we will be asked to take a decision, even a courageous one that possibly will force us out of our comfort zone. Very likely we will be asked to deepen our knowledge and then to put all this into fruition. It won’t be an easy year, that for sure, but I think we might, one day, look back and observe, with true satisfaction, all what we have achieved.

“I am not what happened to me, I am what I chose to become” - Carl Gustav Jung

Happy New Year, may it be merry and bring love, light and hope

Artemida

ORACLE CARD READING - NEW MONTH - JULY 2020

Embarking on a magical Journey

We have just entered the new month and for many July is considered a month of rest and holidays. The warm and long days invite us to take a break from our daily activities and enjoy the weather and take life easy. After all, life is good.

This year, though, has been everything but an easy one, up until now we have been forced to face our fears, to deal with uncertainty and manipulative information, to take even uncomfortable decisions or to make things within and outside us clear. Masks fell and those who once we considered friends appeared to be different. So many decided to partake and go separate ways. A revealing moment and at times a hard pill to swallow.

As Ekhart Tolle once said (I adore his teachings, and I would warmly invite you to follow him)

“the world is not here to make you happy (although we all hoped for that), it’s here to make you conscious.”

The guidance received from my beloved Akashic Tarot is very close to my considerations of this period. Less easy and pleasant, if compared to last month’s where we had community, common goals and partnership, but more rewarding in the long run. In order to achieve a more meaningful life we need to drop our dear old ways, we grew so familiar with. Patterns need to be acknowledged and therefore, changed, if we want to make the most of the time that is given us. Today’s actions will shape our future.

If we give a closer look to the reading (below you will fin the image of the cards) we see that the first two cards are major arcana (in general related to life lessons) and not the easiest ones to understand: “Caught in the Ruins” and “The Lookout”, followed by a minor arcana: 7 of Roses – the Journey.

What I see here is that in order to have the change we have been longing for since a while, we need to make a change within. We are trapped in ruins, but these illusions are self-imposed. There is no “outer enemy”, because we are the ones who created all this through self-sabotaging belief systems that have held us captive. What the card shows us is that there is always a way out, there has always been and always will be, but we need to put some effort and determination to take us out. If we take no action, unwilling to change within, we will be perpetuating our attachment to the situation. Let’s not allow the ruins of the past ruin our future!

The following card depicts a man in the crow’s nest of a ship looking for a way out while the ship is on fire. The card describes a challenging situation we find ourselves in, that requires courage and determination and possibly a backup plan if we experience a fall or loss. It is very likely that the challenging situation is more related to external factors and not to personal ones and choices. In order to get us out of trouble we will need to be able to ride the tide as best as we can, keeping in mind that it’s a temporary situation. Keeping our balance and strength will be vital for us and will carry us through to a better time to come.

The reward of all the above challenges and courageous changes will be greater opportunities coming on our way. A move, a relocation or a journey will open to a different reality or even to different places. Of course, for this to happen, we need to step out from our comfort zone and leave something safe behind. The time has come, this is not the moment for staying safe in the harbour, but for finding and exploring new worlds!

The reward will be rich, so get packed, time to move on.

blessings

Artemida xx

ORACLE CARD READING - NEW MONTH - MAY 2020

The Flow of Energy

The month of May is upon us, and it usually brings a sense of renewal and the beauty of springtime. I had the possibility to have a regenerating walk in the forest and I could enjoy the sight of the trees, the leaves and the chirping of the birds. This gave me strength and insight, so that when I returned I was full of energy and ready to prepare a reading for the month.

I used my beloved Akashic Tarot, and prepared a three card spread. The question I asked was: “What should we know about this month?” So, as you see, a very general question, which could give each one of us insight and encouragement. I hope it resonates with you.

The cards that “jumped” in my hands are: 21 - Uriel and the Sphinx, 6 of Keys - Increscent Moon, 7 of Keys - The Ascent, reversed.

The first thing that I notice is that we have 1 Major Arcana as first card, followed by 2 minor Arcana. We have something momentary, that may also be not so pleasant, but at the base we have an important life lesson. Something deeper and life changing await us (or, better, is upon us), no matter what the temporary outer circumstances may be. The base is represented by Uriel and the Sphinx.

This card may not be so simple, because it urges us to start the most difficult and important work in our lives: the digging and the inner discovery that takes us to our deepest self and our deepest power. The external situation shows us that it’s the right moment for this to happen. The difficulty arises from the fact that we need to carefully and yet mercilessly remove all substructures that we built over ourselves for protection. These structures are now obsolete and not useful for our personal growth in awareness and presence.

I like very much Eckhart Tolle and I think this quote may help us better understand this moment and its challenges:

“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment” - E.Tolle

It’s useful to remember that we are not alone in this journey and very likely we will find a valuable help: either through meditation - Uriel himself may reach us - either in real life where a teacher, a mentor or even a friend may suddenly appear and help us. Let’s not diminish the importance of this phase, because it will lead you to your initiation.

The following two cards offer a deeper insight to the whole situation. Interestingly they give an opposite point of view. One card shows us that we can accomplish great work and the results will be important and satisfactory, while the second card shows a fall, a failure or even a loss. How could this possible?

Well, we need to understand that this work is difficult and that once we reach, or we believe we have reached, a certain point, we understand that there is much to be done. A sense of tiredness and malcontent may enter our hearts and we may be tempted to give up the whole thing. While we need to understand that life goes on in cycles. There is no such thing as linear time. It’s' a spiral, in fact.

Understand, it’s just a passing phase.

If we look on a more practical level, it can be very likely a month where we are all called to work hard but the results may not be visible or be rather unsatisfactory. We may do big efforts hoping to reach certain heights or recognition, just to realize that we are still far from achieving them. A fall from grace, in our reputation or career expectations. Whatever the case, do not give up. Keep faith. It will be a passing phase or it may also show us that it’s time to change something in our approach.

As Tolkien puts it:

[…] It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.” […]

Stay blessed

Artemida xx

ORACLE CARD READING - SPRING READING, MARCH 2020

The power of transformation

Astrological springtime has just started and we find ourselves in a moment of upheaval that for sure will bear long-term consequences. Personally speaking, I don’t think this moment will just pass and remain unnoticed, nor that things will be restored as they were just before all this happened. What I think is that all this has an important impact on our spiritual and emotional reality, our inner world.

We may find that this deeply transforming moment allowed us to become a better version of ourselves. But, and here the question I asked the Universe (or Spirit, or God, or Oneness, you name it), how can I/we better use all this transforming energy to accompany the transformation? It’s clear to everyone that a tsunami cannot be stopped and riding the tide could be extremely difficult. So, what can we do at the end of the day? The words that popped into my mind were surrender and trust.

When in 2 year times we will look back to these days, what thoughts will we have? After all the fear, the panic, the tragic actions and the response from the authorities, from the other fellow humans, how can possibly things go back as before, as if nothing ever happened?

Few days ago, I had a dream, a very symbolic one, in fact. I was, together with other people on a sort of platform floating on the sea. The spirits where quite high, for this was a very pleasant moment for all. Until the moment I saw, to my dismay, that the waters started to become agitated and in front of us a huge wave was forming. 30m high! A gigantic wave. Panic spread among the occupiers of this little platform. Could we simply endure this wave and maybe dive through it? Could we just follow the movement but with the risk that we might be toppled off board by its strength? Impossible, in fact. A third option came to mind… to drift aside. So we did and this saved our lives.

How telling, right? Surrender and acceptance and trust. These are the qualities that are present in all of us and that we will be asked to rely on in this challenging moment.

Whatever the external situation, how we respond to it and how we act (not in a reactive way, of course) will set the new course of our future.

Therefore, I asked for guidance and I used my favourite deck (it conveys very spiritual messages which give a broader point of view): Crystal Mandala Oracle, by Alana Fairchild. This time I extracted 3 cards, to help us better understand the energies at work and the solutions and blessings at hand.

The first card that gives insight on “What do I need to know now?”: Angel Isda & Carnelian = Nourishment

The second, “How can I best heal and grow from this?”: Goddess Durga & Hematite = Spear of the Guru Mother

The last one, “What are the special gift and blessings coming to me/us?: Angel Bath Kol & Aquamarine = Authentic Voice

At first glance, we can see clearly a progression and how the cards relate to one-another. So, first things first, in order to take action (you are ready to grow!) and to keep an open heart in such a demanding moment, we need correct and proper nourishment. Of course, food for the body, but for our mind and soul as well. Proper nourishment increases our energy and our power. This card also talks about choices about what is good for us and what is not. We are asked to use our free will and decide for ourselves.

As Alana puts it, if someone offers us a meal of fear-based reality, we can understand with our heart and with the light of our mind that this is not something good for us. We prefer to sustain ourselves on healthier and more nurturing, strengthening “food”. In other words, the choice that we are called upon is an act of love for ourselves that, as a reflection, will allow more constructive energy in the world.

Once our strength is restored through our love-based choices, we are ready for the action of Goddess Durga “Spear of the Guru Mother”.

A task has been given us by the Divine, but whether or not we accept it, it’s our personal choice. We may, then, ask ourselves which task is? How can we know? But the answer is right in front of us, staring back. We just need to look at our life. What is happening? What can we do? What actions can we take?

So a good dose of self-reflection and observation is required to us, to examine our lives and understand where we can act and decide. It’s important to remember that if the Divine gives us a task, we can handle it. Even if we are going to need to grow, we have it within to complete it successfully. When we decide to accept the challenge, this card arrives as a reassurance that the situations in our lives are going to resolve far more quickly and potently than we might have believed possible. In her Guidebook, Alana says that “the spear of the guru mother” will clear away the inessentials and reveal to us what is important and what we need to do. At one condition: surrender into this fierce grace going into our heart.

So, focused action follows the strengthening (through choice) of our body, mind, soul. But what next? Once I decided that I want to feed and feast on love based food and my strength is restored so that I can accomplish my task. What gift awaits?

The gift of Authenticity.

The last card, in fact, talks about the gift that we receive once accomplished the above endeavour.  

The appearance of this card is quite comforting to me. I received it quite often in the readings and healing processes I do to myself. What I noticed is that in times with a lot fear and fear-based action, keeping the strength and courage to speak my personal truth, that more than often is totally different from the mass, and to keep an open heart, is really challenging.

We see this happen quite often, don’t we? The official channels are feasting on fear and panic and it becomes difficult to keep an open mind and heart and to share a totally different point of view.

As one of my teachers once said: there are no inflexible people, only rigid thinkers. I think he was right for a closed mind more often reflects back a closed heart. But, can we really blame them? It requires courage and trust to step out of the crowd and not everyone is ready for this.

So, the gift at the end of this enormous process, is exactly this: being able to be authentic, to speak our truth with no fear. It is safe to let our voice rise up and be heard even when the minds of the others are too closed by fear and do not seem to grasp what we are communicating.

We will be expressing ourselves from a place of soul, from a place of love.

“Trust in that and set your voice free.”

To sum up, this demanding moment may represent an opportunity for those who are ready to take the challenge. Every one of us, whatever the choice we make, will find themselves deeply transformed. Nothing will be the same as before, and by then, we will see it as a blessing…

With Love and Light

Marta Artemida xx

sgsm - january 2020

Soul Guidance and Sacred Mentoring

I started this healing training course about a year ago and looking back, I see how this healing method had a deep impact on my life; on the way I perceive myself, my life purpose and my spiritual journey.

At that time, I was looking for a method that could combine different aspects in one: energy and spiritual healing and oracle cards. I was feeling as if something was missing in my life, a direction or better a method that would combine in one all my passions. So, with patience and perseverance (I am a solar Taurus, so these qualities are deep rooted in me) I started to search and look for inspiration.

When we search and we genuinely ask the Universe for help and inspiration, seldom those prayers go unheard and unanswered. Sometimes what we receive is something we were not really expecting, other times we don’t really like what we receive, but we always receive an answer.

So, it happened to me. I found this beautiful course created and channeled by Alana Fairchild from her Higher Spiritual Guidance and the Ascended Masters: Soul Guidance and Sacred Mentoring, SGSM. I simply loved it from the very beginning. A method that would help me tap into my gifts as healer and psychic.

It’s a unique form of energy work and spiritual healing which is focused on healing the soul, whilst promoting well-being on physical, emotional and psychological levels.

There are two different parts that come together in this method: Soul Guidance and Sacred Mentoring.

Soul Guidance: through this energy work (that can take form of a 1on1 meeting or group session, up to a full day workshop) I help and encourage the client to connect with their own authentic feelings, intuition, wisdom, purpose and power. The method empowers them to heal through their own divine connection and sacred life journey. Working with this modality not only heals the client, it empowers and encourages my own growth as well, every time I use it. Let’s say it’s a win-win combination.

Sacred Mentoring: through my personal work and journey I become a guiding light for others. Practicing with this method helps me tap into my own strength, wisdom and experience, therefore it helps me to assist others to take their own unique spiritual journey. A “sacred mentor” doesn’t mean a person who knows “all the answers”, instead it means someone who can show another person the way, who, through unconditional trust, knows that the right answer will arrive at the right time and in the best possible way. Through the power of my own divine connection and loving presence I am able to support the healing that another person needs.

How it works:

The healing method works through energetic templates, that are a series of guided steps to evoke specific responses in the soul. They consist of sacred words of power, healing ritual actions and guidance working with an oracle deck and healing process.

The use of the templates is very important as they help strengthen, clear and refine the channel with Higher Guidance. They help to create a precise energetic field which attracts and receive divine electricity to power the healing work.

The structure is what keeps the work safe and unconditionally loving as possible, protecting us, so that we are actually getting the desired results which is genuine spiritual healing. It is important to bear in mind that there are many types of non-physical beings in this Universe, and plenty of them will be interested in this kind of work. Just because a being is in spirit and interested in our healing work, doesn’t automatically mean that that being is also unconditionally loving, wise and powerful enough to be able to help in the process.

At the end of the day, the final very positive result is that both the client and I heal and grow.

Contact me privately in case you have further questions or you would like to book a session.

With Love and Light

Marta Artemida xx

People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own souls.― Carl Gustav Jung

new year reading - january 2020

Reading for the new year – 2020

As a tradition, on the first day of the new year I ask the tarots, or the oracle cards, on what I should focus my attention during the whole year. Of course, the reading is very general and normally it delivers some guidelines. For more precise results, I prefer the New Year spread (if you are curious about it, it’s described in my offer), a few days in advance.

This year I decided to use the Oracle Cards, because I like the idea of receiving a more spiritual message, rather than a more down-to-earth teaching. So, I took my deck of Crystal Mandala Oracle cards by Alana Fairchild and, after clearing my energy field and meditating, I picked three cards:

1-      Storm Wisdom, with Angel Raziel and Pietersite

2-      Meaningful Sacrifice, with Ascended Master Jesus and Rosophia

3-      Rest, with Archangel Remiel and Aragonite

These three cards are all together really interesting, because I see here a progression of events and of teachings.

With the first card, we receive the information that we will face changes over the year.

Some of us are already going through important changes (Uranus in Taurus is everything but happy with the status quo, especially when it doesn’t serve our higher purpose) and are familiar with the energy that brings unexpected changes that may create at the beginning havoc and chaos. But, all of us need to remember that sometimes these disruptive events are a blessing in disguise. They help us break the invisible chains that keep us captive for long time.

Maybe this could be represented by a stagnant relationship, that felt comfortable and safe but where love was missing since a long while, that suddenly arrives to an end. Or a work situation that does not nurture ourselves and our real talents, that becomes unbearable until we are pushed to find something else, elsewhere. Whatever the case or the area in our lives that will be at the centre of Storm Wisdom, if we are capable of embracing the change with acceptance and trust the reward will be immense.

I believe many of us, at some point in our adult lives, experienced the touch of the Storm Wisdom. That feeling of waking up one day and realizing that we have been living a flat and passionless life. We wake up from the illusion, from “maya” (as called in Hinduism) and all what once was, has no meaning to us. In front of such disruption, many choose to fall back, to silence the strong inner feeling and live with even less passion and love, until the next wave of disruption. Others, take heart and ride the tide. Maybe they fall several times before being able to fully master the strength of the events, and eventually they manage to.

In order to allow the new to enter in our lives we need to make space for it. It may feel liberating and frightening at the same time, but Storm Wisdom is love in action. It’s not going to harm us and we do not need to fear it.

With the second card – Meaningful Sacrifice - we receive guidance about how to best grow from all this change. Interesting enough, the selected card (sometimes I still feel a sort of wonder about how things work out and nothing is by chance) tells us that in order to grow and internalize the experience we need patience and meaningful sacrifice.

What could this mean? I was reflecting on the meaning and I believe that sometimes we need to face the pain of unfulfilled desire and learn the meaning of patience. Using Alana’s words,

What is being denied now, will ultimately create the opportunity for far greater gain. This waiting and feeling denied is a divine blessing, even if it may not feel that way initially. Alana Fairchild, Crystal Mandala Oracle, Guidebook

This is something very difficult to understand and to master, but how many times did it happen that what we wanted with all our hearts was denied? We may be deeply in love with a person, only to experience tons of frustration and irritation because the person is not ready to reciprocate our feelings. Or situations in other areas of our lives, simply do not develop, or what we dearly desire is not given us. Only after some time the meaning of all this withholding becomes clear.

There are many things at work, in my opinion. As Alana puts it, if our body or minds become enchanted by that which is not truly meant for us, this leads us away from the path upon which we will actually find real joy, fulfillment and happiness. All this may work as distractions and even end up causing unanticipated and unnecessary pain. Other times, what we desire is coming from our ego and the universe will never conspire with our egos to offer us less than what is ours to have. No matter how much we insist.

The oracle does not say that we can never have what we want. It brings us the message that what we truly want and need is being delivered to us, and shall manifest with prefect divine love, tenderness, affection and, of course, timing.

The last card shows us what gifts and blessings we shall receive as a result of understanding the whole process: Rest.

We are working very hard, trying to walk our talk, mastering the power of change and cultivating patience and understanding, but are we capable of resting? How many times have we questioned ourselves about our true needs? Do we need a break of an hour or so, or do we need to introduce a more radical change in our lifestyle?

If we want to manifest big dreams or radical transformation, we need to work hard. But without adequate rest along the way, we will compromise our ability to go the distance, endure transformation and continue to be a loving light on our planet for a long, long time.

We need to understand better ourselves and understand that some days we may need much physical activity to discharge an excess of mental energy and help us clear our mind and feel refreshed. But on another day, that same level of activity might exhaust our body and compromise our immune system. We may end up pushing ourselves too hard.

I experienced quite often such a problem. Sometimes I felt a strong drive to exercise physically, while in other moments I felt the need of a total rest. It was difficult for me to understand this process, because in our modern culture, sport and movement are considered as the most beneficial and important activities in leading a healthy life. Sometimes, I have the impression that our culture simply finds it difficult to respect and trust in the wisdom of nature. We may even start to consider the need to rest as a sign of weakness rather than wisdom, of laziness rather than intelligence, of lack of productivity rather than a way to regenerate our creative energies.

This kind of mind set haunted me for several years. Having trained in my youth for years as a ballerina gave me a huge amount of perseverance and endurance, but a very low level of compassion for myself. As a consequence, I would hardly perceive the desperate messages that my body was sending me. In my adult years this meant that I would push myself so hard into various disciplines such as Pilates and Yoga, until my body would be exhausted. I would start to have problems with joints and muscles that eventually obliged me to rest for several months, until I fully recovered. After such a painful experience I started to slow down and be more attentive. I tried to focus on the pleasure of the movement, rather than on the results.

To learn how to rest well is an art. It requires us to learn to listen to our bodies so we can feel when something is working or when we need to change the approach. This in turn develops our intuition and connection between body and mind. It requires us to develop compassion and patience, two advanced spiritual qualities, so that rather than getting frustrated or angry with ourselves when we need rest, we have the strength instead to choose to be kind and respect ourselves enough to learn how to meet our needs. Alana Fairchild, Crystal Mandala Oracle, Guidebook

This is part of our path to self-love and to spiritual and personal development.

As a conclusion, if we are able to embody the wise message of the cards, we will experience a rewarding year of abundance, self-care and self-love that will take us further on this wonderful journey called life. Stay blessed and have a joyous New Year.

With Love and light

Marta Artemida xx

If we push away desire, we disconnect from our tenderness and we harden against life. We become like a “rock in winter”. When we reject desire, we reject the very source of our love and aliveness. Tara Brach, Radical Acceptance

well-being - December 2019

The power of dreams

Last year, around this time, I was focusing on writing down my considerations on the year that was arriving to a close: the teachings, the achievements and what still needed my attention.

I was feeling satisfied and happy and 2018 could be considered, at least for me, a year of big changes and challenges. I changed city, job and, in fact, life all at once. Many people walked out of my life, others entered. New experiences, new challenges and new ideas.

One of the desires that took form from that melting pot of ideas, dreams and changes, was the creation of this blog and of my internet page.

Being an introvert myself, the idea thrilled me and challenged me at the same time. I would get out (metaphorically speaking) and let the others know me: who I am, what I do, what I believe in. A freighting idea. Well, maybe not many people would read me, at least not at the beginning, but who knows… anyhow, the mere thought made me feel happy and worried.

I didn’t give up and, day after day, with patience and perseverance (as the tarot card IX of Wands teaches us) I continued to cultivate my dream, until I considered the result satisfactory (not perfect, of course…) and pressed the button “publish”.

My creation is now alive and “on air” and I sincerely hope you will like it as I do.

The biggest teaching for me, from this extraordinary experience, is that miracles do happen, but in order to make them happen, we need to believe in them, in ourselves and in the Universe.

Tarots and Oracle Cards - november 2019

How can Tarot and Oracle cards help

I believe that Tarot is a wonderful tool for insight and wisdom, self-discovery and personal growth. The cards allow us to tap into our innate wisdom and intuition and help find a “way through the mists” of life.

When we pick up a card, our hand is attracted to a specific card and not to another and the idea of “coincidence” doesn’t really exist. So, if I were to explain how do they work, I can say that in my experience as tarot reader the cards offer a snapshot of time about a certain situation.

Moreover, if properly understood, they can provide suggestions for considerations, for a proper course of action and finally encouragement. In other moments, according to the spread used or the intention set, they may offer an insight about the possible development in the future of a specific situation. In this case the cards offer a possible outcome, based on the energy involved in the past, that as a flow, leads to the present situation and, if undisturbed, will lead to a certain situation in the future (near future: days or weeks; or even distant future: months or even several years).

We are talking about flows of energy, therefore, theoretically it is possible to intervene in a way that may modify the outcome. This approach, that is very much pro-active, gives the person the full power to decide of their life. We are gifted with freewill that makes us co-creators with the Universe of our own lives.

This is a very important and fundamental teaching, however, it’s important to point out that we operate in certain frames. These frames, to put it simply, can also be consequences of choices and decisions taken previously. For this reason, in certain moments of a person’s life, the possibilities of choices can be somehow limited.

On a more global level, karma, if we see it as a challenge to overcome, (may it be personal, family, group karma or generational karma) can influence a person towards certain lines of actions. The society itself, if the word “karma” sounds still unfamiliar, already creates some barriers and some constraints, of which the individual is not always aware, least of all, ready to be freed. Additionally, there are, in my opinion, other constraints which are related to the person’s background, experience, mindset, values and needs that influence their actions or reactions towards events in life.

These patterns are, without a proper and deep personal work, hardly acknowledged. As C.G. Jung said:

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”

In this sense, both the Tarots and the Oracle cards can help to unpin what lies behind the surface and make the “unconscious conscious”. They can point the way and urge the person to take a different path, but not everyone is ready to take it.

The reasons for this can be various as each of us has a different path and a different story. Sometimes the teaching lies in the challenge to take a different path. As we all know, the Universe is really patient with us and generous, so we will face the same teachings several time until we understand and move on to the next level.

During my readings, I always try to offer different possibilities and different points of view, but with the awareness that not everyone is ready to take entirely responsibility on themselves.

If I had to describe the tarot to a friend, I would simply say that it is an amazing tool for insight and personal discovery, and in addition to this, it can offer clarity over situations that we may be facing in our lives. The cards do not predict future events, but talk to our hearts and offer wisdom and encouragement for who is looking for it.