For my 40th birthday, my husband bought me a set of Goddess Guidance Oracle Cards. Now, I’m not a straightforward believer* in tarot or anything like that, and he didn’t buy them for that purpose. He thought I would like the beautiful images on the cards (he was right!)and that the information about the goddesses would be useful for me in my storytelling – as sort of a jumping off point.

I have looked at them from time to time and enjoyed the information presented, but a couple of weeks ago I was looking for a ritual to start my day and decided that I would like to start with some yogic breathing and an intention. Because I can be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to these things, I decided to take the intention setting a little out of my hands. I decided I would follow the instructions to attune the deck, and then, as per one suggested use, I would shuffle the cards each morning and ask ‘What do I need to know today?’ before selecting a card that seems to jump out at me in some way.

The answers have been interesting so far and I have been using the card of the day as a kind of touchstone. When I have a decision to make or when I feel a bit of confusion, or whatever, I think about the card’s message and use that information in my decision. On my first day of yoga, my card was Hathor – and her message was receptivity – so when I got on the mat, I used that to guide myself through my poses.

Today, I was struggling a bit. Last night at Taekwon-do, I found out that the belt test for the group had been delayed a week. Unfortunately, I have an unbreakable commitment that next week and as a result I won’t be able to test with my class.** This sat heavily with me. I have been testing with this group since we started, and I wanted to be there in the metaphorical trenches as we went through this test together. I wanted to be celebratory when we were done. I wanted to be there for that experience. I feel like I am missing out and that has made the idea of the test a little less exciting and a little more nerve-wracking. I’m grateful for the chance to test at a different time (see **) and I respect why the change had to take place, but it’s a little sad to be outside of that experience.

So, I had a heavy heart this morning as I sat down for my ritual. I took a deep breath and sat in the patch of sunshine on my bed and started shuffling the cards until one seemed ‘right.’

Here’s what I got:

Seems damned appropriate to me.

* I’m not being dismissive here, not at all. I believe there is a lot of energy in the universe that we can’t process yet and that many now ‘woo-woo’ things will become more accessible and better understood as time goes on. I think tarot readings and the like can tap in to some of that energy, but I don’t want to get into whether an individual practitioner is doing something valid or not. Decide for yourself and spend your money carefully.

**It’s okay, my instructors are graciously letting me and The Boy test on the original date with a group testing for a different belt (including The Man and TLG).