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Tarot:
Blessings in Disguise
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by Gigi Miner |
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Have you ever lived through a difficult time and looked back? Perhaps you were able to see more clearly in that “hindsight” about which we hear so much. In hindsight, things seem to have meaning. There are reasons for the events that transpire and we can put the puzzle pieces together in our lives just a little bit more. While we are in the midst of chaos, we are not exactly interested in how great it will all look to us someday. The here and now is work enough to occupy our attentions. In fact, when well-meaning individuals try to console us and explain the “bigger picture” to us, we may be inclined to provide them with several additional orifices in which to place their well-meaning opinions.
Each of us has our own unique burden, which we carry on our journey. What is heavy for me may not be so for someone else. Conversely, we each have our own, unique strengths as well. Consider for a moment, a world in which each of us uses our strengths to offset the weaknesses of another and it is not one-upmanship but rather a symbiotic world. It seems beyond possibilities at the moment. However, each one of us may begin to create this world in our own little section of it.
Ethyrial Tarot Copyright © 2005 Gigi Miner
Used with Permission
card this month is the Nine of Swords. Traditionally, this card features a woman sitting up in bed, holding her head, while nine swords hover above. The Nine of Swords can speak of headaches, nightmares, poor sleep, and a myriad of other woes. Stress is a major factor in the Nine of Swords. From the Ethyrial Tarot © we see a bed, covers pulled back. A cat sleeps peacefully while nine swords hover above and impale the bedding. When creating this card, I was inspired by my own Nine of Swords experiences. I have a condition called Fibromyalgia (FMS). FMS is a complicated condition that takes on different symptoms for each person afflicted. However, to summarize it, put chronic fatigue syndrome together with arthritis and sleep disorders and you have a vague idea about FMS. Very often with this condition, sleep is elusive. When one does manage to sleep, it is non-restorative. This leads to pain, which is a constant and leads to a vicious cycle. Such can be the way of the Nine of Swords. Parts of our lives create others that circle back around to trap us in an endless loop. Anyone who suffers from FMS knows the frustration and the viciousness of the condition. Yet, here I am, titling this article, “Blessings in Disguise”. I have been called many colors of crazy in my time. When I have referred to Fibromyalgia as a blessing, other such sufferers have told me that I was surely out of my mind even to consider it so. Yet, I do consider FMS my own, personal blessing in disguise.
In our card, the cat sleeps amidst the storm of swords, as if nothing is awry. Many times this card is considered one of self-induced difficulties. Excessive worry may be needless but something from which we cannot seem to escape. Our words may come back to haunt us when we should be at rest. The possibilities are as varied as humanity. What one person perceives as awful, another may see as simply annoying. With FMS, the pain is a distraction to some and unbearable to others. What brings some to tears may only act like a constant, dull ache for another. Yet, the pain is always there. Those swords are always around. Whether physical or emotional, we can allow them to control our lives, or we can accept them as part of our path and find ways to deal with them.
I am a large believer in choice. I think that we have choices in how we live our lives. I also believe that, on occasion, we are faced with something that choice cannot touch. Once in a while, we have to accept something as a part of our existence, regardless of our beliefs of being in control of our lives. In Zen ideals, you might think of it as “becoming one” with the affliction or situation. Rather then fighting it, you embrace it. This sounds a tad insane to many. Why would we want to embrace something that causes us so much pain, whether physical or emotional?
I consider my FMS my blessing in disguise. Yes, I am in pain. Yes, I get little rest. Yes, I have not been able to work a regular job in years. Yet, I still see this monster as a blessing. Other FMS’ers have snapped at me for proclaiming such a thing. Their FMS is neigh unto torture. So why do I see it in this light of something positive? Were it not for my condition, I would not have been able to sit still long enough to pursue my writing. Were it not for the FMS, I would still be trying to make ends meet by working a job that I hate. Were it not for the FMS, I would not be forced to lie down day after day, and thus would miss those amazing insights that can only be found in those quiet moments. If one were to ask my mother, I was likely an ADHD child. My energy was overflowing and my curiosity strong to the point of being annoying to the adults forced to answer the “why” question just one more time. Being confined to a body that can no longer move at such a furious pace is not easy. My mind, once sharp and far too quick, has now dulled under the fog that goes along with this disease. My physical strength, once beyond that of most women of my size, has diminished to the point of my having to learn to do things in different ways. My endurance to complete tasks started has taken a back seat to inching my way through various projects. All of these things have been frustrating beyond belief, often bringing me to tears at the realization that whom I once was has died. And, still, this is my blessing.
In each thing that seems a curse there can hide a lesson. During those times when my strength has waned, I have learned to ask for help. When my mind has crashed like a computer’s hard drive and I am standing before a class, missing the word that I have used a thousand times before, I have learned humility and learned how to laugh at myself. When I have been forced to bed because I have not the strength to brush my hair or to fix a meal, I have found out just how much my loved ones really do love me. When I have had to lay aside project after project unfinished, I have learned how to manage my time and my energies. When everything that I used to rely upon is no longer there, I have learned to have faith in this new me. My body had to diminish in order for my spirit to soar. My physical strength had to leave me in order for me to find out just how much strength I possess within, rather then without. Through all of these adjustments and all of the insanity that is Fibromyalgia, I have discovered the real me, buried deep down inside, waiting for me to be quiet long enough so that it could emerge from its hiding place.
The number nine can be a number of manifestation. The swords can be communication, stress, and even pain. Thus, it makes sense that my Nine of Swords shows up at times when the FMS flare manifests itself and reminds me to return to what is truly important in my life. For you, the Nine of Swords may be telling you that what is happening is a result of the various stresses in your life. It could even be a wake up call to examine things in your life to see what you really want and need. Human beings tend to be a tad dense when our spirits want to get our attention. We oft are distracted by day-to-day life so that anything of the spirit is drowned out by that hectic movement. Occasionally, the universe sends us a two-by-four upside of the head in order to get our attention.
There are times when I wonder if I had been more centered and in tune that, perhaps, the FMS would not have been necessary to bring me to myself. But, then, I would have missed so many blessings. Some situations come to us to help us find our way. Occasionally, we are so occupied with life that we forget to live. Those moments are a way for the universe to guide us back onto our path. While it may not seem like it whilst in the midst of our own, personal whirlwind, these moments of chaos, these Nine of Swords moments, can be our blessings in disguise. The next time you are faced with a trauma, ponder for a moment if there may be a lesson in it for you. Consider that, perhaps, once this moment of insanity is done and we can once again breathe, we have been given a unique gift. Maybe this is a moment of infinite blessings…they are simply unrecognizable while we are face to face with them. What are your blessings in disguise?
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Gigi Miner,
Tarot Consultant,
Author & Teacher
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Gigi Miner is a minister, ordained by the Universal Life Church, and has a Doctorate of Motivation from the same.
“One of the greatest benefits of Tarot is being able to take control of your life rather then be a victim of it,” is the motto of this professional Tarot consultant, author, and teacher, from upstate New York.
Moonlighting as an adult education instructor, Gigi brings that experience into her Tarot and writing work, helping clients and readers to find their own inner wisdom. Gigi has taught classes on tarot in regular and e-formats.
Believing that "laughter is the best medicine,” there is often a lighter tone to her teachings. When conducting an adult-education class, one of the main questions she asks is, "Are you having fun?” If the answer is "yes" then she knows that her students are learning more then if she were teaching in a more traditional mode.
Gigi has written articles for various newsletters, including Tarot Celebrations, World Tarot Network, and Gateway to Tarot. She has released a book entitled, “Light-of-Day Tarot & Dream Work,” which is available at www.lulu.com/ladyfogg.
Her Novel, “Card Shark” is now available at all online bookstores or by visiting:
www.lulu.com/ladyfogg.
Her next release, "The Fallen" is due out later this year."
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Contact Info:
www.geocities.com/
ladyfogg
Email : gigiminer@gmail.com
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