Echoside: Phoenix Rose

The woman with no name is locked up, trapped, captured.  She is helpless and bound.  There are four guards that take turns watching her cell.  She wonders how and when she will get out of this. What the guards don't know is that she is fierce despite her vulnerable and helpless exterior.  She will no longer be held captive, she decides to take the whole cell down.  She has favour with the Sky Gods, and the tower cell is struck down in an instant with a fiery crack of lightning at the moment she called upon them.  The guards were flung, unknowing of this woman's importance, unknowing of her power.  She narrowly escapes the destruction as chaos ensues behind her. Wrapped in torn sheets she makes her way down to the port where she meets a young seafarer.  He is loading his boat with bundles of steel.  She has little to offer him. However, he is kind, seeing the destruction she has fled from, he takes pity and offers to take her to the next island where he will be making h

I have been reading, very briefly, on Huna - a Hawaiian philosophy that uses dream skills as a way to be objective of our Self.  I have found that many of it's practices are things I already innately do. This system has just given me a set of language for things I was naturally doing which in turn inspires lucid dreaming. I would love to discuss Huna further, however this week I will list some key behaviours, or habits, which I have used with success: - Relaxation meditation in bed before sleeping Lucidity requires the body to be in a deeply relaxed state. Having a good night's rest also allows our memory to be clearer for dream recall.  - Setting the intention in my mind that I will remember my dreams This is very important in telling your subconscious, or Higher Self, your goals. Intention setting is very powerful, not just in dreamwork, but in all aspects of goal-setting. - Do not move upon waking, stay as still as you can and reflect on what you where ju

Last week I said that I would be posting sample questions and spreads for using tarot to navigate your life. However, I am going to go a different direction given a conversation I had this week with some dear friends in the tarot community. I do apologize and will get to it in a future post. This seemed like a more pressing thing to talk about as even the most skilled readers will ask other readers for input in interpreting cards for themselves. This is because it can be difficult to remain objective when you are too close to the situation. We can't see the forest for the trees. How I learned to become objective for myself is to read cards for other people. Not close friends and family. Reading for absolute strangers (you can find many groups where readers do free exchanges). Reading for people or situations you know little about can have a great impact on exercising your intuition. One mistake I made reading for myself is that I would look up every single possible meaning of e

I'm going in a different direction with tarot.  Today I am announcing a new blog series entitled Creative Tarot. Tarot is and has been a useful tool in divination - the art of looking beyond what we can see with our eyes, for divine guidance or predictions and fortunetelling - for many ages.  Tarot has also been used for the mundane as in playing card games.  I will not be discussing interpretations, readings, history, or anything of that nature in this new series. What I will be using the tarot cards for is to assist in creative writing.  Someone with absolutely no knowledge of tarot or their meanings can use this method to work in conjunction with a creative writing project.  While I do have knowledge of the card meanings, I'm not relying on that for creating a wee story. I will be using the classic Rider-Waite-Smith deck, basing the story strictly on the pictures, and what comes to mind.  I will pull 3 cards per blog post, and 3 parts per series.  There are many decks

Last week I gave the exercises of noting down feelings and symbols from dreams. This week I am sharing five nights worth of journaling. The benefits of doing this exercise for 5-7 days is definitely worth it. The following is a lot to read, but it will give a good sense with how to structure your own journal. This is the beginning in connecting with your subconscious, or as I call it, your Higher Self. These exercises will help you learn the language of dreams, which is the backbone of dreamwork. June 15 Dream symbols : cigarettes, scooter (eBike) Atmosphere in dream : neutral, felt like "real life" scenarios, there was also a sense of getting things done on time. Dictionary meaning* : Cigarette - To dream that you are smoking or offering a cigarette signifies your need for a break. It may also points to issues of dependency. However if you are against smoking and have this dream, you need to analyze aspects of your waking life and what you are doing that may adversel

In last week's Tarot Talks I spoke of comparing yourself with the have-nots in life and how tarot can take you out of that head-space and provide clarity and offer a different perspective. This week I would like to go a bit further into using clarity provided by tarot. This is a bit of a paradox because tarot can sometimes have us raising more questions than answering the ones we came in with. It is true that tarot is complex, but it doesn't have to be complicated. Learning it's language -  I don't mean memorizing the instruction book either - and how it speaks to you is the key to a successful and insightful reading. Oftentimes tarot gives insight into different paths when we find ourselves at a crossroads. I don't believe that tarot should be used as a GPS, but rather should be used as a compass. GPS systems have a set destination and you follow exactly where the voice tells you to go. A compass on the other hand tells you where True North is and it's up

In last week's post we discussed creative triggers that can spark lucidity in dreams.  This week I would like to discuss dream interpretation.  I will not be listing a dictionary of what all symbols could possibly mean.  There are several resources online where you can find these meanings. Interpreting your dreams is fascinating work and gives an interesting perspective on your subconscious mind. Even if you remember only one thing from your dream last night, look up the symbol meaning. I have listed my two frequented resources for dream meanings at the end of the post. Write the interpretation down in a notebook or your phone.  Many people suggest keeping a dream journal, to be honest, I very rarely journal, but I do have a place to write down those really weird dreams before they're forgotten. When first interpreting your dreams do not over analyze.  The number one factor in interpreting a dream is how you felt in the dream, or immediately upon waking.  The feeling and a

We all search for clarity in various ways. While the motivations may be different for the individual, it all comes from a place of comparisons - wanting what others' have that we don't, believing the grass is greener on the other side, or even comparing our current reality to what we think our life " should " look like. This place of comparing emphasizes our insecurities and doubts. It makes our frustration signal rise and the downward spiral begins. We become clouded and need to clear the way to make more effective decisions in our lives. Tarot is a tool that helps move from a place of comparing to a place of clarity Tarot is a tool to help gain clarity into a confusing or frustrating situation. The place of comparing isn't necessarily a negative thing, as humans we need to be able to compare, make sound judgments that could literally mean life or death. We tend to take this comparing to other levels: jealousy, envy, self-doubting, insecurities, and feelings

Lately a few people have mentioned to me the occurrence of "weird dreams," or dreams that are rather vivid and busy. Weird is a subjective term and means different things to different people, but I assure you that "weird" is quite normal in the dreamscape. Weird, strange, or peculiar dreams can be one of the best spring boards to dreamwork.  In my experience I have three different types of dreams: lucid, prophetic/psychic, and the typical strange dream we're all used to. I'll start by discussing my experience with lucid dreams because they require triggers. In lucid dreams I become aware that I'm dreaming.  I know that I am the conscious creator and if I feel the desire I can mold and shape things in the environment, including the people, places, and scenarios.  I can decide to sit on the ceiling, ride a bike through the air, or become another person. In my Strive to be Lucid post I mentioned that when you start becoming lucid you may startle and

Have you ever been really excited about a new tarot or oracle deck that you just received, but then you start working with it and you just don't seem to mesh well with it even though you really want to?  This has happened to me on a couple occasions until I learned what a deck interview was. It's important to learn how to best work with your decks. A deck interview is a spread that can help you determine the "personality" of your cards.  Instead of answering typical questions about you and your situation, you are asking the tarot cards questions about themselves. The point of doing this is to help you to work with the deck in a more meaningful way.  I learned the importance of this when I first started using Healing with the Angels oracle cards by Doreen Virtue.  I was new to working with angel decks and I thought I would use this to study the archangels.  For some reason all my readings and spreads were way off in left field, and I ended up feeling progressiv

"To die, to sleep - to sleep, perchance to dream - ay, there's the rub, for in this sleep of death what dreams may come..." - William Shakespeare, Hamlet In the quote above Shakespeare may have been referring to Hamlet's contemplation of suicide, I look into it further than that.  Death is often referred to as the big sleep, a dirt nap, including witticisms such as "there'll be plenty of time for sleep when you're dead," and we put our pets to sleep when suffering outweighs the quality of life. "Sleep, those little slices of death - how I loathe them." Nightmare on Elm Street 3 (misquote of Edgar Allan Poe) Why would we ever compare sleep and dreams to death and afterlife?  I am of the belief that this waking life is the real dream.  What we see, feel, experience in the dreamscape is actually closer to what is truly beyond.  Beyond life, beyond death.  The dreamscape gives us a window into the true nature of our core essen