6 Pentacles and Mint Bush

I asked and I was given.

From the Robin Wood Tarot

When I saw the details of the modern two-bedroom house just 20 minutes away from the office on the internet, I wanted it. I asked for it before ever I saw it.

I hardly dared to believe in my chance of getting it and yet, at the same time, there was a calmness about it all that was a world away from the way I felt about last week’s house, which I applied for and was refused.

That difference is illustrated beautifully by the 6 Pentacles, the card of giving and receiving.

Above all, the upright 6 Pentacles refers to a balance between giver and receiver – so that there is no obligation or power imbalance between the two.

In other words, I asked and was able to leave it at that.

There was no need to fret or wheedle or try to bribe the hand of fate. There was no point in marshalling evidence as to why I should have it, why I deserved it, why it should be given to me and not another.

Somehow, no matter that I wanted it so desperately as an answer to all my present needs, it was enough just to ask and be prepared to accept the outcome, whatever it may be.

That is not to say it was an easy journey – just getting to the place was high drama, with missed buses, wrong trains, expensive taxi etc.

We got there nearly an hour late and had missed the agent, with no idea of how many people had got in ahead of me, but when I saw the place it was even more perfect than I’d imagined and I wanted it even more.

The next day, Sunday, I thought about the house, my request or prayer, and my strangely calm attitude in the interim.

In spite of wanting it so much I felt no anxiety at all at the prospect of disappointment. I had asked, and was content to leave the answer to fate.

Instead of a Sunday gnawed by uncertainties and worries, I enjoyed a relaxing, productive day of the kind I have loved so well in this ramshackle old farmhouse.

First thing Monday I put in my application and, just hours later, was accepted.

Mint Bush helps us cope with the trials and tribulations associated with spiritual growth.

As above, so below. Spiritual growth is not something which happens separately to our daily lives but is an enriched dimension of it.

And so, through the many physical trials and tribulations associated with the finding of this house, I found a spiritual lesson and hopefully the wisdom to deal sensibly with the further trials which I’m sure are yet to come.

The balance of the 6 Pentacles, the point where giver and receiver meet as equals, marks a spiritual calm at the centre that somehow gives me faith that all is well and my path is true.

Judgment and Mint Bush

From the Robin Wood Tarot

It’s been a week of procrastination, on all fronts – no writing, no inner journeying, no pressing urge to do anything in particular.Once I would have been giving myself a good stern lecture but this time I’m happy to accept that these periods of procrastination are important. On some level they are productive and necessary, for all they feel like idleness.

I think two things are going on. The first is a marshalling of resources, a timeout to replenish my strength.

The second is an inner checking of the map, making sure the next step is headed in the right direction.

I must respect that inner guide. This week’s cards remind me that, while undoubtedly worthwhile, this inner journey is a painful one.

Flames are flames, after all, no matter how cleansing and renewing.

Mint Bush, in the words of Ian White, “helps one to cope with the dross being burnt off before emerging at a new spiritual level.”

Am I ready? By the grace of the Lady, I will bear it. But I admit I am afraid.

The Chariot and Mint Bush

From the Robin Wood Tarot

The Chariot continues the subject where we left off with yesterday’s 8 Pentacles.

When a card is blocked, you can think of it as signifying that you need to go back to the previous card and work on its lessons a bit more before you can progress on your journey.

Since The Chariot rules the Sevens, I’m taking it to mean that I need to work on being mindful of every step I take. My direction needs to remain focused and I must be vigilant so that I don’t drift from my intentions.

The Chariot is full of confidence and ease, but it’s a confidence born of mastery of many different elements. That takes practice and discipline.

Recognizing the fears which inevitably arise in me, my Higher Self hands me Mint Bush for smooth spiritual transition, clarity, calmness and an ability to cope.

9 Pentacles and Mint Bush

From the Robin Wood Tarot

There have been times in my life – and how I wish they would come again – when I have known that serene self-sufficiency of the 9 Pentacles.

But today I did not welcome her at all. I do not want to be alone. I do not want to be content with my own company.

I feel like a spoilt child even as I write the words, but it’s the truth. How long, Lady? How long?

Mint Bush is supposed to ease the turmoil we endure at testing times in our lives and last night I endured one of the loneliest nights in a long while. I’m prepared to admit, in the cold light of day, that I was digging the pit with my own hands but once I’d started down the path of Woe Is Me there was no turning back.

In a rather comforting recollection of Judgment, which I drew not long ago, Mint Bush helps us cope with the dross we must burn off before we can emerge at a new spiritual level. This can be understood as the trials and tribulations which are key to any mythological Quest, and there are many – from the Odyssey through the Grail to Harry Potter. Just as they are a metaphor for the process of growth and learning through experience, so is Mint Bush.

Sometimes the trials and tribulations of life become too much. Whether its divorce, illness or any other challenge which requires an overhaul of the status quo, there comes a point when it’s hard to see how to go on.

That’s how I felt last night, after Kate had gone to bed and I sat, once again, alone with the television and a glass of wine and no-one, absolutely no-one, with whom to share the minutiae of my day. What good was it, to have been strong enough to leave everything I knew so that my kids could have a better chance of happiness. What good was it, to have been smart enough to survive the slashing of our household income by two thirds and never, never, since the day he left, to have missed a bill or deprived my girls of anything. What good was it, to have been lucky enough to have all my expectations of life here fulfilled. What good was any of it, when I sit here on another lonely Friday night with only misery for company.

And now, on Saturday morning, Mint Bush and the serene 9 Pentacles promise that this, too, shall pass. They promise too that crises of faith, like the one I endured last night, will leave me stronger and perhaps a little wiser.

Strength and Mint Bush

From the Robin Wood Tarot

The Strength card in the Robin Wood deck is extremely lovely. My daughter Kate was with me this morning when I drew it and she was telling me about it – ‘her’ card she calls it, because it is governed by Leo.

So today’s entry is about Kate, who likes this card for the same reasons I do – because the lion is tamed by gentleness, not brute force. We see it as a celebration of  inner strength and resilience. I also see power restrained by wisdom.

Kate played with her dolls’ house today, for the first time in a good long while. I believe it’s because puberty is about to happen, that today’s card spoke to her on some level to say that the time for dolls’ houses will soon be gone.

The time for Strength and Mint Bush – which eases the turmoil of major changes, from spiritual awakenings to the emotional confusions of life’s transitions – will be soon enough upon us.

My tempestuous little Leo could face a difficult time.

Page of Cups and Mint Bush

From the Robin Wood deck

This card was drawn Reversed and I immediately thought of the sensitive child who is plagued by bad dreams, as Anne was during her adolescence.

If, as I believe, these were due to spiritual ‘growing pains,’ then today’s Essence – Mint Bush – would have been helpful, as it eases the turmoil and confusion associated with spiritual rites of passage.

And the relevance to today’s events? We learned about the developmental stages of the Chakras, each one a spiritual rite of passage, after all.