It's Our Anniversary Today!

Yes, 15 years together for My Rare One and me! Apparently, this makes it our Crystal Anniversary. Oooooo, SPARKLY!

And as all you couples out there know, there's a lot of adjusting, fine-tuning and compromise on both sides that must go into any lasting relationship. So, thank you, My Rare One! I love you!

There and Back Again

Sorry for my abrupt absence from the blogosphere last week, but had to drop everything to drive to Manitoba. My Mom was in the hospital with pneumonia. She's now back at the nursing home so I've returned to Edmonton. Just got in last night and I'm exhausted. Bear with me please -- blogging may be sporadic for the next little while.

Tarot Soul Card -- Empress (Number 3)

[Legacy of the Divine Tarot]

Men and women whose soul card is the Empress lead extremely creative lives and have amazingly fertile imaginations. Their creativity can be expressed in any field in which they work, not just in traditional creative endeavours like art, music, literature, etc. They are loving, nurturing people who promote growth in those around them. People who embody the Empress enjoy all the finer things of life, revelling in anything that is beautiful, intoxicating, delicious or a delight to any of the five senses. They deeply feel the interconnectedness of all beings and all life.

There are two other major arcana cards in this constellation which influence an Empress' soul path: the Hanged Man and the World.

[Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot]

The Hanged Man usually influences an Empress' life as a hidden factor or shadow card. It can often manifest as co-dependency in relationships, when a nurturing Empress becomes enmeshed in the lives and issues of others. This co-dependency is expressed as love and concern but really involves controlling behaviour that benefits no one in the long run. Or an Empress' creative endeavours can become so all-consuming that the Empress will sacrifice everything else in their lives to it. The Hanged Man can also negatively manifest as a tendency to "hang on" to fears, roles and patterns that are detrimental to an Empress' life and growth, including issues of addiction.

To integrate this shadow, the Empress must learn to foster balance in life and to focus on personal needs and issues instead of on those of other people. These are the great lessons which must be learned by an Empress to avoid getting lost on their soul path.

[Tarot de St. Croix]

For an Empress, the World card concerns structure, limitations and rules. People on the Empress soul path often find necessary restrictions challenging to develop and to live within. For example, while overflowing with creative ideas, an Empress may unfortunately lack the personal discipline and business skills to bring those ideas to fruition or to market their output. If an Empress rejects any kind of restrictions on their freedom or creativity, they tend to run wild and dissipate their natural talent in confusion and chaos.

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Next Week: the Emperor Soul Card

[NOTE: If you haven't yet determined what your Soul Card is and would like to, please go to the introductory post of this series found here, do the calculation and play along!]

Smart Cars

Everyone makes fun of Smart Cars because they're so teensy-weensy.

They don't have much of an intimidation factor, it's true.

But with the right paint job, they can be very cool!

There's just one thing you must never do in them . . . .

HRH, Poet-Cat of Genius

Hello everyone. Her Royal Highness the Cat here once again.

VICTORY IS MINE!!!!!

I'm THRILLED to announce that I am the GRAND PRIZE WINNER of this year's Anti-Valentines Day Contest held by Rawknrobyn over at Life by Chocolate: Robyn Alana Engel's Blog! Yes, my poetic genius has FINALLY been recognized and rewarded!

Rawknrobyn, who is just EVER-SO-SLIGHTLY JADED by online dating and relationships, asked for submissions on the topic "Damned Be the Fairytale."

[Collage art by Rawknrobyn for this year's contest]

My useless human Debra She Who Seeks tried IN VAIN for an HOUR to come up with an entry but FAILED because that NAIVE SENTIMENTAL SAP actually LIKES Valentines Day, can you imagine? So she suggested I try MY paw at coming up with something.

Well, with my VAST experience of the TRUE nature of TOMCATS, it took me like TWO SECONDS to come up with a DEATHLESS POEM OF GENIUS, worthy of the Great Bard WILLIAM SHAKESPURR himself!

                                                  Roses are red,
                                                  Violets are blue,
                                                  Toms pretend to be Super Cat
                                                  But are really Pepe le Pew.

Wow, I amaze EVEN MYSELF sometimes. How could this NOT be the Best Entry??? The majority of Rawknrobyn's DISCERNING READERS (Connaisseurs of Fine Literature ALL) who voted for my poem AGREED that it was the BEST in a fair and democratic vote that was not in ANY way influenced by Russia. NYET! My old pal Mr. Whiskervitch did NOT spread DISINFORMATION or threaten ANYONE, contrary to the FAKE NEWS reported by those Enemies of the People, the LIBERAL MEDIA.

Anyway, my prize package has now ARRIVED! And what was in that lovely kitty cat gift bag, you ask? It was positively STUFFED with CHOCOLATE and other goodies, including Rawknrobyn's original collage art featured above!

Some items were CLEARLY meant for me, THE CHAMPION, like the celebratory BUBBLY BOTTLE filled with champagne-flavoured Jelly Bellies, the U-NO and GOOD NEWS chocolate bars and the cat POST-IT NOTES that warn "Dis better be important." There was no actual MONEY, alas, but the bag DID include a chocolate bar wrapped in a fake $100 American bill (worth $125 in fake Canadian money!)

Rawkynrobyn is SO GENEROUS that she even included some items for my HUMAN -- a couple of RAINBOW Sixlets and a FLAKE chocolate bar, which I'm sure is an EDITORIAL COMMENT (entirely accurate, by the way) on my human's personality. I'll give the Chocolate Cherries and the Sea Side Caramel chocolate bar to my human's RARE ONE, because EVERY year when I was alive she always used to slip me a choice bit of Thanksgiving TURKEY right off the bird. And as they say --

THANK YOU again for this GREAT HONOUR, Rawknrobyn!

My human is NEVER going to hear THE END of this.

Hahahahahahahaha!

Tarot Soul Card -- High Priestess (Number 2)

[Connolly Tarot]

A High Priestess's personal knowledge, understanding and truth always come from within. Men and women who have the High Priestess as their soul card tend to be deeply intuitive. Unlike other people, they easily perceive all the unspoken truths and subtle undercurrents in any given situation. Receptive and empathic, they can often experience other people's feelings as well as their own. This can result in High Priestesses displaying quickly-changing moods and emotions that can surprise other people who are less sensitive.

In a relationship, High Priestesses are independent and self-sufficient, needing neither spouse nor children to feel truly complete or whole. They are motivated primarily by their own feelings and emotions. A certain amount of solitude is necessary for them to process their deep emotions and intuitive natures.

If, however, High Priestesses get lost on their soul journey, they can veer wildly from one extreme to the other. Paradoxically, they can simultaneously appear to be both deep and superficial, flexible and fickle, logical and illogical, warmly sensitive and coolly distant.

There are two other major arcana cards in this constellation which influence a High Priestess's soul path: Justice and Judgement.

[Hanson-Roberts Tarot]

In the lives of many High Priestesses, the influence of the Justice card falls into their Shadow as a hidden factor. Their sense of right and wrong becomes too overdeveloped and, as a result, they can become hypercritical of both themselves and others. The challenge of a High Priestess's soul journey then becomes to learn from this hidden factor. The Shadow can be integrated by taking responsibility for their own lives rather than by blaming circumstances or other people.

But when the influence of the Justice card is positively felt, it causes High Priestesses to be true to themselves above all else. High Priestesses will not tolerate unfairness or imbalance in their life, community or society.

[Easy Tarot]

When the Judgement card falls into a High Priestess's Shadow, it too causes extreme self-criticism but, in addition, also makes the High Priestess feel that others are so much more powerful that change and transformation are impossible. High Priestesses must learn to take action and be responsible for changing their own lives. Bringing truths up from the depths to the surface can be liberating.

When the Judgement card is experienced as a positive influence, it becomes a source of awakening for a High Priestess. Limitations of the past can be overcome and transcended. High Priestesses typically have a number of such epiphanies during their lifetimes. Often the Judgement card will also result in the occurrence of many synchronicities over the years  -- seeming coincidences that are nevertheless heavily imbued with personal, emotional or spiritual significance.

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Next Week: the Empress Soul Card

[NOTE: If you haven't yet determined what your Soul Card is and would like to, please go to the introductory post of this series found here, do the calculation and play along!]