A Message from My Spirit Guide

Another participant in the AT PDR Thread did an exercise about his spirit guide. Since it has been a while since I did this, I thought I would give it a go. 

Here is the spread I used:

~1~

4~2

~3~

1. What should I remember that I am forgetting?
2. What is my Spirit Guide trying to tell me?
3. What is the advice my Spirit Guide is giving me?
4. What would be the outcome if I decide to follow this path?

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4 of Coins reminds me that I am in a stable position financially right now. As some of you know, I am facing governmental budget cuts and may be on the chopping-block. We met with the boss yesterday and she had a little more information. And although there are more jobs that absolutely will be cut, the requirements for retaining job positions have already been met by me but not necessarily by others. As I am not large and in charge, these aspects had not even occurred to me. This card in this position tells me "Don't worry."

6 of Coins is information that I had not even thought about from my Spirit Guide. There are those in my field who are genuinely magnanimous and want to see me keep my job. I suspect that I am seen as a team player. I also suspect that I am seen as a hard worker, and someone who gets results. Even one of the elementary keywords for this card is "asset." Is this what my Spirit Guide is telling me? That I am literally seen as an asset to my organization, and that the boss-lady will do whatever she can to retain me? I think so! This falls in line with others who have told me exactly the same thing.

VII Chariot is about control. Of course, there are things in life you can control and things in life that you cannot. Then there are things that a somewhat controllable and uncontrollable at the same time. I think that the advice is to realize which aspects are within my power to change and which are not. This card reminds me to think of the serenity prayer, "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." It is the difference part that I am having difficulty with. How to tell? As for the job situation, I recently got a reading that said I was going to have to fight for what I wanted out of my job, that it would not just fall in my lap. I think I have made it known that I would be eyeing the seniority list carefully, lest any managerial shenanigans take place. This is about the only control I have over the situation, that is, to be assertive. And the oxen in this card look pretty damned assertive!

9 of Coins is precisely the card I would want to see in a reading about financial security! Recall, please, that I did not specifically ask about this area of focus for my reading, but one must read the reading like this. I mean, I had three coin cards! How could it not be about finances? Obviously, finances are tied directly to employment. Nine is the number of foundations, not completion per se, so a move into a more stable career is eminent. Nice outcome in a time of fiscal uncertainty.

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Searching for a Charity

For my Saturday morning reading I decided to ask about a charity I am thinking of donating some money to. I am researching different charities to see which one would most likely do the most with my money I send them. I need to be very choosy. But I decided to narrow it down to charities that help teens and aid in the prevention of teen suicide. Doing a search, I ran across Elem/Teens in Distress, which is an Israeli charity that does just this. (Click on the link for information about what they do.) I am picky about where my money goes because I want to make sue most of it goes other places besides overhead. Judging by the sheer number of programs (See "Our Programs" Link at the top of any page there), it would be surprising if most of the money did not go towards helping teen in distress. There fund is also a memorial named in honor of a victim of teen suicide.

I did a bit of sleuthing myself, using the tarot, and asked three questions: 1) What is this organization about? 2) Where is my money going to be spent? 3) What services does this organization really provide?

Here is the card positions order:

3 - 1 - 2 

And here are the cards:

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"What is this organization about?" 10 of Swords as teen suicide, plain and simple. If I was in doubt that this organization is all about preventing teen suicide, there is no doubt anymore, after seeing 10 of Swords in this position! I have never seen a card so apropos in a "mundane" reading before (not that the subject matter is mundane, only that this type of reading is).

"Where is my money going to be spent?" Two of Swords I read as "about half and half." Half on material support and half on overhead. Again, looking at the "Our Programs" map on their Web Site, even the overhead would consist of actually helping out those in need. The idea of blind justice evinced by this card comes to mind also. Is there an oversight committee that sees to it that the find is spent properly? Those who collect the money for the Harold Rubin Memorial Fund are not the ones who necessarily spend it. I really don't like this card here as I get the feeling that "the right hand knoweth not" but, then again, isn't this a good thing to have in the business organization of a charity? I don't know enough about charities to make this call. Overall, I don't think this is a bad card to have here.

"What services does this organization really provide?" II High Priestess here made me giggle a little bit. Most of the money is spent on counseling teens in distress (giggling because these cards seems so damned appropriate!) Once again referring to the map on the "Our Programs" Page, one can easily see that this organization provides much needed mental health support all over Israel. One is reminded of the "dual" or international work they do, in addition to helping out Israeli adolescents. The feminine aspect of this card suggests that many of the clients are female. I am glad this card is in this position, too, because it helps me to view Elem/Teens in Distress as a cut-above the other charities that I have been looking at. It seems to be a good charity to donate some money to in the future.

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Focusing on My Final Observation

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I haven't posted a reading in over a week because I was having personal life problems. But now I am back and able to focus on something else, for a change. I decided to ask the cards how next week will go with my *final* observation and what I should focus on. This observation determines; foregoing any possible budget cuts, that is; whether or not I am recommended for rehire and therefore tenure at my school. I am a bit nervous as 1) I do not know exactly when the Principal is coming in, only that it is "next week" sometime and 2) The last time I had a *final* observation it went horribly bad, as the Principal at the time (different county, different school) used it as an excuse to try to get rid of me so that she could put one of her friends in my position. [Off reading, I eventually was forced to resign the position and the said friend was in my classroom less than an hour later, as if waiting in the wings. The said Principal was fired soon after I resigned.]

But once something like this happend it has a tendency to sour ones opinion of a profession, which is difficult to get over, to say the least. I still harbor ill-feelings, not towards any people, but towards the job in general and the type of people that education is rife with. My Da'ath pack cards were simply two: 10 of Swords and Ace of Coins (not shown). These cards represent the distant past and the background for the situation. They sum up exactly what my feelings are, about describing my usual jitteriness concerning trust issues surrounding administration. This is compounded by the fact that one of the county bigwig's nephew will be hunting for a teaching job, having just come out of college. My first thought was, "I wonder who is going to be pushed out for this guy to get a job." He already has a cush, teaching assistant job beginning next week. This at a time when we are having a 23 million dollar shortfall in our budget next year and a few heads on the chopping block. Gotta love that nepotism.

I used no position meanings this time.

One thing that I have gotten major brownie points for in past observations is the "loving atmosphere" that she has picked up on in the past. Almost every time, she has commented on this aspect of my teaching. 10 of Chalices reminds me that I better not lose sight of this! This week I have my students on "silence" they have been so out of control. Obviously next week I can't do this. They will be so sick of doing seat work by next week they will be more than happy to behave. They tend to get along better, like the happy family in the 10 of Chalices, when they are being watched. This card contrasts sharply with the 10 of Swords of the past, which still lies close to my hard (and directly to the right and next to my Significator, by the way). Certainly this is a comfort card for me, in my moment of insecurity.

2 of Chalices represents a meeting of the minds here, and is reminiscent of harmony, of course. What I am doing now is promoting the feeling of harmony in the classroom but forcing my students to work quietly. This just ensures that there the culture of learning, which I know is present, surfaces and is immediately apparent during the observation. Part of the problem I have had recently is an influx of new students. (I have had a total of four new students in the space of three months, one of whom was only in my class for four days.) This change had tipped the balance of the class and unfortunately I had to take drastic measures to restore this balance. This card tells me that what I am doing now will be beneficial in the long run. The neighboring teacher is doing the same thing because she is having identical issues (and she is being observed, as well). She calls it the "Come to Jesus" speech.

XII Hanged Man shows that I still have a bit of nervousness obviously. Again, experiencing abuse of power at the hands of administration has a longterm effect on the mind. What happened to me happened almost five years ago and I am still angry about it (not at any one person but an overall or general mistrust, as you can imagine). The shadow card is III Empress, of course (1 + 2 = 3). The Empress is a card that I normally associate with this particular administration, as she is very understanding and supportive and nurturing, very unusual for a person in her position. The fact that she surfaces as XII Hanged Man has more to do with my perception, in that this can be seen as The Empress turned upside down, than with the actual situation. Since it is the only Major in the throw, it has even more importance. It is my "yoga" card. And I need to meditate and calm myself down going into next week.

3 of Wands is the future. It shows me watching as my ship finally comes in. I take this as a good augury that everything will go well. The frog stands at the shore in all his fine robes, on top of the world, as it were. This card not only rounds the reading off well, it has an asepct of the XII Hanged Man (1 + 2 = 3) and XXI World (2 + 1 = 3). It seems perhaps that all's well that end's well. It has certainly been a long three year journey to receive finally as well deserved tenure position.

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