Happy New Year....Seriously!

In a tarot deck, the Death card is surely the most misunderstood. When one draws this card, there is a tendency on the part of most folks to freak out a little, based simply upon the way they conceptualize death.

This morning, when I did my morning drawing of the cards, this was the card I drew. And you know what? I was excited! This is why…

“Here we see the face of our deepest fear - our greatest unknown. We recoil from Death because we think of it as annihilation. In the tarot (and in life I would suggest) Death is not a permanent end, but a transition into a new state. Life is eternal in its essence, if not in its form. To grow, to move, to live - we must "die" to the old to give birth to the new.

It is a truism in tarot work that Card 13 rarely has anything to do with physical death. A responsible card reader never interprets Card 13 in this way because this view is too limiting. Death is not something that happens once to our bodies. It happens continually, at many levels and not just in the physical. Each moment we die to the present so the future can unfold.

In readings, Death often represents an important ending that will initiate great change. It signals the end of an era; a moment when a door is closing. At such times, there may be sadness and reluctance, but also relief and a sense of completion. Death also suggests getting down to basics. Dying has a way of making you concentrate on what's important. This card reminds you to cut out the unnecessary. Death can also mean you will experience an inexorable force. Death is inevitable, and sometimes there are events that are inescapable as well. When these moments occur, the best approach is to ride your fate and see where it takes you.”

I don’t know about you, but this has been a year to remind of constant reminders that I am not driving this bus; a year of daily reminders of the things that are most important. This past year has been a bitch for virtually everyone I know. It’s been a time of systematic “tearing down” for friends and family; for the whole country and the world at large. But the great thing is that we get to rebuild, and when our old structure no longer works, it's nice to think about considering a radical new set of blueprints.

My New Year's wish 2009 is this: Let this be the year you meet each challenge with your chin up and your eyes on the horizon, and hope rather than fear. That you were take each bit of adversity thrown at you, turn it over in your heart and in your mind, absorb the lesson(s) presented to you; and then you pass it on. Perhaps in doing so, you’ll smooth the path for someone else.

Me? Think this will be a good year. I am embracing the image of the scythe and the rose.