Your Celtic Cross Greenwood Tarot Reading

Wolf

Knight of Stones

Revered as a ruthless tracker and hunter, the wolf has had a special symbolism for thousands of years and was the subject of ancient Pictish stone carvings.

Comfortable in the dark and cold of winter, it was seen as a guardian of the dead on their journey through the night to the Otherworld.

This card is one of guardianship. Someone who is essentially protective, a loyal companion on long journeys, who remains their own person.

A defender of your boundaries, leaving you safe to withdraw from the world.

A provider, but one who is not tied to a life at home, but is restless. Their power needs matching to hold them.

Strength

Through adversity or the process of rebalancing in life, we often find courage within ourselves that flows from an unknown source. Sometimes that courage has to do with facing an unpleasant but unavoidable truth or dealing with a person or problem that no amount of physical confrontation or emotional bravery will resolve. That is when the true, patient and resolute attributes of Strength come into play.

Strength, drawn from nature's inherent power to renew and overcome all manner of disaster and climatic change, is what we must also have to foresee outcomes and wait upon the turning of the seasons.

Sometimes when faced with a challenging situation we must find our own inner back-stop, the point from which we will not retreat or from which we can move forward with quiet confidence.

The Greenwood ethos has much to teach humanity about calm, resolute Strength.

The Strength card concerns following what you feel is right for you, doing your true will. Society is not supportive of individual dedication to an unusual path, and incredible strength of heart is needed to stay on it.

If one's initial impulse to follow your heart (Ancestor and Archer) has been lost by the pressures and attractions of everyday living, i.e. Lovers, Greenman/Woman, then Strength calls to your heart to rededicate your life. At this stage this might require sacrificing some aspect of it, which leads to the tensions in The Blasted Oak.

The spear of power (air) is balanced by the cup of compassion. This balance cannot be held for long. It is a card of fullness seeking release, a build up of energy that needs grounding, a thundery sky needing rain, passion, anger, pre-menstrual tension, pregnancy about to birth, ecstatic dance or trance that could become oracular, a harvest ready for picking.

It is not an easy energy to utilise yet when surrendered to produces ecstatic liberation that is both tenderness and wildness, a powerful creativity that can be used to transform your life into a dance of the heart.

Transition

Six of Arrows

Travelling or movement toward new possibilities or cycles, possibly within yourself. Possibly an anxious or testing time, but harnessing positive energies will add momentum.

You have turned your back on one phase of your life, and head towards a homecoming of the soul.

Travel. Moving home. An emotional retreat.

Injustice

Two of Arrows

False judgement, ignorance or arrogance. Sitting in judgement but with unbalanced scales. The bow lies broken and useless because of prejudice.

The scales of justice are already unbalanced in favour of the light, and the 'white'.

Someone who judges others from a position of arrogant superiority, often stemming from a fearful withdrawn heart.

The Hermit

The time of The Hermit is here. Whether he appears in the guise of an outward guide and mentor or simply as a state of mind, you will know it's time to withdraw and rest.

After a long journey through the forest many emotions and experiences need to be absorbed. This absorption is the beginning of understanding - not just yourself, but the universe.

For each person The Hermit comes in a different way. Whether through meditation or solitude in the mountains, whether though simple prayer or the taking of a holiday in solitude, he will light your way to the doorway into the heart of the great oak and the cycle will turn once more.

The Hermit requires contented solitude to re-establish their every day life after the disruption of Samhain. This is not lonely isolation but a stable base from which to visit others.

This time away from hectic activity enables you to explore interests in depth, use your talents (Skill, eight of stones) and draw together all you have achieved and desired throughout the year. (Hearthfire, eight of wands).

The Stoat

Page of Wands

With a fierce hunting instinct and its ability to live underground, combined with the changing colour of its fur from white to red (the symbols of winter to spring) and its black tail, the stoat has strong mystical links to the sovereignty of the land.

Renewal of an alert determination. Realignment with the sacred will of the land. Secrecy and magical sensitivity. Playfulness. An ability to slip out of situations.

The Shaman

Now you may hear the beat of a drum or the song of the wind. It may be the dancing of light on water or the midnight barking of the fox, but whatever awakens your desire to return to the wild, The Shaman within you is ready for initiation into the mysteries.

It may manifest itself in the form of a desire to study an esoteric science or philosophy and apply what you learn to the world. It may involve travel or even a personal sojourn for the sake of gaining confidence and experience. But however the desire to begin a new spiritual chapter emerges, you are now in an emotional and intellectual position to bring forth real change in your life for the benefit of everyone.

This process of focusing, mediating and applying wisdom and knowledge from the Otherworld to bring physical effects to everyday reality is the work of The Shaman.

Being a shaman, able to see the complexities of life and death, and acting on this knowledge for the benefit of all, can be a heavy burden to carry. (Responsibility, ten of wands).

The Shaman has a deep rooted balance within themselves, and can assume a place of status within society without compromising their integrity and losing sight of the higher purpose they are working for.

Fulfilment

Three of Wands

Nourishment from a spiritual source that gives inner security and joy. Goals and desires reached, making life rich with emotional security and a sense of completion.

... the blessing of fulfillment. The healing radiance of the afterglow created after a loving polaric interchange.

This energised peace does not require another person, it can be achieved after an act of Creativity or Joy.

Challenge

Two of Stones

Mad March hares 'box' for domination. After finding your grounded energy, a position may be challenged. Learning to deal with rivalry or adversity.

Confrontation, manifested tensions, rivalry, arguments, that are often not well founded, but they need to be bridged before you can move forward.

Spark of Life

Ace of Wands

The turning of the cosmic axis that generates the spark of life. The drill symbolizes the skills that exert control over the environment, directed by the human intellect.

Renewed will and life energy. Sudden determination and action. Return of health. Positive energy. A new force in one's life, as yet unformed and unchanneled.