Tarot for Grownups

Tarot for Grownups

(Review)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1780995997/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i4

This 126 page tarot how-to was probably one of the most entertaining books on the great 78 I have read in awhile. The author and her unique storytelling style held me captivated right from jump. She told it like it was and thought out of the box when it came to the meaning of the cards. It was like sitting down with someone over coffee as they explained the inner workings of the tarot. She absolutely delightfully is not by the book and it just felt so real and refreshing. I would recommend this special helper to anyone looking for an out of the box approach to divination. Thanks Amythyst, you do so rock, I will never look at the tarot quite the same way again.

Love & Light, Riki Frahmann

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Menopause ~ The Magick of it All

Menopause 

There is a combination of emotions centered around this event in a woman's life; and this is an ongoing transition, remember. If a natural menopause is experienced, you will not wake up some morning to abruptly find yourself transitioned from Mother to Crone. It doesn't work that way. This too, this last phase of woman's life, is still a learning process, a gradual awakening. And yes, it's an awakening, it's not an end. Menopause is simply another beginning, a new beginning. You will be allowed now to view the world, your life and the divine, from a whole new perspective. You will come full-circle; you will taste the victory of having lived and learned, of having lived and survived, of having lived to reach the stage you are now, the most illuminating and beautiful stage of a woman's life. This is your time. Finally, after years of being someone's daughter, someone's wife, someone's mother, someone's grandmother, it's time to re-center. It's time to refocus, it's time to renew a relationship with yourself.

Personal Menopause Rituals: 

Things you want to leave behind.

List all of these things on a single piece of paper, whether they are actual physical things or people, or whether they are circumstances, emotions, and such that have been bothering you. You can list them all on one great big piece of paper because they are one great big lump of crap that needs to be disposed of. And this is exactly what you're going to do; you're going to dispose of this list and these negative things, people, and circumstances by putting this paper in a box, a small cardboard box, the kind that you will find in a hobby/craft shop, those little ones that are just waiting to be decorated.

How do you want to get rid of it?

If you bury it in the earth-- off your property and a distance away!-- these things will most certainly stop bothering you, but they may not go completely away. They will still be there, but the feeling of them will be sort of blunt, a far-off "Oh, ya, I remember __________, funny how I haven't thought of that in a while." This might be okay if what you want to rid yourself of is something that you might want to change, but not necessarily banish completely from your life.

For things that you really truly want to go completely away, never to come back, take this little box and find a nice rushing stream, or a river, a body of water with a flow to it, not a stagnant pool or lake. Stop on a bridge, or take a nice walk along the bank, and when you're ready, throw this box in the moving water. Sling it out there, give it some oomph. After all, this is stuff you want as far away from you as possible. Be sure to show the universe just how strongly you feel about it. (If you happen to stomp your feet, or throw a few cuss words out there, or spit-- that's okay, you're making your point.)

Things you still want to accomplish:

This sounds like a "Bucket List", but it's more than that. This isn't just Things-You-Wish-You-Could-Do-Before-You-Die. These are actual things that you were put here to do. They are things you were meant to do. They are things that just got postponed while you were busy having babies, raising a family, earning a wage, and taking care of all the things Life threw your way and made your responsibility.

Now it's your turn.

What do you still want to accomplish? What do you have left to do?

Make a list. Sit on a quiet day, over a cup of coffee, looking out a rainy window, and think of all of the wonderful, incredible, simple, complicated, difficult, and easy things that you still want to do. Write this list on a plain piece of paper, or on a paper laced with flowers, or on a paper with stars in the background, or on a paper with no lines or boundaries at all.

Get a small box for this piece of paper too. The ones I spoke of, those small boxes that are just waiting to be decorated. You're going to keep this one, and you might even decorate it-- decorate it with wishes and fantasies, dreams and realities. You're going to keep it close by, handy enough so that you can open it every now and then and look at this list, and check things off as you get them done, and add new things to the bottom of the list to do, because you are not stagnant but incredibly creative and adventurous.

This is your I-Am-An-Amazing-Woman-Box. 

This is an excerpt from one of my books,

The Spiritual Feminist, by Amythyst Raine

Purchase your copy @ Amazon

This book includes a look at 45 goddesses from around the world, their energy, their power, their culture of origin; as well as their points of expertise in the daily lives of the devoted who worship them. You'll also find sections in this book on the stages of a woman's life; holidays and their connection to our own traditions; as well as a look at the Motherpeace Tarot Deck, and much much more... all geared to women and our incredible journey through life.

The Goddess Sophia ~ (book excerpt)

The following is an excerpt from one of my books,

The Spiritual Feminist, by Amythyst Raine

Purchase your copy @ Amazon

This book includes a look at 45 goddesses from around the world, their energy, their power, their culture of origin; as well as their points of expertise in the daily lives of the devoted who worship them.  You'll also find sections in this book on the stages of a woman's life; holidays and their connection to our own traditions; as well as a look at the Motherpeace Tarot Deck, and much much more... all geared to women and our incredible journey through life.

Sophia 

Her Story:
Sophia is one of the most powerful of goddesses, a goddess of the middle-east, entrenched in the legacy of the Gnostics, of Judeo/Christian culture. She is the ultimate Divine Feminine, the personification of divinity, the ultimate sacred feminine energy and entity of the universe. This goddess takes the patriarchal personification of "god" and stands it on its ear. Sophia is the voice of wisdom from the divine. She is the creatrix of all the universe. It’s believed that every human in existence carries a sparkle of her energy within them. 

______________________________

"Conversation with The Divine" 

Universe, I know you're listening. You can be really, really quiet sometimes, trying to trick me into life and stark reality; but I know you're there, and I know you're listening. And I know you can hear me.

Life is running its course...figuratively and literally.

How? How do I know this?

I know this by the living "Flow" of life, in a figurative way, a physical way, an undeniably human/mother nature way:

I know this by moving rushing water in streams, and rivers, and bubbling brooks. I know this by the blood rushing through my veins in a mortal journey between my heart and the rest of my body. I know this by the miraculous flow of blood from a mother's heart to her unborn child. I know this by the flow of sap from the roots to the limbs of a tree, all the way to the very top. I know this through the flow of moisture from a tree's roots up through the trunk to each and every single leaf. I know this through the white and nourishing flow of milk from every human mother's breast, and from the breast of every mother creature.

Life is flowing...it never stops. When it ceases in one spot, it resumes somewhere else; forever, and ever, in an endless immortal blaze of Nature. 

______________________________

Embracing the Goddess: 

When you need personal power, when you need divine guidance, when you need protection or healing, when you need relief from mental anguish, when you need to connect with the divine on a personal universal huge in-your-face way…invoke Sophia. 

Sophia’s Correspondences: 

Herbs: bittersweet, pine, sage, star anise, 

anise, slippery elm 

Animal: dove 

Color: yellow 

Planet: Mercury 

Day: Wednesday 

Element: Air 

Feminine Face: Mother 

Today's Daily Tarot Cards ~ from The Tarot Parlour

Daily Tarot Cards are up @ The Tarot Parlour’s FB page ~ If you need something to read with your morning coffee, here you go. (There’s lots of swords showing up today, just saying).

https://www.facebook.com/pg/readingswithamythystraine/posts/

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Planning a Wedding When You're Over 50

Planning a wedding doesn’t necessarily change because you’re older, of course.

If you’re having a pretty traditional event, you’ll still need all the basics, from officiant and music to rings and food. But how you think about it, and what matters to you, might be a little different now. I’ll be 51 when I walk down the aisle for the first time this September, so goodness knows I’ve had plenty of time to consider our Big Day.

But the truth is that quite a few things I would have obsessed over in my twenties or thirties don’t seem very important (or even appropriate) now. There will be no bouquet-tossing, no wearing of white, no wedding theme or colors, no string of bridesmaids (though I would never begrudge any bride at any age these things.) “One of the great things about getting married or remarried after 50 is you and your fiance are at a stage in life where you know what you want,” says Stacey Colino, a writer in Chevy Chase, Maryland, who married for the second time last November at 52. “And because you’re likely financing the wedding, you can do it your way, in a style that appeals to you, without having to worry about pleasing your parents or other people. John and I planned our wedding together every step of the way.”

Rather than scrutinize every detail, at this stage of life I'm simply trying to ensure that the day goes smoothly and that my fiance Fred, and I, along with our guests, get to really enjoy ourselves. For us, nothing matters more. So with that in mind, here’s some advice from a first-timer on how to plan a wedding later in life, plus a few words of wisdom from Stacey:

Hire a wedding planner if you can afford it. 

We decided against doing so, but now I’m beginning to regret that choice. If we had skimped on some other things to pay for a planner she'd likely be saving me the endless back-and-forth with vendors that I’m dealing with right now. I found out the hard way, too, that if you're planning your nuptials in under six months (this is considered "last minute" in Wedding World), you may be hard-pressed to get the florist/DJ/officiant/string quartet of your choice, especially if you’re getting married in high season, which starts in the autumn in many places.

Be honest (with each other) about who you really want at the wedding. 

Culling the guest list down to my essential family and friends hasn't been so difficult for me, but Fred has worried over leaving some people out, especially work colleagues we almost never socialize with and whom I hardly know. I could invite many more people (and might have done so in my younger years), but not only can we not afford a huge wedding, the idea of talking all night to a bunch of people I don't care that much about just isn't what I want out of my wedding day. What I’m looking forward to the most is the probably not-to-be-repeated chance to have all the people we love most in one room. Stacey concurs: “You may need to be extra-selective about whom to invite if you want to stick to a budget and keep your guest list manageable; after all, by now, you both know a lot of people so it’s easy to over-invite.”

Decide what matters most to each of you and spend there. 

Since I was 16, and we had to plan our ideal wedding in my high school Human Relations class, I’ve known that four things would matter a lot to me: my dress, the cake, flowers, and the photographer. So, I’ve spent more time finding these, and I feel good about the choices I've made for each. I know I should probably care a little more about the dinner, appetizers, and drinks; but those are being handled by our venue, which will also host and manage the ceremony. While these parts of the wedding may not be 100% to my taste, I know the venue will do a very good job, and most important, I don't need to worry about them. For Fred, a classical music lover, the choice of music for the ceremony and reception are paramount, so he's vetting these folks to choose who we go with. Together, we're tackling the rest... rings, vows, invitations, officiant, ceremony readings, and beyond. (For us, the "divide and conquer" approach seems to be working pretty well, though an up-to-date spreadsheet helps a lot.)

Do it your way. 

If you’re anything like me, when you get engaged everyone will tell you to plan your wedding the way you want... choose the location, the date and everything else that works best for you and your fiance. You will do so, and they will complain. Stick to your guns. Trying to please everyone is a sure route to insanity. It is your day, and the people who need to be there almost certainly will find a way to be there. (Remember how many weddings you’ve had to move heaven and earth to attend over the years.) It will all work out, at least that’s what I tell myself. Stacey says she and John knew they would make their wedding their very own: “For the ceremony, we walked each other down the aisle (we’re too old to be given away!) and wrote our own vows. One of my best friends was our celebrant,” she recalls. “John’s … younger daughter read a beautiful passage about the power of having a welcoming, loving home, like the one we’ve created, to come back to after adventures. It was from The Lord of the Rings and incredibly touching!”

Stacey says that in the end, her best advice for anyone planning a wedding when you’re a little (or a lot) older “is to think about the style and vibe you want to create, figure out how much you want to spend, then design your wedding your way,” she stresses. “Think of it as a celebratory party as much as an official union. You’ve earned it at this stage of your life!”

It should be said, too, that for us, marrying later in life means Fred and I can afford to pay for a few more special touches than we otherwise could have had we married in our 20s. Which is very nice. Since we’ve waited a long time for this day, we know that the only real difference between marrying young and marrying not-so-young may be this:

We understand just how remarkable it is to find the right person and we feel profoundly grateful that, finally, we did.

Source:

https://www.getold.com/planning-a-wedding-after-50

Text Message Cheating

After you read this article, you might wish for the good old days of a rotary landline phone that hung on the kitchen wall with four feet of cord attached to it.  It would be a little hard to use this device for cozy clandestine conversations with the opposite sex. 

It used to be if you wanted to have an affair, it took some effort. You had to arrange for secret calls and rendezvous and sneak around -- not anymore. Today’s technology has provided easier and easier ways for partners to cheat on one another. And sadly, text message cheating has become a simple way to cheat without much work at all.

Sometimes the cheating is intentional, and other times it may start off as innocent and occasional communication . Regardless, text message cheating is a really easy way to start cheating and often times not even realize it. Someone gets your cell number (an old friend, a coworker, an ex, someone from the gym, a person you met at a party) and they start sending you friendly texts. Before you know it, it's very easy to be having full-on conversations by text, and the kind of conversations you would not want your spouse or partner to be privy to.  And most problematic of all, is that you can do so anytime, anywhere.

• Why Text Message Cheating Can Be Hard To Recognize

It's not uncommon at all for cheating partners to be cheating by texting messages right in front of their unknowing partner. I've had partners tell me that it happened when they were lying next to each other in bed, riding in the car together, and standing in the kitchen talking to each other. The phone beeps or buzzes and the partner responds to a text that is explained away as just a friend or coworker, but is really the other woman or other man.

Here’s an interesting example of text cheating:

"We have had problems since December, when I found out she was in a texting affair. We worked through that, but in February she developed a very close friendship with another woman. I started suspecting something was not right with this friendship, so I confronted her and she became mad and defensive. Well, it seemed ok until she started texting her like 100 times a day; then she started running into her wherever she went. I think they were doing it on purpose, so I asked her and she became very angry again, saying I was over analyzing it." -Rick B.

Here’s another case showing men and women are equally vulnerable.

"I have been in a relationship with my boyfriend for 3 years, and we are both thinking about getting married. I love him.  I love spending time with him, and I really want to be married, but I'm also very worried that I can't trust him not to cheat. From the very beginning, it has been difficult for him to stop being always on the lookout for someone to flirt with, or date, even though we are together. He had an extremely inappropriate texting relationship with a girl he briefly dated in college, which went on for the first year and a half of our relationship." -Tonya W.

All cheating causes pain, but because text message cheating can literally happen while you and your partner are together, it can be especially hurtful. It doesn’t take physical contact with someone else to cause deep wounds and break the trust that’s so crucial to a healthy relationship

• Symptoms Of Text Message Cheating

As you can see, texting can cross the line and become a problem with any relationship. So what are some signs of text message cheating?

For one, treating your cell phone like it's something you cannot be separated from. If you always have to have your phone with you, even at home, and never let it out of your sight, that's a warning sign.

Another major sign of textbook cheating is having your cell phone password locked and not allowing anyone to use it, or look at what's on it.

Apps are installed that can be used to text or instant message in secrecy. I won't give their names to prevent the information from being misused, but texting apps exist, so do cheating apps, and some of the everyday apps many of us already use give the option to hide communication. So you should know what apps are on your partner's phone and what they're used for.

Unfortunately, today's technology offers many ways to have a texting affair and keep it secret. Phone records will show you texts were sent, but you cannot see their content. Flipping through the contacts list won't usually be revealing either as the names and numbers are often hidden under a false contact name.

Dealing with a cheating partner is tricky, no matter how it’s happening. The pain and feeling of betrayal can stir-up many strong emotions, especially anger. These feelings can cause people to act in ways that simply make things worse and lead to even more hurt, particularly if you’re mistaken about your suspicions. There are things you can do, however, to help determine whether there may be something to worry about. 

One thing you can do to uncover text message cheating is asking to look at your partner's phone and watch their reaction. Their behavior will typically reveal more than anything you could ever find on their phone.

I was counseling a troubled couple recently, and he had been suspected of cheating. When she asked to see his phone, he wouldn't give it to her, but after a long fight he held it up 3 feet away from her face and flipped through the screens. Then he locked it and walked away. Do you think she had anything to be suspicious of?

There are many excuses that can be given as to why the contents of a phone cannot be shared, but keep in mind that very few of us really have justifiable reasons why our partner cannot look through our phone. And if your partner says they do, be very skeptical.

And, unfortunately, texting isn’t the only way technology can be used to facilitate an affair. Facebook and Instagram also provide covert ways for partners to cheat. Once again, smart phones can provide convenient and stealthy means for spouses and partners to have inappropriate communication, or emotional affairs.

In some ways, cheating through texting is really obvious if you know what to look for, as with the guy in our example above. But in other ways, it's not. Nevertheless, healthy relationships are built on transparency and trust. When you don't have transparency or trust, your relationship is very susceptible to the development of text message cheating.

Source:

https://www.guystuffcounseling.com/counseling-men-blog/3-signs-of-text-message-cheating

Discovering Your Passion

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The number of positions shown for the spread below does not imply the number of cards drawn for any reading. I'll lay as many cards as it takes to get an answer

Your Daily Tarot Cards ~ Courtesy of The Tarot Parlour

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Defamatory Social Media Posts ~ You Can Be Sued for Personally Bashing Someone Online

When individuals feel that their reputation is damaged because of a reckless comment made on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media channels, they may consider pursuing a defamation lawsuit against the insulting party. Through a libel lawsuit, they may be able to recover compensation for the damages that they have sustained.

Online Defamation

Social media grew exponentially during the 21st century with the advent of various social media channels. Additionally, online commentary sites such as Yelp and review sites have enabled individuals to leave reviews that allow thousands of individuals to read their comments. Many social media sites exist on the idea that users must be allowed to share information. Often, this sharing occurs without any thought to the truth of information or without regulatory oversight. Additionally, anonymous profiles and sites have allowed individuals to post what they really think instantaneously. Some users assume a completely different personality than they show in the real world. Online commentators may be rewarded with attention and public support when they blast other individuals. Most sites may check for pornographic or inappropriate content, but many do not screen for potentially defamatory content.

Potential Defendants

While some victims may hope to pursue Internet service providers or the hosts of websites in the hope of going after deep pockets, a federal law called the Communications Decency Act prohibits suing these entities for defamation. Instead, wronged individuals should pursue a claim against the individual or entity that made the derogatory statement. This is usually accomplished by filing a complaint in the appropriate state court.

Elements of Defamation

While each state’s laws can vary, the basic elements of a defamation suit are explained below. Generally, defamation is a false statement that is published and injurious to the victim’s reputation.

False Statement

A victim must be able to establish that the statement was false. The truth is a complete defense to a defamation lawsuit. For defamation lawsuits, the burden of proof is on the suing party.

Fact

The alleged defamatory statement must be presented as a fact and not as an opinion. However, an opinion can be considered a fact statement if a reasonable person would have interpreted it as such.

Published

"Published" can literally mean in print, such as in a newspaper or on a website. It can also mean "said in front of others". This element is satisfied if the statement has been communicated to a third party. Proving that a statement was published is not usually difficult for a case involving social media, providing that the plaintiff can show that the content was on the web-page by printing it out. Likewise, the content is considered published whether three people read it on an obscure website or 300,000 people read it on a popular social media page.

Damage

In order for a plaintiff to prevail in a defamation lawsuit, he or she must be able to show that the defamatory statement damaged him or her in some way. This may be expressed as demonstrating that the damage was significant, quantifiable and documented. This is usually accomplished by showing that the victim’s reputation has been damaged. If the person who was insulted online was running a business, damages may be shown by the loss of business or profit. Some statements are so inherently injurious that a victim may not need to show actual damages, such as statements accusing the individual of committing a crime, of being incompetent in his or her profession, of certain sexual conduct, or of having an infectious disease. A common test to determine whether a person’s reputation has been damaged is if the comment would cause the individual’s peers to think less of him or her.

Examples of Social Media Defamation

Not every untrue or unkind statement is actionable. However, many statements are. For example, if you accused a person on social media of abusing his or her spouse or children, such a statement would likely be considered defamatory if it were not true. Even if an individual posts information that is partially true and partially false, he or she can be found liable for defamation. For example, a person may claim that an individual was fired for harassment. The individual may have been fired but not for harassment. The court may find defamation still existed despite some truth to the statement.

SOURCE:

https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/defamatory-social-media-posts-can-i-sue-someone-for-bashing-me-online-34430