Happy Winter Solstice!

This beautiful image is the artwork of Roberta Lannes-Sealy .

I also find it interesting, given that today is the Winter Solstice, that in the weekly e-mail that I receive from Alison Day's tarot website , the card drawn for this week was Death/Transformation. To me, Winter Solstice also represents the circle of life; as one thing ends or dies, another thing begins or is born. In order to be transformed-- to grow, to change, to learn our life's lessons-- to become more and more of who we truly are-- we die to ourselves repeatedly. And we rise, over and over again, from our own ashes. This is fundamental to life; we all experience this at some point in our journeys. Some of us experience it many times...

Here is what Alison had to say this week about Death and Transformation:

How would you feel if I was to say ‘Oh look, you are about to experience a transformation in your life’? Would you be as spooked as if you simply saw the Death card as your outcome card?

I am in the process of creating the Lotus Tarot deck and I will be naming this card ‘Transformation’ because I believe it portrays the true meaning of this card far better and without evoking the chills that the title ‘Death’ card does.

When the ‘Death’ card appears in a reading, the most common thought is that it is predicting a physical death, that someone is going to die. This, in most, if not all, cases is highly unlikely.

I cannot speak for all Tarot readers, but I personally do not use this card to represent a physical death. For me, the Death card represents an event or series of events or circumstances that may cause great disruption and possible upset, but which make transformation in its many forms inevitable.

I am not a medium or clairvoyant, but I do use the Tarot cards to help give men and women around the world some insights into their own situations and to look at their lives from a different perspective. Let me give you some examples: one of the greatest blows any of us can receive, man or woman, is when we fall utterly in love with someone only to be rejected and left alone. Many of you may have
had such an experience and it can feel like your world has fallen apart.

Such incidences can create transformational change within us, changing our outlook and our approach to love and relationships. For example, if someone, who didn’t love you, lets you go, it can open up a whole new set of circumstances and opportunities for you.

There have been numerous case histories of people who have been bankrupt and who have lost everything only to change course and tactics and go on to achieve great success.

For me, the end of something, whether it be a relationship, job, career or lifestyle is only the sign that it is time for something new to be created. If I am no longer in that relationship, I am free to pursue new love. If I have lost my job, I am free to look for a better one and so on.

The tale of the Phoenix sums up the meaning of the Death card quite well, where a bird dies in the flames only to emerge and fly out of the fire transformed into something far greater.

So don’t fear the Death card when it appears. Take it as a sign that something in your life may come to an end. The transition may be challenging but as the end comes to pass a new beginning will present itself.

Love and Joy,
Alison