The Giants’ Tarot, Raven Kaldera

Draw for January 4, 2017:
Active Influence: Mimir/The Hanged Man
Rune: Uruz/Strength—reversed
Hidden Influence: Hevring/Four of Cups

Whatever action you did or did not take yesterday has set things in motion. Today, you must wait while others respond/react/create an equal and opposite reaction. Emotions are high, and perspective is more than a bit off-kilter (albeit perhaps no less accurate). Retreat if you need to; do not let others goad you into action based on false strength or bravado. Take time to assess the situation, and consider new possibilities.

The Giants’ Tarot, Raven Kaldera

Draw for January 3, 2017:
Active Influence: Hela/Death
Rune: Perthro/Chance
Hidden Influence: Loki & Thor/Seven of Swords

If someone approaches you with a questionable scheme, think twice. Other than your own behavior, everything is out of your control, and you will be forced to rely on someone who has already shown that they are possessed of a flexible sense of ethics.

It’s better to make your own changes and take your chances on your own plans. You don’t have any more control there, but at least you are not at the mercy of someone you probably shouldn’t trust.

Also—don’t be that person who tries to pull someone into your questionable scheme.

As we begin the journey of a new year, Cavafy’s words inspire us.

Ithaka
~ C.P. Cavafy
Translated from Greek by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard

As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope the voyage is a long one.
May there be many a summer morning when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbors seen for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

The Giants’ Tarot, Raven Kaldera

Draw for January 2, 2017:
Active Influence: Fenja & Menja/Two of Coins
Rune: Wendhorn/Cycle
Hidden Influence: Gunnlod/Two of Cups

Fenja and Menja are starting the year by reminding you to focus on your work when you are working, so you can play when you are playing. Take your responsibilities seriously, fulfill them timely and to the best of your abilities, so that when you have time to play and to relax, you can play and relax without worrying about the work. The two Coins and the two Cups balance each other perfectly.

Wendhorn emphasizes the cyclical nature of time. We cannot do everything at once, and events repeat: wake up, go to work, eat supper, do homecaring, relax. If you focus on the action at hand during its time, you are free to focus solely on the next action during its time.

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