Springtime welcomes your smile!

Published in Inner Tapestry April/May 2013

When asking for wisdom each time I write this wonderful column I first say a prayer to the Universe that the words will flow from my hands to paper, and from Spirit's lips to your heart. The theme of "smile" is a wonderful one in that spring is upon us, and the Goddess mother is fertile once more. Gardeners, like myself, are finally able to put plants into the ground after planning and re-planning our gardens all winter. No doubt the Universe has planted seeds of change within your heart at the New Year in the form of resolutions. Some 'resolutions will have fallen by the wayside, and others will continue to find fertile ground lasting through the spring. I asked the Tarot what wisdom it had to offer on the topic of smiling more often in our daily lives and it did not disappoint!

The first card that I drew from the deck was The Queen of Cups.

This beautiful card has the image of a woman gazing deeply into a cup. Perhaps, she is divining her future love or of the career she seeks. Nostradamus used water and ink to divine the future, and it looks as if we can do so as well if we look into our hearts. This card, the Queen of Cups, speaks to us of hope and emotion. I am reminded by the North Star, that appears on her cup, of the tune "When you Wish Upon A Star" that was made famous in Disney's "Pinnochio." We need to find the time to "smile" and find joy in daily life. For without a wish or a dream, our lives become jneaningless. Obligations in life will always present themselves, and if not kept in check will take over our lives. The wisdom of the Tarot is saying to us in the spring especially, "what is an obligation? " and "what is unnecessary?" The seeds, or thought forms, that you plant today in your life will become the reality of your future. Make them happy ones. Follow your true north!

Ask yourself:

• What did you dream for your life when you were younger?
• Do you need to look at what you prioritize now?
• How can you integrate those soul yearnings into your reality today?

I asked in earnest of the Tarot again, what else might one do to smile more, and in its affable way the deck immediately threw forth The Sun card.

"Just do it" as the Nike tagline goes! "How incredibly simple," I thought. Here I was thinking that the Tarot was going to get deep and complicated and it was simply saying: Just smile.

The baby is the innocent who rides without a saddle because he is in perfect balance within his universe. Even the sun within the card has a big smile on its face! To help maximize sun exposure, sunflowers lift their blooms toward the east and turn toward the sunrise each morning. They track the sun to the west as the sun sets each evening, and then they reset themselves to the eastward direction to greet the rising sun once again. The Universe apparently wants us to experience abundance il\ all its forms, but we can complicate our lives through our own fears. Fear of losing love; fear of not having enough money, fear of what others think of us, fear of losing friendships because we need time for ourselves and for our dreams. fear of losing family due to judgments on us.

• What fears can you let go of so that you can smile more?
• How can you reset yourself like the sunflowers in The Sun card to seek the light?
• If you smiled more how would it affect those around you and would you simply be happier?

The final card that I drew from the deck was the card of The World.

This climactic card of the Major Arcana also becomes the climax of the Tarot as prophecy. Here we see the World restored. Our world is restored. In Tarot for Magical Times by Rachel Pollack -Johannes Fiebig, U.S Games Systems Inc., 2011, the co-authors say of The World that "the elegant dancer appears in a blue sky, as if our consciousness no longer needs the ground of our old beliefs. She dances in an oval egg out of which something truly new and wonderful will burst forth. The World does not limit us, but shows us a life more filled with potential." Perhaps it is through creating our own reality by using positive thoughts, and outwardly smiling that we are able to dance to wondrous new possibilities! In order to smile more, contemplate the follOwing questions:

• How can you accept and cultivate unused abilities?
• Can you reawaken lost professional plans?
• What childhood dreams still call to you emotionally, and can you act on them?

On the topic of "smile", the Tarot had asserted through The Queen of Cups card the to find your "true north" and to allow yourself time to dream. With The Sun card it chides us to "just do it" -just be happy -just smile! In The World card we see that we are not limited if we choose not to be limited by our own fears and poor chOices. vve can choose to smile. Happy is a choice. I wish all of you balance, strength, and happiness in your daily journey.

Karen Hollis is one of Connecticut's most highly regarded professional psychic/mediums. She is a sought-after master Tarot reader who has over30 years experience both reading and teaching the Tarot. Karen has been featured on the Discovery Channel's Destination America, and has had the privilege of studying at Omega Institute with James Van Praagh, Tony Stockwell of England, John Holland and Jose Gosschalk, of the Netherlands, to increase her abilities. A former marketing executive, Karen leads dynamic workshops throughout New England. Karen is also the Lead Psychic/Medium Investigator with Ghosts of New England Research Society a.k.a. G.ON.E.R.S. For an appointment with Karen, either by phone Or in person please call 860-665-8024 between the hours of 9:00 am-7:00 pm Eastern Time.

Illustrations of the Hanson-Roberts Tarot deck reproduced by permission of U. S. Games Systems, Inc., Stanford, CT 06092 USA. © 1985 U. S. Games Systems, Inc. Further reproduction prohibited.