Those of you who know me well enough know that life has been hard these past few months. Well, quite a few months really, right back into last year, and quite possibly before that.
All the plans I’ve made, the things I want to do, keep getting stalled. When I think things are moving again, the rug gets pulled from under me and I’m back to where I started. Road block after road block gets in my way. I think of a way out and boom. Can’t go that way.
So it got me thinking, as tough times usually do. Is there something else going on here? Am I missing the bigger picture? Why all these road blocks? Why, when I think things are moving forward again, do they come to a complete stop? Is there a reason for this, apart from another Mercury Retrograde?
On the Fan Page this week, I posted the Hanged Man as the Card for the Day as I figured hanging upside down from a tree seemed like a good idea, when you need a different perspective. And I think I may have got it, the different perspective, that is.
What if I’m travelling down the wrong road. What if the road blocks are trying to tell me to get onto a different road. Obstacles are one thing, and it’s a wonderful sense of achievement when you overcome them, but there surely comes a point when you have to question the quantity of them? So I wondered, what if everything I’ve been planning is just not meant to be. You know what this means?
It means I’m getting all philosophical again and asking the age old question of pre-determinism. Are we pre-determined to a certain path in life? Is the journey and destination equally important? If all my road blocks are trying to veer me onto a different road that would suggest a higher force. I believe in our collective consciousness, but I’m not sold on the Higher Force, or Sentient Being deciding who does what and when etc. But it still begs the question, are we fated to a particular life, with or without the karma?
Still, I cannot ignore the Tower that keeps appearing in tarot readings and then feeling its full force in my life, or the way the sale of my house keeps falling through, or the many other things that keep standing in my way. I pondered the Tower and decided that really, if you are travelling the wrong road and you’re not paying attention to all the warning signs, then while you’re travelling at 100mph, it will take something equally forceful to stop you. Enter the Tower, regular visitor to my life and new best friend. I felt its force, several times and got knocked over. I keep getting back up and moving because that’s who I am. Today I have decided to stop for a moment and not move another inch until I can work out what’s going on in my life – that would be that new perspective working…
So, back to our question. Is my life, and your life, pre-determined by a greater force? Is a run of bad luck the Universe trying to get you on the right road, or is it just pure bad luck? Or worse, still, a little black magick? Is it accumulated Karma kicking in? Or simply the result of cause and effect?
What do you think? Not of my troubles, but of repeated stumbles, of pre-determinism, karma, luck, and magick affecting our lives? Is this just a big unwritten play, with a beginning and an ending with a free flowing script in between? Or do you believe there is an actual path, a specific road we’re all supposed to take, in this life?
I don’t believe in predetermination – so many people screw things up and never reach their potential that this just can’t be the case. If predetermination worked perfectly, it seems like we’d all have a place and we’d know what it was, without all these struggles.
On the other hand, I do think that there are patterns in the universe, and synchronicity also plays a role. You can try to pit yourself against the forces that are, or you can align yourself to take advantage of them. At times, these external forces may be weak or absent (like the wind), in which case your choices are many, at other times, it just may not be possible to exert the energy to move at cross-purposes to them.
Like many other things – I don’t think this is either/or. We may have some things we are strongly meant/predisposed/part of the energy pattern to do – and which we’d have to work hard to ignore or avoid – and other things that we are absolutely free to chart our own course on.
In any case- I do believe in synchronicity. If the Tower is appearing in your path, it may not be telling you you have no choice because something is “destined” and has been all your life, but it is surely telling you that at this moment, your own previous choices and external forces are combining to produce a result that may not seem or actually be avoidable. Stopping and considering whether what you consciously want to do is what all the rest of your “knowing” mind knows it needs to do is probably not a bad idea :)
I don’t feel that the Tower necessarily has to mean a “roadblock” or something that is terrible. It can mean that if you take a look around you may finally get that AHA! moment you have been waiting for. You know, those moments when you say “Oh wow, you could have knocked me over with a feather!” Most images of the Tower have lightening bolts or something similar in it. If you look closely at a lightening bolt it looks very similar to a feather. I think it was in “Jung and the Tarot” that I first read this concept and it has stuck with me ever since. So, this may be the time for you to be looking for the feather that has the ability to just knock you out. Dumbo’s feather allowed him to fly so why not yours.
Hi Teresa and Celeste,
I shall address you both as it seems that I may have misrepresented myself in my post.
Firstly, the question was born from my own experiences, yes. But the idea to explore what forces, if any, may be at work was really thought of to explore the subject/concept on a wider scale and not to remain within the confines of my own experiences.
Of those experiences though, the Tower has already been a regular visitor to my life, not just in my personal tarot readings – I have been experiencing it first hand for nearly a year now. I published my Signature Spread on October 6th, 2009. The first significant tower experience appeared in that reading. The upheavals have continued since – and the continued appearance of the Tower in subsequent readings. It was my intention to remain ambiguous with details of my private life, as they are indeed, private. Suffice it to say though, that even as recently as this Tuesday past, I received another devastating blow to my life and subsequently my future plans.
In an effort to try and find a reason for this continued period of difficulty in my life, I have explored many avenues, ideas and concepts. This post is just one of them. It was my hope for this post to see what others may have experienced and to perhaps broaden mine, and others, understanding and views on the subject. I used myself as an example in the hope that if people could see me being transparent, they would feel comfortable in speaking about this subject themselves. I never meant it to be an exploration of my life or difficulties, though I fully appreciate your concerns and advice – I particularly like the feather idea Celeste and will explore that over the next few days.
I do want to thank you both for your comments and look forward to seeing your ideas and thoughts again :)
Hello!
Isn’t this indeed a question that we find ourselves coming back to time and again!?
I am very sorry to hear that you have been met with bad luck and obstacles and sincerely wish you good luck and positive energy, soon!!!
Well, the questions you ask are really down to what we believe in, isn’t it.
Personally I believe in destiny. I also believe that god/the universe is looking out for us. In fact this belief has really deepened since I started using Tarot cards.
Greetings!
I believe that we come into each lifetime with a contract – an agreement to work on/learn certain lessons, and that we come through a specific gateway that determines what will come into our life path. Note: I did not say that it determined out life path! Whether we look through the eyes of astrology, numerology, Tarot Birth Cards or some other system, we come into this lifetime with certain skills and abilities, and certain challanges that we will be facing. How our life goes is determined by how we use our skills and abilitie, and how we face our challenges. It is determined by the decisions that we make, and how we choose to impliment them.
The Tower asks us to release our hold ont he material, physical world, and old patterns of thought and action. The blast that the Tower brings into our life jars us to the bone, and allows us to see from a fresh perspective, and rebuild accordingly.
Just a few thoughts. ;-)
Blessings,
Bonnie
Hey Catherine :)
Do you have a vision of where you want to be in the future? If you do, do you have doubts or thoughts that just seem go against that vision?
I know I do! I have a vision at the moment,but I find myself slipping back into the old way of thinking, the negative ‘way of worry’ which just goes against the whole idea of my vision in the first place:S It’s not easy when the people around me are a nightmare too – Living on a council estate with some crazy people (and dogs) doesn’t do me much good lol!
On the plus side it has drawn my attention to the way I think and I am trying to adapt my mind to more positive thoughts, but sometimes it seems that my mind rules me. This effort to overcome my negative way of thinking could be symbolised by ‘The Tower’. Destroying negative thoughts and replacing them new constructive thoughts and images instead.
I don’t think fate is chucking obstacles at my feet, I think it’s me. But until I nuke those negative, sneaky thought patterns that counteract my vision, it’ll probably continue, sigh. I like a challenge though :)
I also have a particular interest in the law of equilibrium, in which everything has two poles. So if that’s the case, every obstacle should also have ‘easy path’. I just gotta figure out how to see the ‘easy path’ if my worry mind would just shut up for a minute! But then again, if I think more positively there hopefully won’t be any more problems at all!
Just some thoughts :)
Hannah x
Hannah x
Hi Hannah – I think it’s highly possible that my unconscious mind is working against me as my situation doesn’t just add up. We can think one thing and yet do another ‘without thinking’, such is the power of the mind. However, my situation is such that I can’t see how I can affect this. On the off chance that I am though, I decided to stop trying to do anything about it and ‘do’ a Hanged Man and just observe.
Amazingly, while hanging upside down and doing nothing, I began to get some insights into me, my Self – not my situation. I’ve been reading about psychosynthesis for a little while now and although I haven’t done any of the exercises or work suggested, I have been taking in the thoughts and ideas and I believe these have contributed to having some very powerful thoughts and ideas of my own, regarding my Self.
But back to the Hanged Man, nice and easy does it. There’s no rushing while I don’t have the reins – observing, discovering and letting it come to me is suiting me just fine right now :)
It’s a question that I am always considering. I don’t think I have the answers to this one, shug. Sometimes I feel totally in control and then other times, not so much.
I just try and go with the flow as needed but live my life as positive as possible. There are times when things seem to hit a brick wall – if that happens, I pull back and see if I am being resistant or trying to force something that may not be in my best interests.
I guess the only thing I can do is live consciously and in the present moment.
In other words, I don’t know a thing.
Much love,
Theresa
Hey Shug – your comment made me smile:
Great minds think alike as Soctrates also said the same thing…
Always lovely to see you here – thanks for your comment :)
Hi Catherine.
Yours is a good question. One we all struggle with at some points.
Here are just some considerations.
I do Numerology. I don’t know if you are familiar with it. The idea is that we come to this life with a plan. We have some goals, some lessons we want to learn. We have talents . The problem is that once we are born we have no memory of all that.
The other interesting concept from Numerology is that life goes in nine years cycles that repeat themselves. Every year brings certain challenges and opportunities. As an example a year one would be great to start new projects, a year two would be great for relationships and partnerships. You get the idea.
To know what year you are in, along with your Essence and Transits can be very helpful in planning things. Is like if you know you have to push your car, would you want to do it up hill or down hill?
Getting back to your questions. When I am faced with a lot of obstacles I consider two things.
1) Am I on the right path?
2) Is my timing wrong?
In closing, when faced with difficulties I may grow frustrated and my thinking may be affected. When you expect more problems the Universe seem to provide you with more.
Anna
Hi Anna – thank you for your insight. I’m a great fan of numerology and know that I’m in a Personal One Year, so in some ways it baffles me a little more that I’m meeting roadblocks to my plans. In an effort to be ambiguous about my private life, I have left out many of the details. However, what I can say is that I know exactly where the block is. It’s at such a root level that it’s blocking progress rather than the individual things I have in mind.
I do have a numerology chart on my computer, I will check it to see what pinnacles and transits I’m in – checking every angle will be worth the effort.
Thank you for you comment, welcome to Tarot Elements :)
Good Morning all.
Predestination…towers and hanged man.
The path meant to be walked and the potholes and pebbles that trip us up. Ok. Yes to the question of destiny(lessons and gifts along the way) How do we react and handle the hard stuff? The tower comes along to move/clear the pebbles and fill in the pot holes….Hum and while your catching your breath…your stance becomes different…sometimes we have to be knocked over- fall down so we can see the who what where and why’s…oh and potential how. It starts suddenly and last indefinatly. How can you stay true to you and REVERSE the curse:)
MAYBE your house isn’t what needs to go?
Hi again Catherine,
I know exactly what you mean when is our lives predestined I have always though that, I used to think are we here on this place as an experiment, I had alsorts of odd ideas floating about in there BUT I do believ that I was put hee for a reason other that for the use of procreation, I am a strong believer in this Catherine If you don’t work at what you want to do and what you believe in the Tower is there just waiting to crumble I feel that the destiny is at your finger tips, so yes think of a new perspective look at the way that you are heading you may need a couple of small adjustments in your life at the moment and go for it use your GUT feelings I always say go for what you think first because that nine times out of ten is the right we, we have all done that and said that, I know what Anne was talking about with the numbers I love numerology as it is bang on, my life number is 9 that means I am a patron I love to study well yeah I do as I teach as well the numnbers are right, I am currently in number year 8 due to end in january to start my final year 9 and I can’t wait for me the last three years have been great apart from my health opperations, but I feel now that the top prize for me is just waiting for me to GRAB it but I KNOW that I am going to have to make that final push to it I CAN do and so can we all.
Sorry for the sermon, lots of energy your way Catherine love your blog by the way..
Colin the artisan, mabe I should name a blog on myself as The Artisan hmmm sounds cool.. Well I am Computer shopping today as my last one fell off the table and broke I suppose that was the end of the retrograde lol..
I read this post last week, and I was waiting to see if I do run into the roadblock that seemed to be on the way for the last two years, and guess what…. I did. Yeppp…. But you know?… if I did NOT have this roadblock on my way last year, I…. brace yourself… could have NOT met Tarot (though may be I would, it is just the feeling I have, that I would not) and I am happy, for I do not even know what reason, that I did get involved into Tarot…. so, I pray to be shown the way to fulfill my spiritual blueprint with the least hardships and most delight and happiness….. I wonder, what having this roadblock will bring into my life this year…… though I was also told that it was simply “not the best time, astrologically, to do that”…. so, as Theresa said, I do not know a thing, but I “trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy…”
Hello Kate! (^.^)/
A little late to the party, as usual…^.^
I live in a country where fate, fatalism, destiny (Pre or otherwise), karma and so forth, are common words…go down any street, in any village, in any town on this island, and people will nod sagely and point you to a good ‘dukun’ (local wise man…magikal of course)to help ease your life’s burdens…ahh, such is the ways here…(nodding sagely herself! lolz!) :)
Tho, as Theresa, pointed out, I too, “…do not know…”, what I do know is the result…(and in the end, maybe that’s all we do remember)…is that I have been fortunate to meet with a person, who having undergone many ‘pits of Hellfire’…has retained her honest warmth, gentility, and kindness to others…as witnessed on other sites…and that my friend, is a rather hard thing to manage, I know; becoming not bitter or angry at the world (and shaking the proverbial fist at the skies)
The fact that Tarot Elements is up and running, strong (peeking at the numbers who ‘Like’)is testament to your spirit…and I imagine that it will also apply to other projects in the wings…
Its a delay, not the end. Yes there is a destiny but it is your option to go at it with the negative or the positive. Karma, yes but it serves as a stepping stone to higher levels, Cause and Effect, certainly…you’re a warm, intelligent, spirited person, you will certainly attract like-minded people or people who recognise those qualities within you…(hopefully, of which I’m one! lolz! *grin*)
…as for the ‘bad parts’, the ‘insane’ times and ‘…what am I doing here, when I could be eating chocolate cake…?’ moments, only adds to the list above, the word ‘wise’…
Finally(she says, with another grin)As I say to others…
“…I’m still here aren’t I?…” and I’m betting, destiny or no, you will be too, Kate Chapman…:)