I must admit that while I am writing this post I have just received news that one of the most fundamental teachers (Rav. Phillip Berg) to my spiritual beliefs has just passed to the other side. It is surreal and as I sit here and question things (his teachings taught me to question everything), I have noticed how much I have changed over the past few years.
For me, pain was something that was just expected. The easiest way to handle it, was to shut it off. Become numb. To not feel. To throw myself into something that would divert my mind from dealing with whatever issue (and sometimes multiple issues) I needed to deal with. If you avoided it well enough, it would eventually go away. The last thing I ever thought I would be able to do is be grateful for pain… until now.
In order to get a message from the Light of how to cope and deal with Rav Berg’s passing, I opened up one of my meditation books to receive some insight. The following passage is from Melody Beattie’s, “The Language of Letting Go”. (Meditation for January 18)
“Sometimes in life, things happen too fast. We barely solve one problem when two new problems surface. We’re feeling great in the morning, but we’re submerged in misery by nightfall.
Every day we face interruptions, delays, changes, and challenges. We face personality conflicts and disappointments. Often when we’re feeling overwhelmed, we can’t see the lessons in these experiences.
One simple concept can get us through the most stressful of times. It’s called gratitude. We learn to say, thank you, for these problems and feelings. Thank you for the way things are. I don’t like this experience, but thank you anyway.
Force gratitude until it becomes habitual. Gratitude helps us stop trying to control outcomes. It is the key that unlocks positive energy in our life. It is the alchemy that turns problems into blessings, and the unexpected into gifts.
Today, I will be grateful. I will start the process of turning today’s pain into tomorrow’s joy.
This meditation blew me away. Not only because it is on the topic of gratitude (which is the topic material on the next episode of Keep it Magic), but because it’s how I feel about all that the Rav has taught me (through his teachings and the teachings of the Kabbalah Centre). Moreover, it got me to ask questions about gratitude.
Rachel Pollack wrote a lovely book in 2008 called Tarot Wisdom. In the book she reveals a new technique that she refers to as ‘wisdom readings’. Rachel says this about wisdom readings:
“In various places in this book, you will encounter the expression “Wisdom Readings,” usually in regards to spreads (formats for reading the cards) with questions about larger issues rather than personal concerns. In other words, rather than ask the cards “How can I find my soul mate?” we might ask “What is the soul?” (Introduction)
I have decided to use this technique when it comes to gratitude. I will be using the Mythic Tarot to perform these readings. (I have included links to the card images)
Question 1:
What is gratitude?
Card – The 5 of Pentacles
I will admit that the 5 of Pentacles kind of shocked me. Is gratitude ‘danger of loss or poverty’? In the Mythic Tarot the card shows a man walking away from a solid structure that has 5 pentacles on it. The man is shrouded in order to hide himself. Is he ashamed? What has he left behind? Further, the landscape around the figure is rather barren and the Moon hovering in the background always reflects impending change.
So, what does this represent? For me, the cards are revealing that we need to be grateful for the least common denominator. Grateful for the little things in our life and the things that we take for granted. When we are stripped of the bountiful gifts of the physical world, all that we are really left with is ourselves. We can be grateful for our health, our ability to think and reason, our ability to function, our ability to go out and get our immediate needs met. Sometimes it’s when we have been stripped of everything that we reveal what we really do have.
Question 2:
What blocks gratitude?
Card – Page of Cups
The divinatory meaning of the Page of Cups is birth of new feelings and new emotions. In many ways, it reflects the development of self-love and the initial process of being capable of having well developed relationships. However, when the Page of Cups appears as a blocking card it usually is the shadow side of the card that is revealed. In this case, the shadow side is self-involvement or self-preoccupation. So, the largest block to gratitude is when we are too emotionally caught up in ourselves, our egos, and our current circumstances.
Question 3:
What can we do to feel more grateful?
Card – 8 of Cups
The 8 of Cups reflects letting go. Letting go of our problems, our self-focus, our situation, letting it all fall out of the grasps of our control and practicing radical acceptance. In many ways, it’s about turning our life and will over to the Light of the creator. It’s about certainty – certainty that we will be cared for, that we will be loved, and that the light will not give us more than we can possibly handle. It’s about letting the Light run the show. I call this the “inventory” card and when it appears in a reading, I always instruct my client to take a good look at their lives and really figure out what they truly want and what they truly need.
Conclusion:
Pain is something we happens to us all. We go through experiences and these experiences help us develop who we are as an individual and reveals the strength of our character. In some cases, we face adversity and it is through our management of that adversity (whether on the inner level or the outer) we grow and develop. Today, I am grateful for those that have allowed me to strip myself bare emotionally and reveal my inner light and for the experiences in life that have taught me the deeper lessons of who I really am. I let go of my need to control and accept the lessons of life for what it has to teach me rather than try to bend them to my own will. I will be grateful for all that the Rav has taught me.
Make sure to catch our upcoming episode (release date of September 24) on gratitude on Keep It Magic.
This blog post is dedicated to Rav Phillip Berg who I am forever grateful for.
Storm Cestavani is the co-host of the top rated metaphysical show “Keep It Magic” and the co-creator of the “Tarot Magic” with Coventry Creations. Storm is available for consultations by setting up an appointment to speak with him. Simply click on Book a Reading with Storm at the top of the page.
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