(c) Birgit Scheja March 30, '99 =20 http://www.shikara.de "Shikara's Newsletter" is a FREE publication, from Birgit Scheja, Frankfurt, Germany.=20 If you feel you have received this publication in error or wish to unsubscribe, simply mail to:unsubscribe@shikara.de You will be automatically removed! ________________________________________________________ Welcome to the April edition of the Shikara's Newsletter! I hope you enjoy your read. If you have comments or=20 suggestions for future topics please mail to:=20 shikara@shikara.de. PLEASE DO NOT HIT THE RESPOND BOTTON TO UNSUBSCRIBE OR TO WRITE ME AN EMAIL. MY NEW EMAIL ADDRESS IS: shikara@shikara.de _________________________________________________________ Content: 1.) Blue Moon Month 2.) Tarot: The Ancestral Path Tarot Deck (Deck Review) 3.) Tarot: The Suit of the Wands 4.) Psychic Self Defense 5.) August 1999 by Tom Chase* The promised article about the "Tarot Personality Card" will be = published in the May edition of this newsletter. Please note that articles written by other authors do not necessarily = mirror my own opinion. 1.) Blue Moon Month The April is the second month of the year 1999 during which we have a = Blue Moon. The Blue Moon occurs when there are two full moons in one = month. The second one being the "Blue Moon". The 1st and the 30th April = are the nights when we have a full moon, the 30th April thus is the = night of the Blue Moon and the night before the lunar Beltane on the 1st = of May. A Blue Moon night is a "wishing" night, a night to feast, to dance, to = travel to other planes. I especially enjoy saying wishes out aloud to = make them come true.=20 When the Blue Moon night has come light a candle, sit down, take some = time to relax and to calm down and then simply say your wish out aloud.=20 You can do this alone or together with friends or with your partner. I = did this together with my partner in January when we had the first Blue = Moon night of this year. Also we created a Blue Moon necklace, which = carries the energies of this night. It can be bought in the Gallery of = my site. May your wishes come true! 2.) The Ancestral Path Tarot Deck from Julia Cuccia-Watts (Deck Review) The Ancestral Path Tarot Deck is the most recent deck I bought and I use = it almost as often as my favorite Haindl deck. I have this deck since about 2 months now and seems to be used best for = questions relating to the "other" worlds or to guides. This is not to = say that its not good for "everyday" readings but for me it simply feels = "right" to use it for this type of questions. Probably that is why the = name suits it so well. The deck is a bit like the Tarot of the Ages Deck, as it too, relates to = different cultures. The four suits each mirror another "ancestral" = culture. The Swords=3DJapanese culture, the Wands=3DEgyptian culture, = the Holy Circles (pentacles in other decks)=3DNorth American Indian = culture=20 and the Cups=3DAncient European culture of the middle ages.=20 The majors add different cultures like the Romans=3Dthe Chariot, Native = North American Indian=3Dthe star and others. The deck has a very = beautiful feel to it and I have found it to be very reliable when using = it for readings either for myself or for others.=20 3.) The Suit of the Wands For all those interested in Tarot I want to share some thoughts I had on = the suit of the Wands. I find it very helpful to think about the = meanings of the symbols of each suit to come to new interpretations and = conclusions about this suits cards. At the beginning I tried to imagine what the making of a Wand is like. = First you need to get wood, suitable to make a wand out of it. It must = be straight grown so that it will fly in a straight line. Try to find a = branch that fits this need, you will quickly find out that this is not = easy, you need patience and also it is helpful to know which kind of = wood is best used for a wand. When you have found a branch that seems to = fit, you need a spearhead. You can either carve one end of your branch = until it is sharp enough or you can try to sharpen and shape a stone = until it too is sharp enough to be used as spearhead. To really make a = good Wand you will need a lot of patience and persistence, = characteristics that aren't exactly the key ones for this suit it seems. = As Wands are related to the element fire we usually think of the initial = flame, of energy that can be very high and powerful but may not last for = long. Still you will first need the qualities of patience and = persistence until you can use your wand. When you draw for example the = Ace of Wands in a reading, it not only tells you that your combined = efforts will succeed, but also that those combined efforts are the = result of a process equal to the making of a Wand. The careful choosing = of the wood, the elaborate making of the spearhead. Then when you have = finished your Wand, you can focus your power and your energy and the = force of your arm to hit the center of your aims. In doing so you have = achieved something, you have used your energy in one outburst, the time = that follows will have to show if this energy is meant to last or if it = was only a the initial spark, soon to die if not fed by something more = lasting like wood=3Dearth to feed it. But as I said before, you will = need careful preparation before you can go in one swift motion to = achieve your aim. This is what the making of the Wand symbolizes for me, = under this aspect all the cards of this suit gain a deeper meaning. The Ace of Wands was only one example to show how these considerations = contribute to see a card out of this suit under new aspects. If you wish = to discuss these thoughts feel free to post messages in my forum and = start a discussion. 4.) Psychic Self Defense Do you sometimes feel tired and drawn after you have met a certain = person? Do you pick up emotions from others? Are you sensitive for = others emotions? Do you feel uncomfortable when being in the middle of a = mass of people?=20 Psyhic Self Defense is a very important subject for everybody who has = answered one of the above questions with "yes" or who is interested in = new age topics and who tries him/herself on tarot, astrology, meditation = and the likes. I have experienced myself how discomforting and harmful = it can be when you are not shielded, when you end a meditation without = closing your chakras or when you do a tarot reading without getting rid = of the energies you picked up from the person you read.=20 Here is an exercise out of the book "The Art of Psychic Protection" = written by Judy Hall, Findhorn Press, Forres, Scotland (to do this = exercise you need some basis knowledge about chakras, if you need more = information on chakras you can put up a message in my forum).=20 This exercise is meant to close your chakras. I always do it at the end = of each meditation, after readings or when I simply feel that I am to = "open". You only need about 10 min. or even less, depending on how = experienced you are to relax yourself. Sit down or lie down, relax your = body (you can do this by counting backwards from 10 to 0, telling = yourself with each number that the farther you count back, the more your = body relaxes). When you feel that you are calm and relaxed, close your = eyes and imagine your base chakra. Imagine the open blossom of a lotus = flower at this chakra and imagine how the blossom closes its leaves = until it is fully closed. Do this with each of the remaining six = chakras, ending with your crown chakra. You have now closed your chakras = which will protect you against unwanted influences and also against the = draining of your energies from others. The book from Judy Hall and the book from Murry Hope "Practical = Techniques of Psychic Self Defense" both cover different aspects of this = important theme. Both books, are in my opinion, very good and I value = them highly! *************************************************************************= *********************** The Ancestral Path Tarot Deck and the a.m. mentioned books can be = obtained at amazon.com. If you wish to support the free services I offer = on my site I would be very grateful if you would go through = http://www.shikara.de/html/literature.html=20 for the order of ANY book! There is a search box at the end of the page, = where you can search whatever book, cd or video you want to purchase, = also there are direct links to amazon from the books I review on this = page. *************************************************************************= *********************** 5.) August 1999 by Tom Chase My approach to prophecy is to combine religion, in particular the = Biblical Book of Revelation, with Astrology and other New Age methods. = An example of this we can see by considering the August 1999 Grand Cross = Astrology pattern. On August 18, 1999 there will be a rare Grand Cross Astrology pattern, = where the planets are grouped in a cross shape. This is the most unusual = Astrology pattern of the last two thousand years, and consists of the=20 Sun, Venus and Mercury in the sign of Leo; Mars and the Moon in Scorpio = with Pluto close by in Sagittarius; Saturn and Jupiter in Taurus; and = Neptune and Uranus in Aquarius. And if Scorpio is considered to be the=20 Eagle, and Aquarius the man, then the Grand Cross has the four beasts = seen in the Book of Revelation Chapter 4 of the Christian Bible, where = they are sit at the throne of heaven, and they have the faces of an = eagle, a man, a lion, and a calf. Also, this will be just a week after a total solar eclipse in Europe = which passes over parts of France and Germany. And we should consider that 666 is the Satanic number of the Antichrist = in the Bible's Book of Revelation, and 1998=3D666x3, and 1999 has 666 = upside down. And the Grand Cross is actually a bent cross, giving it a = Satanic connection to the Antichrist. Revelation, the last chapter of = the Christian Bible, consists of prophecies of future events, including = the rise to power of the Antichrist, who will be a Satanic imitation of = Christ. =20 And August 18, 1999, the day of the Grand Cross Astrology pattern, is = the same day the Cassini space probe to Saturn passes by earth, passing = very close to earth, on its way to Saturn, carrying a Plutonium power = source. Cassini's trip to Saturn may symbolically represent the=20 Earth's trip to "Satan", because of a series of catastrophic events over = the next few years--=20 economic chaos, the Y2K software bug, wars, and diseases. Cassini = passing by earth on August 18, 1999 may symbolically represent earth = having some kind of nuclear conflict in August 1999, possibly caused by=20 China or Russia. Note that the Antichrist is said in Revelation 13 to = have the mouth of a lion and the feet of a bear, and that he gets his = power from the dragon. The dragon is usually interpreted to be Satan, = the devil. But maybe the bear is Russia, the lion is Iraq (the lion was = a symbol of Babylon, the ancient kingdom located where Iraq is today), = and Red China would be the dragon. This could mean that a = Russia-China-Iraq military alliance against the West is forming, and = that somehow military conflict in August 1999 will result. Or it could = be that the chaos after August 1999 will be due to the Y2K software bug = causing world economic disaster and power failures. Also, consider that Cassini will reach Saturn on July 1, 2004, and will = orbit Saturn for several years, and also will send the Huygens space = probe to land on Saturn's moon Titan in November 2004. Maybe earth then = reaches "Satan" in 2004 because of a series of catastrophic events that = began with the August 1999 events, and result in Armageddon by 2004. =20 See my web site "Astrology for the New Age" for more on this. Tom Chase writes on New Age philosophy, prophecy, and Astrology in the=20 U.S.. Email: zchase@hotmail.com Web site: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/2360 =20 ------=_NextPart_000_0005_01BE7DE4.09F94860--