Mantis .'s Blog

“Give, and you will be given to you. (…)  For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”  What you put in is what you get out.  What you sow is what you harvest. Some of the oldest, most fundamental spiritual principles spell out a universal law of reciprocity, that states that the generous heart will receive back in equal measure.  Now, it is so easy to attempt to apply this law from a contractive, egotistical way. As with most spiritual principles, the truth lies deeper. Enteri...

In the evolutionary journey of tarot numerology, from Numbers 1 through 3, Spirit is in a state of expansion and growth. When arrives at 4, it pauses. It stabilizes. It becomes form itself. The nature metaphor usually employed for the 4 of Cups is that of water damming up. The river of spirit, after springing up from One, welling up in Two, and coursing through the expanding waters of Three, arrives in Four at a place in which it is contained.

Normally the 4 of Cups is said to relate to bor...

The 4 of Cups, Wands, Pentacles and Swords are all grounding cards with immense awakening potential. In their own unique way, each one of these cards bring us to a nurturing space and to a platform for healing. Number 4 in the tarot is a digit connected to pauses, stability and form. The tarot cards imbued with 4’s energy appear in our lives when we are being offered a restorative container and a platform in which to pause, and then upon which to build further growth. In this sense, the 4’s of t...

The Justice card assists us in clearing up the foggy glasses through which we see reality, helping us go beyond the extremes of pleasure and pain, arriving at a place of equanimity and objectivity. Beyond judgments, there is freedom and true sight.

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Our shadow doesn’t only contain the repression of characteristics that we consider negative, or lesser. It is not just a repository of our “dark” aspects. In fact, the shadow also holds our radiant qualities and our higher callings, that for one reason or another we have spent a lifetime subconsciously repressing, rejecting, and disowning. The shadow, in this sense, also contains fragmented portions of our own light. And yes, that means that repressing our golden qualities and higher callings ca...

Our shadow doesn’t only contain the repression of characteristics that we consider negative, or lesser. It is not just a repository of our “dark” aspects. In fact, the shadow also holds our radiant qualities and our higher callings, that for one reason or another we have spent a lifetime subconsciously repressing, rejecting, and disowning. The shadow, in this sense, also contains fragmented portions of our own light. And yes, that means that repressing our golden qualities and higher callings ca...

“We have been given this precious human incarnation in which each and every one of us is a candidate for enlightenment.”

Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith, “Spiritual Liberation: Fulfilling Your Soul’s Potential.”

A lovely TikTok video caught my attention a couple of months ago. In this video, a young woman suggests a visualization exercise to help you more deeply connect with your own well-being: “If you are having a hard time taking care of yourself, something you can do is to imagine you are ...

A great shift occurs in our spiritual practice when we stop being so sure of anything. Reality seems to dissolve when we try to grasp it too firmly, at least from the mystical perspective. Maybe there is a God, maybe there isn’t. Maybe there isn’t a Great Spirit is the sense that we’ve known. But perhaps there is. Can we be ok with that? Maybe the human soul endures after death, or maybe it simply dissolves into nothingness. Perhaps there is no afterlife, at least in any durable sense. It could ...

The World card announces a period of completion, a time of fulfillment, and an era of developing mastery. Influenced by Saturnian energies, as it is ruled by Saturn, The World speaks of a time that may feel somewhat heavy but that ultimately brings liberation. Through the energies of this card, the four corners of our lives come together as a unified masterpiece.

This may not be a period of new beginnings, of putting forth new ideas, or of setting out towards fresh endeavors. Instead, The Wor...

I am feeling inspired and in awe at the description and message on the Judgement card written by my fellow lunar Geminian, Charlie Claire Burgess (The Word Witch), in the companion book to their touching deck, the Fifth Spirit Tarot. Besides going into the historical and symbolic background of this card, the word that struck me the most in their description was Transcend. In that, in the Judgement card we take in all of our history and our past, and as we arrive at the cross-roads of a new perso...