It isn’t all about literal sowing, fertility & harvest. The woods behind my home will green every spring whether I scatter seeds or not. Autumn has already begun to spread her warm colors over the trees, but I’ve never harvested a single berry or root. There are those, however, who have engaged in such activities in order to feed me, my family, and the extended family of humanity. There are even those who have striven to keep my food honest and wholesome, whether protesting against genetically-modified foods, or being careful about pesticides and fertilizers used in growing their crops.

I can’t say I can warm up to celebrating the cycle of office projects or creative pursuits. Gratitude for those who support our lives through their own efforts of growing and supplying sustenance can be my focus, as reflected in the Lady’s natural cycles of the woodland I cherish.

I was never sorry for the outlay of cash that was necessary to purchase those West Wing DVDs; we enjoyed it all so very much, that we would just pop in the pilot show right after Josiah Bartlet left office in the last show. We wanted another series that could captivate us like that. We had been given the first season of “24″ DVDs, and watched that. The plot twists were so predictable that we would laugh at them. “Sports Night” was a charming series, but we were satisfied with the first viewing.

While I’m still looking for that magical series, I’ve bought the HBO mini-series, “John Adams”. I thought it would be interesting and educational, and since my husband and I both love early American history, it was a safe bet.

Adams was never my favorite Founding Father. I’m more of a Jefferson admirer (warts and all), but “John Adams” was a fascinating series. It showed colonial America in all its squalor, and made clear that the men we tend to lionize today were, above all, just flesh and blood. Like me, like you, like everyone else. It was interesting to watch Adams’ development from lawyer to delegate to diplomat to statesman to politician (yes, that order), and the emotional evolution as well. He always seemed pompous to me, whenever I read history, but I saw him in the series as a distinctly principled citizen. He had Reason, and tenacity, and standards, to which he always held true, even when he couldn’t understand why they would be detrimental to him and his cause. He was never a publicly affectionate man, but that was part of the times and culture he lived in. His wife was his partner, his equal, and her voice often helped temper his reactions with loving sensibility. I was moved by the series, and have a better understanding, and fuller respect, for those people who founded the United States of America.

A couple of weeks ago, I overheard a discussion on the TV, perhaps it was about the Superman stories (I don’t know, I wasn’t paying a lot of attention), when I heard a statement that grabbed my interest. It was to the effect that in order to display the full heroism of a fictional character, a really dastardly antagonist had to be created. When I think about the tangle that modern politics has become, enmeshed in the web of corporations and military superiority, I do see serious antagonists, but I see no heroes. I used to read (Leonard?) Skolnick’s blog and become distressed as the full import of controlling factions struck me. The web is greatly tangled, but there is no hero with an Alexandrian solution to cut through the unlosable knots.

Obama is being painted as that hero, but it’s wishful thinking on our parts. He is probably as much in the control of corporations as Bush or Clinton or Reagan ever was. I realized that when, while waiting to see him at a local rally, people were passing out leaflets and baseball caps advertising “Clean Coal”. There’s no such thing. <scoff>

I adore Dennis Kucinich. He had an upbringing in incredibly difficult circumstances, so he knows the value of government in everyday people’s lives. I miss Molly Ivins, who was taught that it was of utmost importance to understand how any policy would impact everyday citizens, and delineated that ideal with good humor and humanity. And in case you haven’t cringed at my politics so far, here’s the biggie: I love Michael Moore. He is truthful (even if your politics may not want you to think so), detailed and practical. He knows his power, and uses it for the public’s welfare. He is the modern Ralph Nader, whom I used to admire, but he’s like the baseball player who loves the sport so much that he continues to play well beyond his useful years, and ends up hurting the team that he once sent to the World Series. If only there were more like Ralph as he was in his golden years. If only Eliot Spitzer hadn’t been such a frail human being. If only John Edwards weren’t so, so… <sigh>

All those Founding Fathers were frail, too. Franklin was a nasty old man. Jefferson didn’t use the best judgment when it came to his relations with women. Washington married for money, and Hamilton forgot where he came from while worshiping  the Almighty Dollar he helped create. Adams didn’t write his beloved wife when he was away from home for years on end, and when he finally had her come stay with him, they left the kids behind to suffer.

These guys all had a common goal of Independence and nation-building. The corporations with their vast amounts of money know that we, too, have common goals, but work hard at making us think our differences are more important than our similarities. If we could only rise above our differences, as the Founding Fathers were able to do, we could accomplish much.

When you’re armed only with a book of interpretations and some brand-new cards, you seldom know what to expect, let alone how to work them. There are 10 cards to work with in the Celtic Cross. It is difficult to tailor the card description to the definition of the position. I often, more often than not, had a positive-sounding card in a position of negativity, and vice versa. I just didn’t know what to make of that.

In order to get a decent reading, you need to weave a story through those 10 cards and 10 positions. The flow gets easier as you get experienced, but for the complete beginner, this is a difficult task. I recommend a smaller tarot spread until you get the hang of blending the meanings.

How about a simple 3-card spread? Past, present, future. Easy enough to get the idea from the tiny booklet of meanings. Can you spot a theme running through the three? Ah, now you’re reading the cards!

Here, move on to my favorite: the 5-card horseshoe. Arrange the 5 chosen cards from left to right in the arch of a horseshoe. The first represents the past, the basis of the matter under investigation here. Next is the present, how things stand right now. At the top of the horseshoe is something unexpected – literally. It’s a condition or situation that you haven’t taken into consideration about the question, possibly something you didn’t even know about. The fourth is an immediate outcome, with the fifth being the ultimate outcome of the whole thing.

Sometimes, it is difficult to get one’s mind around the concept of immediate future and outcome in a reading. For instance, in a reading about one’s job, you may get a card for the Immediate Future indicating that the current job may be lost. The Outcome however, may show a new job, or a change of residence to locate the new job, or perhaps going back to school. These are all changes that a job loss may effect in the Real World, and that you could see in the Tarot.

I can’t have sugar: I’ve got a systemic infection. My neurotransmitters are lower than Death Valley, and my testosterone levels are horrid even for a female. Estradiol? Don’t ask. Oy. I’ve got supplements and topicals galore, and a new diet to go with it all.

I started a makeshift version of my diet (makeshift b/c I don’t understand it yet), and I am just starving! It’s a Rotation Diet (no, not “spin around and throw up”) so you can only eat certain things on certain days. Today is Day 1,which I will dub “Chicken Day”. Tomorrow will be “Shrimp & Pork Day”, day 3 is “Turkey Day” and Day 4 is “Tuna Day”. There are other protein sources each day, and veggies & fruits & stuff that also rotate. I must analyze the crap out of the acceptable daily foods and see why broccoli is allowed on Tuna Day and not on Shrimp Day, for instance. Hmmmm…. I’m allergic to strawberries and blueberries, but I see that Tuna Day allows black and red raspberries. And here I thought all berries were the same. Nope, they’re not.

This is gonna be quite a chore figuring out. But as I regain neurotransmitters, it should get easier. After all, I did belong to Mensa at one point in my life. (And then I got smarter: “Why am I paying $xx for membership when I don’t go to meetings?”)

I’m wondering how my friend Dave is doing, and if his classes are over for the year. Must email him.

I’m aware that I need to do another palmistry lesson. Will work on it over the weekend.

I will be staying with her at least 24 hours, to make sure she can function on her own.

Note: this was originally written April 30, but for some reason I didn’t publish it. I am doing so now.