Rune of the Day:  Lagaz (Reversed)

 Lagaz reversed is a rune of refusal to change, of overthinking, of denying or ignoring one's intuition.  Basically this is a rune of stasis, of talking yourself out of necessary changes.

Often it is doubt and/or insecurity that holds us back. We feel things are fine the way they are so we ignore the inner voice telling us to take a chance on something new and different. Perhaps we spend so much time imagining what might go wrong that we talk ourselves right out of it. 

Lagaz reversed is a reminder that without change there is no growth and eventually, without growth or change, part of us will wither and die.  Perhaps it will be our sense of adventure, or our curiosity, or even our compassion.  Whatever it is, life will never be as full again once we lose that part of ourselves. 

Tarot Card of the Day: 8 of Swords

The 8 of Swords is a card of despair, of inner turmoil, of feeling hopeless, perhaps even that the whole world is against you. 

The key thing to remember about the 8 of Swords is that it is a card of perception.  This card comes up when we are feeling that nothing is going well for us, that no matter what we do things will not work out.

This does not necessarily mean that things really are that bleak, only that they seem so to us right now.   Life can often seem overwhelming, but only by tackling it on its own terms can we hope for it to improve.  Picking just one problem, the smallest one we have, and taking any kind of action will help to break this sense of hopelessness.  

We very likely will not be able to solve all our problems, but we can do our best to cope with them.  Tackling them one at a time and doing what we can to minimize their effects on our lives will help us cope with them.  As we tackle each individual problem our burden will seem smaller and we will find our outlook becoming gradually more positive.

The Two Together:

Lagaz reversed paired with the 8 of Swords, together these are practically screaming "Get out of your head and do something!"

The card indicates being overwhelmed by all that is going on, while the rune shows us talking ouselves right out of making any necessary changes to the situation.

Action is the only way to break out of this cycle of despair and self-sabotage.  No matter how small a change, no matter how minute the part of the problem one tackles, just doing something will help to improve the attitude of hopelessness and despair.  

As our attitude improves, so too does the situation we are in.  Suddenly things don't look so hopeless, and we realize that we have more control over our lives than we had given ourselves credit for.  After all, we really do make our own reality!