There is a saying that "with fire we test gold, and with gold man is tested" because only through the fire of life can we get our egos out of the way and actually be our higher selves instead of some social mask we wear. These lovely cards can help you get out of over thinking and see what the test is that you must overcome. It's not a quick fix for the deep healing that is demanded but they can point you to a way towards living more on purpose and in alignment with your soul's calling.

A close friend of mine has been on a deeply spiritual path for many years now. The usual challenge of her ego (our ego just loves to be in our way) comes up once in a while. A major lesson just befell her soul and these cards on Valentine's Day brought the wisdom home. She had fallen deeply in love with a man who had a lot of the qualities she always wanted. The challenge was that he came in a very different package. My friend is a single, never married, lawyer who doesn't have children and she wanted someone who was also in the legal profession, same marital/parental status but this man was graphic designer and divorced with a child. This was one package that she never expected. Unfortunately, she was unable to get her mind out of the way even though her heart was there and overflowing with affection for this man. True to form she ended things suddenly and quickly engaged in a series of techniques with the full intention to erase the love. She plunged deep into healing remedies to accelerate the emotional release of the loss, cut the cords to that relationship, became super-busy with hobbies and friends, then she got a job transfer back to her hometown at the other end of the country! This all happened in the space of nine months and now that she is settled nicely in her new life (she is as busy as ever with new friends and family in addition to hobbies), her heart found itself lingering with nostalgia for her former love 3000 miles away. She was very annoyed and called me. My intuition was to get her these cards and see just what this lesson must be for. When she shuffled them at our favorite restaurant near the San Francisco Bay the very first card she picked was "Be Open to Love". She finally got her lesson: you can't kill love. What's done was done but now my dear friend knows that her work now is to soften her heart and heal whatever gets in the way of love to prepare for her next love. Now that she can take her heart back (after leaving it behind in the memory of a relationship that was long over and back in New York), she is ready to prepare it for someone new. And if he comes in a different package as well her ego won't be able to get in the way.

For the record, this is what the "Be Open to Love" card says: The intellect employs an interesting strategy to avoid feeling insecure and facing possible pain and disappointment, especially in matters of the heart: It gathers as much information as possible in advance of a commitment. This works up to a point, but it will never be a substitute for gaining wisdom and understanding that only comes out of direct experience.

Your soul's purpose: right now is to learn about love by entering intimate relationships. Surrender control, and open your heart to these lessons. Ignore secondhand opinions and warnings from others to play it safe, and give in to intimacy.

Your soul's lesson: Stop trying to avoid pain and disappointment by withholding your heart and commitment. Reflect on and decide what type of love you want from others, and then ask for it! If you don't know what you are looking for, you can't expect anyone else to know, so be honest and take your time. If you're afraid of intimacy or fear rejection, admit it. And don't give more to others than you feel comfortable with, only to resent it later when you don't collect the anticipated return.

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