Today's card is Ash. Ash is masculine, east, sun, and fire. Ash is my physical nature. It is said that a forest fire is not good, however much good does come out of a fire because it removes the old and the weak and allows for new life to come through. In a sense, a renewal of life and purification. The fire has to do with purification and change along with power, assertation and spirit. East represents beginning, new starts, clarity and higher self.

Finally, the card itself means:

I am Ash. I am peace of mind through protection. I am the powerful wood in the bows of the Warriors, to help you overcome mental barriers and obstructions so that you may subdue enemies without and within. Good health and recovery from illness is the power of the Ash. I am the stem of the Sacred Pipe that offers prayers and connects you to the Great Mystery. From the flexibility of my wood learn to bend if the need arises. I am prosperity.

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The interpretation of the card suggests that today I should spend time removing whatever excuses and barriers I have about losing weight (physical nature) and allow myself to overcome that major barrier and finally reach my goal of being healthy and fit.

In my previous post, I mentioned that I will come up with a few things about honoring myself. I talked with my best friend and basically I came up with the idea that to honor myself is to respect myself the same way I respect people. When I respect people, I do care for them and I often do things for them if they ask me. I take care of them when they need to be taken care of.

The list for honoring myself are:

1) Take care of myself in whole aspect of me, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
2) Remove myself from environment and activities I know are encouraging negative energy and emotions.
3) Begin focusing on my goals and working on accomplishing my goals and dreams.
4) Make time for "Me" time when I am all alone and I can rest and meditate.

I don't know where to begin. Many things have changed the past year. I live in a new place, I have a new job in the same company. I am pursuing a couple of things other than work.

I have always been fascinated by the Cherokee religion. I recently purchased Shaman Wisdom Cards. I have done a lot of reading for myself and my best friend from this deck. So many things to consider as I do the reading, got to consider the element, the directional element, masculine/feminine, what aspect of myself does the card represent (mental state, emotion state, intellectual state, practical state and others)

Today's card of the day is "Self".

The card says

"I am the seventh direction. It is from me that all directions radiates. I am the center. I must honor myself before I can honor anything or anyone else. I am the beginning of the path of inner power that travels full circle, returns and ends within. It is around me that theMiddle World occurs, the here and now, the world in which time works. I am in the world but I am not of the world. When I attain balance, then and only then do I attain harmony. Always honor the seveth direction. I am the trunk of the sacred tree. I am the here, I am the now. I am the balance of femininie and masculine, for I am the sacred space within. I am Shaman."

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I wonder what does it mean to honor myself. www.dictionary.com's entry says "To show respect for. " when I typed "honoring".

Right now I am tired and getting ready for bed. I will focus on expanding my thoughts on "honoring myself" and tomorrow's card reading when I wake up tomorrow morning.

Blessed be.