Sidewalk Tarot, Signs and Friendly Oracles

It started with the image of a glowing open book during a meditation last weekend. When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a sticky note with the book title, Sidewalk Oracle: Playing with Signs, Symbols and Synchronicities in Everyday Life by Robert Moss. I had written down the title days before to remind myself to add it to my “must read someday” list.

Okay, I’ll bite. I guess I need to read this book now. So I promptly downloaded it on my Kobo ereader.

In the book, which I highly recommend by the way, Robert Moss talks about becoming aware of clues in your surroundings that resonate insightful messages to you and act as guideposts for all sorts of questions in your life. Look for things that may seem out of the ordinary. Signs, posters, even licence plates that “talk” to you, the appearance of an unusual animal visitor, a meaningful song playing on the radio, even snippets of two strangers conversation as they pass you by. Great council is there in our environment and all we have to do is notice it.

One of the games Robert Moss suggests to prove his point is called Sidewalk Tarot. Basically you think of a questions that you need guidance on, determine a short timeframe (one hour to one day) to notice the messages that appear and pick the number of messages like drawing cards for a tarot card reading. Then interpret the information gathered to gain insight on the question asked.

I have a project idea for a local community blog and social media that has been milling around in my head so I decided to give the game a go and ask the universe to give me clues as to whether my idea would be successful or not. I worked only half a day so I decided I needed the answer before I went home for the night and that I would gather three signs and interpret the message as I would a three card spread in a tarot reading.

The first sign I saw that I hyper-focused on as I walked down the street was a poster for Pride Day that said, “Nanaimo Pride”. The second message came as I stopped off at the local museum gift shop before my shift to pick up a small gift to add to a letter I would be sending out. At the cash desk was a stack of small handbills that said, “Tell you friends you’re here”. The third message was from a fellow at the local artisan co-op shop who said to me, when I ask if they had any notecards with pictures of the Nanaimo harbour, “It doesn’t seem like we do. Somebody should make some up like that.”

Well that was quick. I hadn’t even gotten to work yet and I felt like I had my three messages (cards). It seemed pretty obvious to me that the answer from the universe to my question was yes, your project would be successful and would create pride in the community through social media and all it would take is for somebody to create it.

I enjoyed the gamed and thought about it all that afternoon but by the evening self-doubt started to creep in. I needed to make a solid business plan, I needed to have lots of creative topics lined up to drive traffic and create buzz and I needed to have all my ducks in a row before I shared my idea or I needed to just shelf the idea and save it for another time.

That’s where the friendly oracle came in. My online friend, Masha Ellman (check out her blog,  In The Everyday  ) left a comment on my last week’s blog post, The Abundance Factor .

Diana, so true. I used to be “Jill” holding on to my creative ideas for fear that someone will steal them. What I didn’t realize then is exactly what you’re saying, the more you give out the more you’ll receive. Great post, really enjoyed this. Thank you.

I had just wrote last week about holding onto your ideas when in fact by sharing them you allow the universe to expand them into something even greater than you can possibly imagine and here I was doing the exact opposite.

I just got schooled by my friends compliment!

But she didn’t stop there. Her own blog post lovingly jabbed me again with divine communication. Again, check out her post “Create” on her blog, In the Everyday . It’s a wonderful poem that will inspire your creativity but it was the very last line that hit the mark for me.

We’re here to create!

So whether you think that obtaining advise or wisdom from random divinations in your neighbourhood is far fetched or you think the signs I saw were really my subconscious running amok on my conscious life, or maybe you are like me and you are a true believer in the signs, symbols and synchronicities of our world, I’d like to challenge you. For just an hour or even better an afternoon, open yourself and discover the magical energies that swirl and dance around where you live. Look for it in the pleasant conversations of random strangers in the grocery line or the cheerful chirping of an unseen bird or the squeals of delight in the playground at the park. When you are present and open to this kind of innocent sorcery, you might just open yourself to the oracles of nature, the timely signposts of universal guidance or the serendipitous connecting’s of two souls destinies.

A good friend will help you find the signs and symbols you seek. Help a friend and share this post.