Happy Birthday To Me! (Maggie)

Yesterday (Wednesday) was my birthday. If you want to know my age, ask my grandson. When he asked, I said, "twenty-nine, hon." He says, "but I thought you were already twenty-nine." I said, "yep, that's right." And he said, "but my mom is twenty-seven." And I said, "that's very good, dear. My goodness, you're smart."

He's getting a little too smart, but oh, well. You're as young as you feel, right? And it's just a number and it only has the meaning we give it. I choose not to give it any.

But since it's my birthday, I've been reviewing the past year, and noticing the highlights. There was Thelma & Louise whirlwind trip to Arizona, with my pal Michele, which was one of the best trips of my life. There was the camping weekend at Letchworth, with the whitewater kayaking. There was the weekend I performed my best friend's daughter's wedding. The past year has brought me a new vehicle, new hardwood floors, a pretty new fainting couch with a swan design, a new big screen TV, an Iphone. This was the year I finally upgraded to DVR. I lost twelve pounds. I had my first running injury, or to keep this positive, I recovered from my first running injury. I started my new column. I released the first novel in a whole new phase of the vampire series. I hired and fired a publicist.


This year, there were a solar eclipse and a new moon that both fell on my birthday. This is supposed to be ushering in a very positive set of changes and opportunities and growth in my life. I'm really excited about that. But then again, that's what I look for on every birthday, and every New Year's Day as well. I'm always thinking of new cycles beginning and looking ahead to what the year will bring. (Read your own horoscopes from the most accurate, insightful astrologer I've ever met, Susan Miller, at www.astrologyzone.com.)

One of the main features of this past year has been the way my relationships have grown, deepened, and changed. Every one of them is at a better, firmer, closer level now, but some of them--no, I think it's safe to say ALL of them -- took a rather painful route to get there. And yet, they're better now than ever before. There's more communication, more real feeling, more closeness, more understanding. Depth. It's a beautiful thing to have that sort of a bond with someone.

So what will this coming year bring? It's exciting just to contemplate it. Life is such a ride, isn't it? It's one I'm enjoying I'l tell you. Even the times when it gets bad--or bad according to my limited point of view while living it--it just makes me want more of the good stuff, and appreciate it more when it comes, as it inevitably does. And I've learned over the course of this year that you can predict what's coming, according to what you want, and your attitude toward it. If you desire something, your desire creates it, and if you can go through life happy, positive, and joyously expecting your desires to be fulfilled, they will be. (Most of us spend our lives grumpily grinching that our desires aren't here yet--which prevents them from coming.)

There's a house down the road from my own wonderful Serenity. And I love that house. And I love this house too. But that one sits right on the water, and that really appeals to me. I would have bought it if it had been for sale when I'd found this one, but it wasn't. And I do love where I am. But I think I might like that one better. I feel very certain that house is in my future. It's still not for sale. It's waiting for me to be ready to buy it, I think.

Huge financial changes are in my future. Eradication of debt is one of my chief focuses of the year. It'll be fun getting there.

I have no doubt more fun trips are in my future. I totally intend to do Letchworth again, not just for my annual group trip there, but for a side trip, for some more kayaking, and horseback riding and hot air balloon rides and hiking and swimming and stuff. It's a great park. I'm craving another, bigger trip too, to one of my favorite places. Somewhere hot and sunny with water nearby. Salem. New Orleans. Virginia Beach. Somewhere tropical, maybe. No doubt about it, this year I'm going to travel.

I have a new living room set in my immediate future. That's not going to be put off much longer. I've been vibrating that for a long while now and it's about ready to manifest.

There's a new book contract in my future as well. This summer, in fact.

It occurs to me that there's a way to use numerology and the Tarot to determine the main focus of your year. You take your birthdate, only you substitute the current year for the year of your birth. (So for me that would be 2/6/2008 this year.) Then you add those numbers together. 2 + 6 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 8 = 18.

(If the sum is 23 or more, you need to add those two digits together until you get an answer that is 22 or less.)

Now you match your year number to the Major Arcana card in the Tarot that bears the matching number. This can sometimes be eerily accurate. For example, the year my mom died, my youngest left home, and my marriage ended was a year in which my year card was The Tower. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Tarot knows that's a pretty good match.

(You can find more on finding your personal power cards of the Tarot in the book TAROT FOR YOUR SELF by Mary K. Greer.)

So this year my year card is The Moon. So I'll be meditating on that card and its meaning, and watching for my life to follow a moonlit path through this coming year. The moon is associated with water, too, so that bodes well for my love of and longing to be near the wet stuff!

A birthday tarot reading is an annual treat for me. Any of you have any fun or slightly mystical birthday traditions to share?
Even the traditional birthday candle has its roots in folk magick, you know. (It's where you least expect it, isn't it?)

Share your birthday thoughts and ideas. I celebrate all week, so I can still adopt some of them! Oh, and hey, while we're at it, if you post your birthday in the comments section, I'll post back and tell you which card is your focus for the year! This could be fun!

Best,
Maggie