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The human psyche is predisposed to focus on what's problematical and a source of fear, anxiety, and discontent. We build mental maps that emphasize areas of conflict, deprivation, hardship, and threat. It's easy to take for granted the whole series of blessings you must have received if you are alive, literate, and resourced enough to read these words right now.

We also tend to think that blessings must be warm, fuzzy, feel-good sorts of things. But a warm and fuzzy universe would retard our spiritual development. A blessing is more likely something that provides you with a developmental challenge that gives you an opportunity for spiritual growth. The occurrence of this card indicates that unseen forces are blessing you right now.

You are never alone, not in your body, not on this planet, and not in the spirit realm where your soul and psyche live. Your body is a cooperative network of about 50 trillion cells working together to allow you a corporeal existence on a planet with another eight billion human beings. But we are even less alone in the spirit world, where location is irrealized and sympathetic vibration transcends boundaries of space and time. Invisible allies in the spiritual world, as well as the microbiological realm, work to keep you alive. As above, so below.

The unseen realm includes watchers and helpers we can access. Sometimes we need to tune into their subtle messages, other times to call out for their help, other times merely to allow their ministrations to occur while we are scarcely aware of their intercession.

There are spirit guides available to help us. External spirit guides include guardian entities, human spiritual allies, great books, and oracles. The most important spirit guide, however, is your "self." Jung used the term to refer to the totality of the psyche, of which the conscious ego is a small part. Listen for your quiet, calm, compassionate inner voice.

Accessing help from the spirit realm is more about recognizing what's already there than seeking something from afar. Loving people and spirits exist alongside all the potent darkness of the world that cannot be denied. It's all too easy to build lazy mental maps that emphasize the wrongness of the world. Evidence of darkness in the world is massive and readily available. It takes more penetrating discernment to build maps that are not one-sided in their emphasis. And yes, Pollyanna maps are even more absurd than dark ones.

You need to recognize the love and blessings that are all too easily obscured by the veils of darkness. There is far more in heaven and on earth than are dreamt of in nihilistic philosophies. Cynical, dark views pretend to be sophisticated and fearless when actually they are ignorant and fear based.

Consider this an auspicious time to recognize and work with hidden light and blessings.