Raven

Rob Pointon (born in 1982).

Chimney Stack (2025)

Oil on board

And then I open Tumblr to this...

This is a very desperate attempt, I acknowledge that. And it’s different from the kind of posts I usually make. But I have recently moved to Sweden because I was offered a job at a restaurant. I initially said I wanted to find something more stable before moving, but as I was offered the job, I figured that since I had a bit of money saved on the side, and me being physically there, this opportunity could give me a chance of finding something better compared to just applying online, so I figured why not give it a chance and try to move without necessarily having a super stable plan aligned for me?

However, that soon proved itself to have been a pretty bad mistake and miscalculation on my side. That specific job ended up not giving me any stability, barely scheduling shifts for me, and not willing to give me a contract even though initially I was promised the contract within a week. I was also given a lower pay compared to what I was promised during the interview. The restaurant had great reviews, and I did some checks online about it but nothing ever stood out as sketchy or unstable.

I have been relentlessly looking for a job (especially a stable job) since early December of last year, I have sent likely well over 700-800 applications combining both online and in person ones, I have tried to network and ask anyone that I knew if they had any connection whatsoever to Sweden, and if they knew someone that could give me a stable job (even just momentarily) until I could get my footing in this country and later on find something a long-term opportunity. But that was to no avail either. I am now turning to this community to ask if anyone has any connection whatsoever or can provide me with a real offer in Sweden, specifically in Stockholm or even remotely within Europe, where I can actually start to build a future for myself.

I am a highly skilled motivated person, I learn an adapt very quickly, I’m not afraid of challenges or learning new things. I speak multiple languages and I have various skill backgrounds; from hospitality, to customer service, to real estate, to receptionist jobs. I have over the years cultivated skills in IT and gaming on my own, as personal interests. I can also offer skills in translation, sales, marketing, QA, digital design, beauty related services, and much more. I am currently still studying Swedish, so my language skills are not perfect yet. However, I know that within six months I can be perfectly fluent, because I have done it previously with other languages, so I know I have that ability in me.

I am begging you to at least share this post and take two seconds of your time to think about whether there is any valuable connection or advice that you can send my way. I am now living paycheck to paycheck, and I arrive at the end of the month not even being sure to be able to afford rent each time. I am very desperate, but I’m also very capable and I am truly trying to build a future for myself here. I’m not someone that takes things lightly. And I know that if I got an opportunity, I would make the most out of it. I would commit to it, and work very hard to do well in whatever I’m doing.

I ideally don’t want another hospitality job, as most of them have proven themselves to be quite unstable, and that makes me feel unsettled. I would really like a chance to find a more stable job where I can actually grow and have future prospects in, or that can give me some valuable work experience here in Sweden. I so badly don’t want to have to go back to my country, especially not so soon.

If you know anything that could help me, or if you know anyone that could have an actual opportunity for me, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I will give you as many details as you need. I am just asking for an opportunity to be seen and to be actually considered for a position in a stable carrier. I can start immediately, and I can work full-time or for as many hours as needed.

Please boost this post and do reach out if you have any leads, even if it’s nothing super concrete. I would rather try and take a chance at an opportunity that’s not certain, which may turn into something real, rather than not taking it, and risk of missing a chance to get it in the first place.

I am at the point where I’m willing to try and take all the roads I can to get there, so please just give me a chance to prove that I’m the person someone is looking for.

You've heard about fake Rolexes and fake friends. But how much do you know about fake tarot readers?

1. They downright threaten your life.

They start their videos by saying that something bad will happen to you if you don't finish watching the reel, the TikTok or the Short. It goes without saying that's not true. Fake tarot readers are fake witches too. They can't curse you. It's just better for the algorithm if you watch their whole video. And if they're monetized, it makes them earn more money too.

2. They also threaten you subtly.

They end their videos by saying that the Universe will treat you the way you treat their content. Which follows that if you like, share and save it, the Universe will also like you and save you and share blessings with you. So if you ignore the video, the Universe will also ignore you. No one who truly speaks for a higher power will threaten you for engagement, even discreetly.

3. They don't actually interpret the cards.

They already have a storyline or a script in their mind. And they're just pulling cards and showing them to you on screen, pretending that the message is coming from tarot. If you actually know even a little bit about tarot, you will notice that the cards they're showing are completely unrelated to what they're saying. They don't use tarot as an instrument. They use it as props.

4. They tell you exactly what you want to hear.

Exes really do come back. People really become millionaires. Dreams really do come true. But if their readings are always 100% positive to the point of exaggeration, and come with no careful disclaimers about energy alignment and the nature of general readings, then you are being fooled. I mean, if all you want is to feel good, then they're doing their job. But if you come to tarot for truth, you would be betraying yourself.

5. You're always the good guy in their story.

You know what? Most of the time, you are the good guy. People who seek tarot tend to be spiritual after all. But we all have a blind spot, and none of us is perfect. So sometimes, you are the villain. Why are you always the victim anyway if you're such a strong and wonderful person? It's a contradiction. Tarot readers who consistently talk crap about everyone in your life while praising you, want you to be addicted to them. They talk about your success, but they're using you for theirs.

​“The soul usually knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind.”

Cernunnos and Yoga, Part I

     My earliest memories of people involved in spiritual practice come from a local Dutch Reformed church where my grandparents attended.  When we were in town to stay with them, church attendance was mandatory.  The sanctuary was scrupulously clean, everything made of polished, gleaming, unadorned wood from the floor, to the pews, to the altar.  There were no adornments or images of any kind, except for a cross set into the back wall behind where the choir sat.  While fellowship time in the narthex was loud, boisterous, and friendly, worship in the sanctuary began with a period of utter, profound silence until the service began.  Prattle or fidgeting from a child was universally met with a powerful squeeze to the arm or the painful flicking of the ear with thumb and forefinger.  Infants went to the nursery and were never to be found where they might wail through the sermon or scream through the congregational prayer.  When we returned home after a severe and thoroughgoing exegesis of Scripture by the dominie, the pastor, we would begin lunch with the reading of Scripture at the table and a lengthy prayer prior to digging into the feast.  As much as I hated such a regimen of discipline when I was a child, it sank deeply into me and colors my practice to this day.  

     My father’s work took him to the western Pacific when I was transitioning from childhood to youth, and we went with him, living in the Marianas Islands for two years.  Twice a year, we went as a family for brief vacations either to Japan or to Hong Kong.  On these visits we encountered Buddhist temples where clergy and local lay people could be found sitting on mats in a profound contemplative silence, punctuated and enhanced by the reverberations of occasional bells and the fragrant smell of burning incense.  Here again, in a different faith, I saw the imposition of the discipline of silence and stillness.  I was 11 or 12 at the time and found that this Dutch Reformed-style stillness in an exotic setting and in a different belief-system made it more interesting than it had been at church.  I asked to buy some incense at a local vendor while we were visiting Tokyo, and attempted my own Buddhist-adjacent spiritual practice when we returned home.  With my allowance, I bought a Japanese-style robe of some sort and wore it as part of the practice.  My father began, contemptuously, to call me “Mr. Moto.”  I am sure this cultural reference will be entirely lost on anyone under the age of 70; if you’re interested in discovering its significance, a brief Mr. Moto AI query, adding the name Peter Lorre, will satisfy your curiosity.  

     Years later, when I took up the practice of yoga, a discipline which I continue to follow to this day, I was delighted to find the same commitment to contemplation and inward silence.  With yoga, however, the silence is not imposed; it is something which occurs naturally through the performance of  poses and procedures.  A lot of emphasis is put on breathing, on learning how to bring air into and out of the body in a slow and deliberate way, coordinating those breaths with the slow and deliberate movements of the body.  As the practitioner mindfully assumes a pose, inhaling for certain movements while being careful to wait for an exhale before performing others, there is a focus brought to the consciousness which centers on the body, its structures, and its way of operating.  

     For the ceremonial magician, this is important stuff, since the traditions of that kind of magic have their roots in the old medieval idea of the “godly order.”  According to this idea, the universe is something like a sphere containing a sphere containing a sphere, and so on.  Each sphere, starting with the outermost sphere of the fixed stars, was held to exert powerful influences on the spheres within its particular enclosure.  Stars exerted power over everything in the universe.  Within that sphere, planets did not influence the stars behind them, but did influence everything in the inner spheres below them.  Earth was believed to be at the center of all the spheres in the universe,  under the  influences of all the stars and planets, and every form of life and matter on earth was held to receive those influences into themselves.  Thus, a human being was seen to be his own microcosm, his own little version, in miniature, of the entire cosmos.  In each human being could be found organs that represented every one of the planets and all of the stars.  Doctors operated under the assumption that the powers radiated by various entities in the cosmos must be taken into consideration and used as a part of therapy.

     Such views have since been rejected as unscientific, yet I hold to the idea that each of us is related and tied to the rest of the universe, right down to his inmost being.  We are part of the cosmic dance and do best when our movements coordinate and harmonize with the rhythms of the cosmos.  In yogic teaching, there is an understanding that within the body are centers, called chakras, which regulate the operations of the physical self while at the same time performing that service for the components of our spiritual interiority.  As one breathes in the practice of yoga, one learns, over time, to breathe “into” those centers, to become aware of them.  With awareness comes increased consciousness of how one's body is currently working, of what its needs are, and of how one should live in accordance with those needs.  Those chakra centers are each understood to be tied, by some invisible thread of influence and function, to the planets and stars, so that the saying “As above, so below” takes on a uniquely physical and intimate meaning for those who understand body and being as an expression, not just of local life, but as a local manifestation of the nature of the whole universe. 

      Which brings me to Cernunnos.  I will leave you now with two photos, one of Cernunnos as he is depicted in silver on a panel of the Gundestrop Cauldron, and one of the Buddha in a yogic pose with his disciples, also fashioned in silver.  Compare the two and do some thinking on your own. Note particularly the position of the feet, the animals in the background, and the vegetation. Until next time, Blessed Be!

The woods on the way home 🌲

Timelapse below: