After reading Gary Karp's spirit guide spread, I was curious to try it. I went to the Spreads forum, and found a couple. For the first reading, I chose the nine-card spread whose first question is "Do I have a spirit guide?", because it would seem silly to try communicating with someone who didn't exist. I chose to use the DruidCraft instead of the Quantum for this particular spread, because I'm more comfortable asking DruidCraft that kind of a question. Quantum seems more appropriate for questions to do with the Prime Material plane, if you will. Now, I'm still working out what all this means, but I'll do a preliminary post, here, and try not to jump back and forth too much between earthly and spiritual logic.
The questions:
1. Do I have a spirit guide? -The Hermit
2. How can I contact my spirit guide? -King of Pentacles
3. Will I make contact with my spirit guide soon? - VIII Strength
4. Will we communicate mentally only? -XV Cernunnos
5. Has my spirit guide been with me always? -Prince of Pentacles
6. Will my guide give me information about my work/home matters/relationships? -Ten of Pentacles
7. Can my guides teach me about other realities? -The Tower
8. Does my spirit guide appear in physical form? -Queen of Pentacles
9. Final outcome? -V High Priest
Nine cards, five majors, four pentacles, three of them courts.
1. Why was I not surprised to see the Hermit in the first position? That card dogged me for years, since I started keeping track of my readings, when a former relationship was falling apart. He kept following me through my twists and turns, turning up in fully 50% of my readings. I counted. He stopped bugging me since I left the city and its insanity and moved to the mountains, to a "metropolis" of about 40 people and 20 dogs. I thought this might be the the Hermit's little joke, but this is a new deck. And I recalled, for the first time in years, a spiritual meeting I once attended, where the lady reading auras said (whereas everyone else had a nifty animal guide) that there was somebody in a brown robe standing by me. The DC Hermit even has a brown robe. I jumped in my seat when I saw that.
4. I am not sure exactly how to interpret this, but Cernunnos looks, here, almost like a vision. It was when I started receiving insightful visions, when my life seemed to be crashing down around me, that I turned to spiritual matters and started getting the Hermit in so many of my readings.
5. Has my spirit guide been with me always? The Prince of Pentacles shows a young man seated on a standing horse, his shield raised. He intently watches something ahead of him off the card. His sword is drawn, but he is not in a striking pose. Now, I could be reading things into this to suit my fancy, but when that same relationship was falling apart, is also when I took up a form of martial art, because it was easier to deal with physical pain than with the emotional pain I was experiencing. I also started defending myself and my interests, and began taking an interest in spiritual matters.
6. Will my guide give me information about work/home matters/relationships? I see the 10 of Pentacles as a domestic scene. When I started receiving visions, it was at this same time, and the insights often referred to relationships and domestic arrangements.
7. Can my guides teach me about other realities? At two times in my life, related to aforementioned events, when "my life was overrrrr", I had a strange, I'd almost say supernatural experience, of being gifted with a way of looking at the situation inside out, which made me realize it was a wonderful opportunity in the greatest sense, a brand new day with a brand new vision, with possibilities for a brand new life. I can't quite put this into words, because they were experiences beyond words.
I'll leave off for now, as I have more thinking to do and I don't want to bore you either. (Also, company has arrived.) I am tempted to believe that there is more to this spirit guide business than I first thought, but I'm still not grasping the entirety of this reading.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Uncertainty Spread
Silly me, I didn't write this week's question down, so I've forgotten how I worded it. It was to do with my friend showing an interest in my interest in the tarot, and in the things that I have been reading on this site. He had been "casually" asking if there were any decks I had my eye on (birthday coming up, how can this be a bad thing?); but I've been ambivalent in answering him. This stems from my caution in going overboard, investing money in a hobby that I may drop again when I get busy doing other things. (And I don't want to build a warehouse just to house a tarot collection!) My ambivalence also stems from the fact that this particular friend is a geologist; very fact-oriented, not artsy; nor, to my knowledge, into "psychic" things. So I've never bothered him with my little eccentricities in those areas. But he has been browsing through my decks, and picking up on the imagery and interpretations very quickly. As I'm uncertain what I'm uncertain about, I thought I'd try the Uncertainty Principle spread, offered in the booklet accompanying the Quantum deck.The card meanings are: 1. Wave: how the question affects you emotionally. 2. Particle: how the question affects you practically. 3. Uncertainty: what you are not seeing clearly. 4. Planck's Constant: what cannot be changed. 5. Probability: potential outcome.
The card positions are thus:
--5--
1-3-2
--4--
I was rather puzzled by the cards that came up, so I mulled them over for a few days before posting. In order, they are 6 of Swords, Queen of Wands, 4 of Pentacles, 5 of Pentacles, 3 of Cups.
This particular LWB relates the 6 of Swords to bosons, two of which particles can occupy the same space at the same time, making that space crowded. The interpretation is that if we feel overcrowded in some aspect of our lives, we sometimes move away from it--mentally, if not physically. In my life, if I feel hemmed in, I will make time and space for myself and do a reading on what's bothering me. Tarot is something that I've done by myself, for myself. I go into my own sphere. My friend's curiosity is not unwelcome, but most unexpected. I am not used to sharing my tarot space. Maybe the 6 of Swords relates to one or other of those kinds of crowding.
The Queen of Wands appears in answer to how the issue affects me practically. Never mind traditional imagery. Never mind that this particular deck talks about the planet Venus. This is a tarot question, and on this card is the likeness of one of this deck's two creators. The message in the LWB is to "think big"! Over the past couple of days since I did this spread, my friend has been pondering how various artists have gone about creating their decks, and was wondering how the majors could be portrayed if they were to feature his favourite breed of dog. Good grief. Don't tell me he's planning on making a tarot deck?!
The third card is the Uncertainty; what I am not seeing clearly. It is the 4 of Pentacles, showing an elliptical galaxy. These are made up of old and dying stars, with no new ones being created. The interpretation is stagnation and unwillingness to change. It could be that I'm being unwilling to let go of my accustomed ways and assumptions. I'm a little unclear of what new idea it is that I'm supposed to be embracing, beyond sharing my pleasure in tarot.
The fourth card, Planck's Constant, is what cannot be changed. In this position is the 5 of Pentacles. The booklet discusses quarks and limitations as to where they can exist: tied to each other within the nucleus of an atom. It relates the phenomenon to the limitations of physical reality, and remarks that by recognizing the limits of a situation, we should also be able to recognize its possibilities, which can be a creative stimulus. The image is of two figures melded together back to back, in a semi-opaque cloud (limitation), with a clear patch above and between them roughly the shape of a third person's head and shoulders (possibility). The simplistic reading for this card in this position is "limits are limiting"! Maybe I should stop worrying about having "an embarrassment of riches". Maybe the limits of a tarot deck's form is to inspire creativity.
Potential outcome, the final card, is the 3 of Cups. What strikes me is the image of three people's faces pressed together at the top of the card, as though they were a bunch of friends at a mall photo booth. The book speaks of open star clusters, such as Pleiades, and the interesting phenomena which may be seen there, "because the proximity of the stars...means that any event happening to one star can have a dramatic effect on its neighbours". The book draws a parallel to the synergy happening among three or more like-minded people. I'm not sure if the three-or-more is literal, but it seems possible that if I re-think tarot as not being a solo pursuit but a shared one, it will be a shared pleasure, and possibly a creative one.
If anyone feels that they can offer a sharper interpretation, I would be glad to read it in the Comments section!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
THE HIGH PRIESTESS.
Here's my daily draw. You're looking at the reddish veil of a cone nebula, apparently a star-forming cluster of gas and dust. The darker part is vaguely priestess-shaped, and gives a clear view through the nebula to the universe beyond. When I saw this image, I finally understood the meaning of the High Priestess card. I almost drove off the road when it hit home. It is not about a woman. It is about her perception that lets her see through the veil of ordinary matter to the reality beyond. Here she is, invisible, allowing a clear view to the universe. Here is her knowledge: she lets go of the ego, and merges with the reality beyond her chronological time and physical space. Superimposed on the card is the wheel commonly seen on the Wheel of Fortune, which can only be read as it completes its turns; its individual letters mean nothing. It is appropriately placed here, as the High Priestess sees the big picture, the whole, rather than the individual components. Three cheers, I say, to Chris Butler for this brilliant stroke, doing away with swaddled priestesses clutching closed books, in front of "veils" of heavy brocade. Less is more.
Although it is adequate, I am afraid the card description was a bit of an anticlimax after this pictorial tour de force. It speaks of the least obvious force, weak force, being responsible for particle decay and apparent disappearance, when the particle has merely become two particles. Weak force is likened to the High Priestess' hidden knowledge. Self-examination is advised, for the answer is to be found within.
Here's my daily draw. You're looking at the reddish veil of a cone nebula, apparently a star-forming cluster of gas and dust. The darker part is vaguely priestess-shaped, and gives a clear view through the nebula to the universe beyond. When I saw this image, I finally understood the meaning of the High Priestess card. I almost drove off the road when it hit home. It is not about a woman. It is about her perception that lets her see through the veil of ordinary matter to the reality beyond. Here she is, invisible, allowing a clear view to the universe. Here is her knowledge: she lets go of the ego, and merges with the reality beyond her chronological time and physical space. Superimposed on the card is the wheel commonly seen on the Wheel of Fortune, which can only be read as it completes its turns; its individual letters mean nothing. It is appropriately placed here, as the High Priestess sees the big picture, the whole, rather than the individual components. Three cheers, I say, to Chris Butler for this brilliant stroke, doing away with swaddled priestesses clutching closed books, in front of "veils" of heavy brocade. Less is more.
Although it is adequate, I am afraid the card description was a bit of an anticlimax after this pictorial tour de force. It speaks of the least obvious force, weak force, being responsible for particle decay and apparent disappearance, when the particle has merely become two particles. Weak force is likened to the High Priestess' hidden knowledge. Self-examination is advised, for the answer is to be found within.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Patience, patience
Hah! My next "weekly" reading appears only a day later! I know that when the weather warms up, I'll be spending a lot of time doing garden-related things, so I may as well post while I have time on my hands. If I do 52 posts over the course of the year, I'll call it "weekly enough".
Today I asked Quantum a simple question. I've been coveting the Bohemian Gothic, because it is beautiful, dark, mysterious, and has different imagery from anything else I have--should I actually need a reason to covet it. It still isn't available from amazon.ca, but amazon.com has it. The base price is reasonable, but shipping, taxes, duties, and the exchange rate nickel and dime it from being within my price limit to being well out of it. I'm just worried that the deck will go out of print before I buy it. The question I asked the Quantum (and it doesn't seem like a jealous deck) is whether I should buy the Bohemian now, or wait for an unspecified later.
I intended to take a single card from the top of the deck, but the second card insisted on coming along, no matter what. So I included it. Behold, the Three of Wands and the Knight of Pentacles. For me, these usually mean waiting for one's ship to come in, and exercising patience.
Here, the imagery is the night sea sparkling and dancing with the reflection of a galaxy cluster. There are ghostly ship's sails and a silhouetted watcher, whose arm is raised as if to say, "Behold!". The Knight somewhat mirrors the Three in the form of a silhouetted centaur, arm raised toward a flourishing tree. A schematic rendering of the constellation Centaurus is superimposed on the image.
Feeling furtive, because my nose was literally deep in the Little White Book (which is very small, like a prayer book, and the print threatens to disappear into the binding, and the whole thing loves to snap shut so you lose your place), I read of galaxy clusters and the myth of Chiron.
A galaxy, of course, is a cluster of stars. A galaxy cluster is a cluster of galaxies. A galaxy supercluster is a cluster of clusters. Are you keeping track? Can you comprehend the scale? Then, the void between the clusters make those clusters seem tiny. The message of the card is to THINK BIG. Think beyond the limitations of what we believe to be the real world. "...We can have our heart's desire if only we are willing to expand our horizons in time and space."
Chiron was a wise centaur who was a teacher to Jason and Hercules. Hercules accidentally shot him in the knee with a poisoned arrow. Chiron gained much of his healing wisdom trying to cure himself. As the Knight of Pentacles, he represents plodding progress, doubtless because of his injured leg. "This is the card of small steps rather than giant leaps."
Placing this reading back to back with yesterday's, which counselled patience, I can only read this as the same. I can only appreciate so many decks at once. Build the collection slowly, just in case this is a passing craze with me (but I doubt it). Think beyond the "urgency" of the moment. All kinds of opportunities could turn up. The ship could come back with more than I'd imagined. The tall tree that Chiron points to is vigorous, but didn't spring up in a day. They could even be gesturing to something BETWEEN the cards that I can't see. Patience, patience!
I could have read this intuitively, based on my RWS experience, but I would have missed the richness of the mythology and the science. And that would have been a shame.
Today I asked Quantum a simple question. I've been coveting the Bohemian Gothic, because it is beautiful, dark, mysterious, and has different imagery from anything else I have--should I actually need a reason to covet it. It still isn't available from amazon.ca, but amazon.com has it. The base price is reasonable, but shipping, taxes, duties, and the exchange rate nickel and dime it from being within my price limit to being well out of it. I'm just worried that the deck will go out of print before I buy it. The question I asked the Quantum (and it doesn't seem like a jealous deck) is whether I should buy the Bohemian now, or wait for an unspecified later.
I intended to take a single card from the top of the deck, but the second card insisted on coming along, no matter what. So I included it. Behold, the Three of Wands and the Knight of Pentacles. For me, these usually mean waiting for one's ship to come in, and exercising patience.
Here, the imagery is the night sea sparkling and dancing with the reflection of a galaxy cluster. There are ghostly ship's sails and a silhouetted watcher, whose arm is raised as if to say, "Behold!". The Knight somewhat mirrors the Three in the form of a silhouetted centaur, arm raised toward a flourishing tree. A schematic rendering of the constellation Centaurus is superimposed on the image.
Feeling furtive, because my nose was literally deep in the Little White Book (which is very small, like a prayer book, and the print threatens to disappear into the binding, and the whole thing loves to snap shut so you lose your place), I read of galaxy clusters and the myth of Chiron.
A galaxy, of course, is a cluster of stars. A galaxy cluster is a cluster of galaxies. A galaxy supercluster is a cluster of clusters. Are you keeping track? Can you comprehend the scale? Then, the void between the clusters make those clusters seem tiny. The message of the card is to THINK BIG. Think beyond the limitations of what we believe to be the real world. "...We can have our heart's desire if only we are willing to expand our horizons in time and space."
Chiron was a wise centaur who was a teacher to Jason and Hercules. Hercules accidentally shot him in the knee with a poisoned arrow. Chiron gained much of his healing wisdom trying to cure himself. As the Knight of Pentacles, he represents plodding progress, doubtless because of his injured leg. "This is the card of small steps rather than giant leaps."
Placing this reading back to back with yesterday's, which counselled patience, I can only read this as the same. I can only appreciate so many decks at once. Build the collection slowly, just in case this is a passing craze with me (but I doubt it). Think beyond the "urgency" of the moment. All kinds of opportunities could turn up. The ship could come back with more than I'd imagined. The tall tree that Chiron points to is vigorous, but didn't spring up in a day. They could even be gesturing to something BETWEEN the cards that I can't see. Patience, patience!
I could have read this intuitively, based on my RWS experience, but I would have missed the richness of the mythology and the science. And that would have been a shame.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Contemplating My Resources
A transparent man calmly regards the Pencil Nebula, a remnant of an exploded star. Seven Pentacles, unexploded stars, wheel through space.
This is the Quantum Tarot. I'll be checking the Little White Book a lot, as many of the concepts are "out of this world", quite literally! To me, the appeal of the deck is the ideas behind it. What other deck says this of the Seven of Pentacles, my daily draw?
"Up and down quarks form the composite particles that make up the nucleus of an atom and thus most of the matter in the universe. The other four flavours of quark [top and bottom, charmed and strange] tend to be unstable and don't seem to serve any obvious purpose. The 7 of Pentacles represents this apparently careless abundance. In traditional decks, it is often depicted as the card of harvest. We have gathered a lot of stuff, probably more than we'll ever need. The 7 of Pentacles is not about questioning this surplus but appreciating it. We are being asked to count our blessings and enjoy what we have."
In either case, how does the Seven of Pentacles relate to my life? Really, my life is pretty wonderful right now. I have set myself on a certain course, and am now reaping the benefits. This is a reward for foresight! I should be enjoying it, and not worrying about what I should be doing next, and how quickly! But I've been fussing. "Oh, no, I'm late starting the primary deck reflection." Phooey. There are 45 perfectly good weeks left in this year. "Oh, no, I have four tarot decks but I'm not 100% comfortable with all of them." Sheesh. Four decks is three more than I need for the PDR. Study increases comfort. Good grief, I have the leisure to do the PDR in the first place. Did I really expect to have studied all the cards and read all the interpretive philosophies in three days, and attained all knowledge too? What would I do for the rest of the year, let alone the rest of my life?
I also know the card as one of waiting for the harvest, and doing by not doing. Let the crop grow itself. Harvest will come in due season.
The 7 of Pentacles is the card that flew out of the deck when I was attempting to shuffle it for the first time. It has a slight crease, due to my impatience shoving it back in, and now it's my draw of the day. Hmm. I don't think that's a coincidence. This deck can speak, if I have the ears to listen!
This is the Quantum Tarot. I'll be checking the Little White Book a lot, as many of the concepts are "out of this world", quite literally! To me, the appeal of the deck is the ideas behind it. What other deck says this of the Seven of Pentacles, my daily draw?
"Up and down quarks form the composite particles that make up the nucleus of an atom and thus most of the matter in the universe. The other four flavours of quark [top and bottom, charmed and strange] tend to be unstable and don't seem to serve any obvious purpose. The 7 of Pentacles represents this apparently careless abundance. In traditional decks, it is often depicted as the card of harvest. We have gathered a lot of stuff, probably more than we'll ever need. The 7 of Pentacles is not about questioning this surplus but appreciating it. We are being asked to count our blessings and enjoy what we have."
In either case, how does the Seven of Pentacles relate to my life? Really, my life is pretty wonderful right now. I have set myself on a certain course, and am now reaping the benefits. This is a reward for foresight! I should be enjoying it, and not worrying about what I should be doing next, and how quickly! But I've been fussing. "Oh, no, I'm late starting the primary deck reflection." Phooey. There are 45 perfectly good weeks left in this year. "Oh, no, I have four tarot decks but I'm not 100% comfortable with all of them." Sheesh. Four decks is three more than I need for the PDR. Study increases comfort. Good grief, I have the leisure to do the PDR in the first place. Did I really expect to have studied all the cards and read all the interpretive philosophies in three days, and attained all knowledge too? What would I do for the rest of the year, let alone the rest of my life?
I also know the card as one of waiting for the harvest, and doing by not doing. Let the crop grow itself. Harvest will come in due season.
The 7 of Pentacles is the card that flew out of the deck when I was attempting to shuffle it for the first time. It has a slight crease, due to my impatience shoving it back in, and now it's my draw of the day. Hmm. I don't think that's a coincidence. This deck can speak, if I have the ears to listen!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
They're he-e-ere!
The long-awaited box of goodies arrived on Thursday. Due to commitments that day, I had to wait until Friday before I could open it...twitch, twitch.
DruidCraft Tarot feels like long-lost friends and relations to me, to the point where I'm looking at the people and trying to "remember" what their names are! I feel so at home with that deck. I think it likes me too, because when I asked how we'd get along, up came the Princess of Wands, upon whom my eyes had already lingered when I browsed through the deck. She strides confidently down the road, and reminds me greatly of the heroine of a novel I had been writing for myself, and is thus dear to my heart already! And although the princesses are youthful, and take the place of pages, there is nothing inherently incompetent about them. They all seem focused on their learning, possessing the good habits and attitudes with which I would start the school year. In answer to the question "what will you teach me?", the Wheel (of the year/of Fortune) showed up. It is a card of seeing the patterns in one's life and in all of nature, and of ending and beginning cycles. How auspicious! The Wheel is one of my favourite cards, esoterically. I asked "What do I bring to this deck?", and The Lady (The Empress, and a birth card) turned up. "Much" might be the one-word answer. Between my medieval recreationist experience and practice of the Craft, and with a smattering of Celtic lore thrown in, I think I'm well primed to work with these cards. Will I use them in the Primary Deck Reflection? Perversely, probably not, unless I need a break. A break from what?
I see the PDR exercise as an opportunity to Study with a capital S, something that I might otherwise be lazy about. It is also an opportunity to share a deck that other people may not be familiar with. Thus, officially, I am choosing to study the Quantum Tarot, published just last year, although it's not an immediate love-in. I am fascinated by the concept of blending the physics of outer space, and the inner atom, with tarot. I see no paradox whatsoever. Understanding the invisible and subtle forces that affect us has been the province of tarot for centuries. This is an update of the science involved. No problem--except that I haven't touched the theory behind physics since Grade 8 science class where, let's just say, I failed to distinguish myself. I asked the cards how we'd get along: the 2 of Pentacles showed up. Well, if that isn't about ambivalence, I don't know what is. What I make of this deck is pretty much in my hands...science is neutral, and all that. What will I learn? The Knight of Wands showed up, linked in this deck to the planet Mars. Going by the Little White Book, "he symbolises the sustained drive and enthusiasm needed to see through a project"; "the brave companion who will support you unflaggingly--even if he does tend to get into arguments". Oh, great. The lesson of this deck may be persistence, and altering my views about things I thought I "knew". How very scientific. The Queen of Swords showed up in answer to "what do I bring to this deck?". In this deck, she is linked to Cassiopeia, traditionally considered to be a bold and scheming woman (how unfeminine: didn't she know her place?). "Traditionally, the Queen of Swords represented widowhood, but these days she embodies independent and mature womanhood. She makes her own choices, has a discerning mind and is not swayed by emotional appeals from others." Well, that sits better with my feminist, or at least humanist, ego. Maybe that's a vignette of me choosing this deck because it's a challenge, not a shoe-in.
The deck I will not be using in this study is the Revelations Tarot. It has built-in reversed images, which I thought was very clever, and still do, but now that I have the deck in my hand it seems uncommunicative to me in its imagery. The cards themselves are the easiest to handle. I will be studying them off-line in a comparison of all four of my decks, and reading the companion book. How will we get along? King of Cups. "This card urges going with your gut feeling...". What can I learn from it? Hanged Man (a birth card) reversed. Loss of self in a situation that runs away with one...bad investment...reversal of luck.... What do I bring to this deck? The Sun. All the optimism in the world. But I think I'd better apply the energy of that optimism to a more talkative deck.
I have not yet heard from any of the publishers, so I won't post photos yet. But I have the technology, and would love to brighten the page with pictures!
DruidCraft Tarot feels like long-lost friends and relations to me, to the point where I'm looking at the people and trying to "remember" what their names are! I feel so at home with that deck. I think it likes me too, because when I asked how we'd get along, up came the Princess of Wands, upon whom my eyes had already lingered when I browsed through the deck. She strides confidently down the road, and reminds me greatly of the heroine of a novel I had been writing for myself, and is thus dear to my heart already! And although the princesses are youthful, and take the place of pages, there is nothing inherently incompetent about them. They all seem focused on their learning, possessing the good habits and attitudes with which I would start the school year. In answer to the question "what will you teach me?", the Wheel (of the year/of Fortune) showed up. It is a card of seeing the patterns in one's life and in all of nature, and of ending and beginning cycles. How auspicious! The Wheel is one of my favourite cards, esoterically. I asked "What do I bring to this deck?", and The Lady (The Empress, and a birth card) turned up. "Much" might be the one-word answer. Between my medieval recreationist experience and practice of the Craft, and with a smattering of Celtic lore thrown in, I think I'm well primed to work with these cards. Will I use them in the Primary Deck Reflection? Perversely, probably not, unless I need a break. A break from what?
I see the PDR exercise as an opportunity to Study with a capital S, something that I might otherwise be lazy about. It is also an opportunity to share a deck that other people may not be familiar with. Thus, officially, I am choosing to study the Quantum Tarot, published just last year, although it's not an immediate love-in. I am fascinated by the concept of blending the physics of outer space, and the inner atom, with tarot. I see no paradox whatsoever. Understanding the invisible and subtle forces that affect us has been the province of tarot for centuries. This is an update of the science involved. No problem--except that I haven't touched the theory behind physics since Grade 8 science class where, let's just say, I failed to distinguish myself. I asked the cards how we'd get along: the 2 of Pentacles showed up. Well, if that isn't about ambivalence, I don't know what is. What I make of this deck is pretty much in my hands...science is neutral, and all that. What will I learn? The Knight of Wands showed up, linked in this deck to the planet Mars. Going by the Little White Book, "he symbolises the sustained drive and enthusiasm needed to see through a project"; "the brave companion who will support you unflaggingly--even if he does tend to get into arguments". Oh, great. The lesson of this deck may be persistence, and altering my views about things I thought I "knew". How very scientific. The Queen of Swords showed up in answer to "what do I bring to this deck?". In this deck, she is linked to Cassiopeia, traditionally considered to be a bold and scheming woman (how unfeminine: didn't she know her place?). "Traditionally, the Queen of Swords represented widowhood, but these days she embodies independent and mature womanhood. She makes her own choices, has a discerning mind and is not swayed by emotional appeals from others." Well, that sits better with my feminist, or at least humanist, ego. Maybe that's a vignette of me choosing this deck because it's a challenge, not a shoe-in.
The deck I will not be using in this study is the Revelations Tarot. It has built-in reversed images, which I thought was very clever, and still do, but now that I have the deck in my hand it seems uncommunicative to me in its imagery. The cards themselves are the easiest to handle. I will be studying them off-line in a comparison of all four of my decks, and reading the companion book. How will we get along? King of Cups. "This card urges going with your gut feeling...". What can I learn from it? Hanged Man (a birth card) reversed. Loss of self in a situation that runs away with one...bad investment...reversal of luck.... What do I bring to this deck? The Sun. All the optimism in the world. But I think I'd better apply the energy of that optimism to a more talkative deck.
I have not yet heard from any of the publishers, so I won't post photos yet. But I have the technology, and would love to brighten the page with pictures!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Why?
Having vowed last October to improve my tarot skills, I was delighted to "discover" Aeclectic Tarot online. The galaxy of deck samples had me busy oohing and aahing for a week: I felt as though I were swimming in tarot, hence my webname. Although my Rider-Waite-Smith deck no doubt has much more to teach me, I feel that I need to step away from it and see the tarot with fresh eyes, through different decks. I went wild and ordered the three decks that most appealed to me (and were available, and in budget): the Quantum, the Revelations, and the DruidCraft. I have a mental note to check into a few others, next year, if I'm feeling rich.
I was also delighted to discover a Personal Deck Reflection thread in the Talking Tarot section of Aeclectic Tarot, started by Kilted Kat, and enthusiastically joined by a growing list of people. It seems like the project is the kick in the *** that a lot of us need, to buckle down and learn, with online study-buddies keeping an eye on us, and making sure we don't slack off. Or at least the little Mom-voice in the back of my head is telling me to do a good job, because everyone's watching! Several of us are also receiving the side benefit of being forced to learn how to blog, and otherwise use the nifty possibilities that the amazing webworld has to offer. All in all, an energizing start to the new year!
My thanks to Aeclectic Tarot, Kilted Kat, study buddies, and the creators of all those beautiful tarot decks! I will post again after my decks have arrived, and after I have received publisher permission to use card images, should they be so gracious.
I was also delighted to discover a Personal Deck Reflection thread in the Talking Tarot section of Aeclectic Tarot, started by Kilted Kat, and enthusiastically joined by a growing list of people. It seems like the project is the kick in the *** that a lot of us need, to buckle down and learn, with online study-buddies keeping an eye on us, and making sure we don't slack off. Or at least the little Mom-voice in the back of my head is telling me to do a good job, because everyone's watching! Several of us are also receiving the side benefit of being forced to learn how to blog, and otherwise use the nifty possibilities that the amazing webworld has to offer. All in all, an energizing start to the new year!
My thanks to Aeclectic Tarot, Kilted Kat, study buddies, and the creators of all those beautiful tarot decks! I will post again after my decks have arrived, and after I have received publisher permission to use card images, should they be so gracious.
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