I have discovered Etsy. Don’t – whatever you do – make the same mistake I did and type “tarot” into the search box. It will result in much coveting and yearning. Here are a few things I’m now desiring:
- A handmade set of 22 major arcana cards
- And another one, the Black Lilly Tarot
- A beautiful Fairy Queen tarot bag by BabaPrague
- And this totally-impractical-would-never-be-worn-but-need-it-anyway tarot charm bracelet
I’m taking some time out from blogging to unfry my brain. I’ll be back in a week or so, maybe two.
In the meantime, here’s a nice picture of the Hermit from the Alchemical Tarot for you to look at.
This post carries on from my Thoughts on the Ace of Cups.
In the Haindl, the suit of swords is associated with the South, Egypt and the element of Air. Rachel Pollack writes that this card depicts the Egyptian creation myth. The water represents the female Nun and the mound is the male Atum. According to my quite hefty Encyclopedia of World Mythology, Nun was the “personification of the watery abyss that existed at the beginning of time and which contained the potential for all life.” Strangely, there doesn’t seem to be an entry for Atum so either he wasn’t very popular or he didn’t really do anything except be a mound.
Rachel Pollack explains that Haindl’s addition of the sword represents “the divine mind activating nature, a scene similar to the Michelangelo painting in the Sistine Chapel, where a spark leaps from the fingertip of God to the finger of Adam.” So there is a strong link in this card to creation and animation, perhaps even fertilization.
The card shows a double-edged sword descending from the sky, amidst thick cloud and swirling waves. The tip of the sword connects with a small mound, a hill, which is clearly seen through a break in the waves. It is as if the sword has cleared the way.
Most decks I own depict the sword pointing up – a symbol of truth, righteousness and justice. In those decks the clean, pure element of air is emphasised. In the Haindl, the sword points down and connects with the earth. It is also surrounded by water. The element of the card is air but there is also water in the waves and earth in the mound. There is red around the base of the mound which could indicate fire. There is a sense of the water and the earth receiving the sword.
To me, there is something biblical about this image – a mighty sword descends from heaven and parts the waters, like the parting of the Red Sea. One word or command can make the impossible possible.
Some possible interpretations:
- Finding peace/stillness/clarity amongst noise/chaos
- Illumination, shining a light on something, highlighting
- Pinpoint precision, clarity
- Intelligence applied to some particular “earthly” situation
- Pure thought, higher ideals applied to daily life
- Rationality amidst confusion/illogic
- Mighty power, influence
- Cutting through/piercing/penetrating
- Activating something dormant, sparking off something new
This is a spread I haven’t tried yet, so it comes to you raw, but I will definitely be trying it out on myself at some point.
Some people seem to be aware of their calling even before they can walk. I remember one of my school friends being absolutely certain at age eight that she would grow up to be a nurse (she did). Others, like me, are late bloomers. People like us seem to drift through life searching for that one big thing that can tell us who we are and why we’re here.* That seems to be how I spent most of my late teens and twenties. Now I’m in my early thirties, I’m starting to recognise my gifts but I’m still working out what to do with them. Maybe this spread will help me figure it out. I’ve done it in the shape of an arrow, to help give a sense of direction.
1 – What is my gift?
2 – How can I develop this gift?
3 – Why do I have this gift? What can I do with it?
4 – What challenge will I face through developing/using this gift?
5 – What will help me meet this challenge?
6 – What is the long-term potential of this gift, if I put it to good use?
*Actually, I think Western society places too much importance on career and what you DO. Who you are should not be defined by your job – that’s just one part of you. But it’s horrible to constantly feel adrift, like you don’t belong anywhere, and that’s what I wanted to address with this spread.
Yesterday morning I read a post on The Tarot Channel which linked to this news story from Canada:
Beauty queen rejected as pageant judge
Miss Toronto Tourism officials reject reigning Miss Canada Plus because she reads tarot cards
http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/297985
The tarot card reader in question is Stephanie Conover, who was apparently invited to be a judge at the Miss Toronto Tourism pageant after she was crowned winner of the Miss Canada Plus pageant last year. Here’s what happened:
“Then, last week, on Monday, they asked me for a biography. I told them everything I do, how I’m an entertainer and a singer and a dancer. I talked about my charity work and I said I also have hobbies, including songwriting, knitting, painting, yoga, reiki and tarot cards.”
Apparently, that last part didn’t go down too well.
My favourite part of this story comes from a letter written by the Miss Toronto Tourism officials, explaining why they were kicking Stephanie Conover off the judges panel:
“Our board of directors has eliminated her as a judge as tarot card reading and reiki are the occult and is not acceptable by God, Jews, Muslims or Christians. Tarot card reading is witchcraft and is used by witches, spiritists and mediums to consult the dark world.”
Clearly, they’re wrong (and their grammar is questionable), but this just tickles me. It’s all so deliciously dramatic, you can almost smell the brimstone. (For those of you who are wondering - as I just did – what exactly brimstone is, it’s sulphur. I looked it up in my Dictionary of the Dark World.)
Now, should we tarot readers (you know, the non-devil-worshipping among us) be upset by this blatant display of ignorance? Maybe. Certainly Stephanie Conover has every right to be. After all, it’s fair enough to be hurt when someone misrepresents you. But should we be surprised that this sort of attitude towards tarot still exists? Honestly, I think not.
It’s difficult when you’re immersed in the world of tarot (the decks! the spreads! the silky shiny bags!) to see it as an outsider does, but let’s look at it objectively for a moment. We shuffle cards with strange pictures on them, lay them out in elaborate patterns and tell people we’ve never met what’s happened to them in the past, what’s happening now, and what’s likely to happen in the future. You’ve got to admit, that’s a little bit freaky.
And that’s not all. Time was, you couldn’t walk into a darkened backroom without some wizened crone or another pointing her claw-like nail at the Death card and clutching her throat in horror. Then there were those weirdos who performed magickal rituals by candlelight, with a tarot card or three scattered around for effect. More recently of course, we have delightful 100% accurate tarot readers who will very kindly remove all number of evil curses while thoughtfully clearing your bank account of all that burdensome cash. It’s not really surprising tarot cards are treated with suspicion.
Still, it’s a bit harsh to say all tarot readers are communing with the dark side. I’ve been reading tarot for going on five years now and I’ve never once used the cards to have a chat with Darth Vader or any one of his hellish minions. But I don’t think there’s any point getting defensive when faced with this kind of opposition. One reason why people still associate tarot with the occult is because it still lurks in the shadows of mainstream culture. Slowly, ever so slowly, it is emerging into the light but given the length of time that tarot cards have been viewed as “the devil’s picture book”, we shouldn’t expect people’s attitudes towards it to change over night. We certainly shouldn’t expect to force them to change.
The article mentions that Stephanie Conover is considering taking legal action. I don’t know if that’s a good idea or not, but I do think she did a good thing by taking her story to the press (what the Miss Toronto Tourism officials referred to as “stirring up trouble”). This one little news story won’t make much difference on its own, but the more real tarotists can stand up and be seen as normal people instead of witches, occultists and scam artists, the more tarot will move out of the shadows. And that’s where we can all do our bit. We all have the opportunity to change attitudes, simply by being the best tarot readers we can be. And I don’t mean by aiming for 100% accuracy. I mean, we can all be ambassadors, and show by example that people who read tarot are more likely to be caring, thoughtful, ethical individuals than heartless fraudsters who prey on the vulnerable. I’m thinking of getting some badges printed to say I READ TAROT AND I’M NICE.
Of course, this means we can’t sacrifice any more goats but I think you’ll agree that’s a small price to pay.
