Now I’ve seen it all…

For the tarotist who has everything…else, that is:

Tarot Toilet Seat

Lunatic Birthday Reading

For my birthday this week, Hubby gave me the beautiful Lunatic Tarot. This is going to be my Deck of the Month for December and, although December’s still a couple of days away, I didn’t see any point waiting to get stuck in. So I did a birthday reading, using this spread I created for Tarot Stripped Bare:

Much as I really like the Lunatic Tarot, I’ll be honest and say there are some cards that don’t seem to have much to offer interpretation-wise, at least at first glance, and two of those cards came up as the first two cards in this reading. On the other hand, there are plenty of cards – like the 3 of Pentacles – that have a fresh take that offers new insights into the card’s meaning. I think my main challenge with this deck over the next month will be to glean something from those cards that don’t give much away.

Anyway, onto the reading…

LAST YEAR – THE MOON
This card shows a girl in Victorian-style dress in front of a large, yellow crescent moon. In my mind, she’s standing on a rooftop, although there’s nothing really in the image to base that on. The girl’s facial expression is perhaps the most telling part of the image – her mouth is turned down at the corners and she looks rather forlorn and lost. The sky behind the moon is mottled and cloudy, which could be a nod towards the idea of “confusion” that’s ordinarily associated with this card.

Depiction aside, I understand why this card would come up to represent the last year for me. The Moon is not a card I usually draw for myself but it has come up several times over the last few months, since I’ve been pregnant. Understandably, pregnancy can be a confusing time, full of unfounded fears and worries, a time of hormones and mysterious changes in the body. It’s also a wonderful, magical time which signals entry to a strange, sometimes bewildering but also enchanting new world. So I’m taking that to be what this card stands for here, even though the image itself doesn’t really seem to relate.

LET GO OF THIS – 3 OF WANDS
This card shows a long-haired man standing in front of two wands. The third wand is barely visible as he’s holding it on the other side of his body. His head is bowed and I can just about make out a cross on his chest. Some kind of bird – a dove, maybe, or perhaps a bird of prey - perches on the left-most wand. That’s about it.

I’d usually associate the 3 of Wands with forging ahead on new projects, being pro-active, creative and visionary. Yet there’s really nothing in this card to link with those meanings. In fact, the image seems to suggest almost the opposite as the man’s posture is like that of a soldier on patrol. Along with his bowed head, the cross and the straps on his clothing, the image seems to speak more of conformity. I really don’t like diverting so far from an accepted meaning though – not without good reason anyway.

Usually, with a card like this where I’m really not sure what the deck creator was getting at, I’d turn to the LWB for a clue, but this is the first deck I’ve ever owned that didn’t come with an LWB – not even a Chinese one. So what’s a girl to do? If anyone has any thoughts on this card (or any of the cards in this reading), please feel free to comment.

GIFT – 10 OF WANDS
This card is thankfully not so oblique as the previous two. It shows a young man, again with a cross on his t-shirt (I think it’s a common symbol in this deck), holding ten wands or, rather, a bundle of long sticks. He is weighed down by them, leaning back so much that it looks like he’s about to be blown over by a gale-force wind. It seems impossible for him to move forward any more. In fact, it’s hard to tell, but I think he’s being pushed back against a wall.

I’ll be honest, I’ve had better gifts…Then again, I think perhaps this card is being literal. My baby is now due so in terms of burden, I’m carrying around quite a big one! And ten also suggests the end of a cycle – the last big push (ha-ha) so I guess my gift is that my little burden of joy will soon be born.

If I were to think away from baby for a moment, to what other kind of “gift” this card could represent, I might be inclined to think of it as a challenge. Throw everything at me, so that I can prove to myself and others how I won’t crumble under pressure. Actually, that’s not really so far removed from having a new baby…the burden isn’t going to end with the birth. In fact, I’m pretty sure the burden’s going to get a lot heavier – so far, it’s been easy, but add in sleepless nights, dirty nappies and constant feeding and I’m probably getting warmer as to what gift this card is giving me.

EMBRACE THIS – 3 OF PENTACLES
In this 3 of Pentacles, the three people all have their backs to each other. There’s a guy in a top hat and monocle – he’s presumably the money. Then there’s a guy at the front in white with a cross tattoed on his face – I’m guessing he’s the lead singer of an 80s pop band. And then there’s a guy behind him – I’m not sure who he is, but he’s looking at the guy in front resentfully, so he must be the drummer. There seems to be a grudging kind of acceptance and teamwork. They each need the others in order to support what they want to do and achieve, but they don’t seem to particularly like each other or, at least, they don’t like being so reliant on each other.

This card seems to have a nice, straightforward message. And perhaps it helps to shed some light on the 3 of Wands as well. Looking at the 3 of Wands and the 10 of Wands together, both those figures are leaning backwards, trying to do it all on their own. Whereas the three figures in the 3 of Pentacles have a strong triangular formation and they are all standing upright. So what I need to embrace is the support and help of others so I don’t get overwhelmed. It sounds pretty obvious but I don’t particularly like accepting help so this will involve me having to let my guard down a bit.

NEXT YEAR – QUEEN OF CUPS
Well, this is nice isn’t it? The court cards in the Lunatic are not only very striking and very different to the rest of the cards in the deck, they are also very different to each other. Each one seems to express their individual personality perfectly. The Queen of Cups has a kind, open, sympathetic expression on her face, and her body language is very open too. Again, I think this has a very simple and obvious message. It’s easy to imagine how my Queen of Cupsness will be brought to the fore with having a new baby to look after and love.

So there we have it. Not bad for a first reading with a new deck.

Do as I say, not as I do?

What advice do you take from, say, the 4 of Pentacles? Is this guy telling you to hold fast or let go? Do you always read it the same way?

Another tarot reader was talking the other day about the 4 of Pents that appeared in one of her readings and she took it to mean “let go, don’t be so controlling”. I remember when I was first learning tarot, that’s the interpretation I saw most often. The “materialistic miser” in this card is usually seen as having some kind of problem. Hey - we say - you can’t go through life hoarding and saving. You’ve got to be prepared to lose in order to gain. As Joan Bunning writes:

“The lesson of the Four of Pentacles is that control is impossible. We stand in the world as in a great ocean. Who could manage or possess such power? The only way to keep from drowning is to ride the currents. The ocean will support us as long as we swim with the flow.”

Which is true, of course. But when the 4 of Pentacles shows up as advice, I’m more likely to read it literally. Stick, save, hoard, accumulate. That’s what the image shows, after all. As advice, isn’t the card telling you, “look at what I’m showing you…do this“?

I remember being greatly perplexed a couple of years ago about how to interpret these sorts of not-negative-but-not-entirely-positive-either-cards, such as the 4 of Pents and the 2 of Swords. I guess it just didn’t seem right to me somehow that the advice of a card would be to do the exact opposite of what it depicts. Then someone recommended a book…er, I think it was this one…which took the literal view. So, for example, the advice given would be more like:

4 of Pentacles = hold on tight, be possessive, be controlling (as opposed to release)
2 of Swords = claim ignorance, don’t get involved, act in denial (as opposed to lift the blindfold and pick a side)
9 of Swords = pay attention to your worries, confront your fears (as opposed to stop worrying unnecessarily)
4 of Cups = wallow, be self-indulgent, lay like broccoli (as opposed to stop feeling sorry for yourself and get off your lazy arse)

This made much more sense to me and I’ve pretty much read them that way ever since. However, I believe there is no right or wrong in this matter. And I’ll add the disclaimer that I reserve the right to use either interpretation in any reading past, present or future. I just find it interesting that there are two distinct ways to approach these type of cards. And I wonder if most readers more often choose one approach over the other.

What say you?

A Rose by Any Other…

I’ve spent a week now with the Universal Fantasy Tarot. It’s a stunningly rich and beautiful deck and I love it, but one thing I’ve learned about it is that it has a really, really bad name.

I mean, come on…Universal Fantasy? Stick the number “2000″ at the end and it sounds like a sex bot. It really does the deck no justice at all.

So I’ve decided to take the liberty of renaming it. Call it a service to tarot if you will – a necessary adjustment for the greater good. Take note Lo Scarabeo.

Are you ready?

The Brightwyld Tarot.

There. Isn’t that better?

The Supernal Tarot

What…never heard of it? Ah ha, I know something you don’t know. Actually, I’m cheating a bit because the Supernal Tarot isn’t technically a tarot deck, although it’s pretty damn close.

Roleplaying games and tarot cards have crossed paths before, but with Keys to the Supernal Tarot, White Wolf’s latest supplement for the Mage: the Awakening franchise, they’ve not only crossed paths, they’ve met for coffee, caught a movie and well, you know…

Let me be clear – there are no cards. But there’s a shiny hardback book with two 2-page spreads showing each one of the 22 cards in lovely technicolour. And the book itself is also quite a treat for tarot lovers – it opens with a short piece of fiction about a reading (using playing cards – duh) and then each of the 22 cards has a chapter devoted to it, with a nice bit of background about the card and how it can be applied to your Mage character.

Want to see more? View the preview PDF here. Meanwhile, here are some piccies:

Universal Fantasy – 4 of Wands

Universal Fantasy - 4 of Wands

I found this card quite depressing when I drew it this morning. It seems to be a very accurate visual representation of my life at the moment. The card shows some kind of structure – a building – high up on stilts, but the structure is very topsy-turvy and rickety-looking. It looks like one stiff breeze will send the whole thing crashing down like a house of cards. Several things in my life at the moment feel like they are held together with nothing more than some sticky-back plastic and chewing gum so this card seems rather apt.

Overall though I don’t think it’s intended to have such a bleak meaning. It’s supposed to represent the idea of completion – of a stage in the journey reached. So what that the building isn’t very sturdy – at least it’s finished. Someone’s even gone to the trouble of slapping a couple of laurel wreaths on it for a job (well) done. Meanwhile, two figures swoop between the stilts on giant blue birds. They may be celebrating or they may just be stopping by on a much longer journey.

The LWB is rather astute on this one: “A job is well done when all we have done is what needed to be done and no more.” So I guess this is actually quite an important message for me today. We’re very busy at the moment – entering the busy retail season and trying to finish some other big projects at the same time, all with the big baby clock ticking in the background. Every day feels like an uphill struggle just to clear the essentials – let alone make any headway in other things. Maybe this card is just telling me “it’s okay, you’re doing enough”. Or maybe it’s saying “do what you have to do to keep it together but don’t worry too much about everything else”.

On the Edge of Reason

On a live television show I’ve just been watching, the guest talked about the Rider Waite Tower card and its similarity to the events of 9/11. No surprises there. What did shock me, however, was that this expert was able to spew complete nonsense and make it sound like authoratitive and reliable insight.

Claim No. 1: The Tower card in the tarot (specifically the Rider Waite – no mention was given of there being any other type of Tower card) includes a “symbol”, tucked away in the bottom right hand corner of the card – so obscure that most people don’t even realise it’s there. This symbol, apparently, shows the awakening of the kundalini and how remarkable that this should appear on the Tower card, as it relates so well to the kind of traumatic spiritual awakening experienced by so many enlightened folks.

The symbol he’s referring to? Yes, that’s right – it’s Pamela Colman Smith’s initials, which can be found on every single Rider Waite card.

Claim No. 2: In order to truly appreciate the significance of this symbol and it’s relation to the Tower card and – indeed – civilization, we must understand that these cards go back over 3,500 years, to Ancient Egypt.

Grrrrrrr.

Universal Fantasy – 8 of Cups

The 8 of Cups is another one of my favourite cards from this deck. It shows a young man mounted on a white bird. He is waving goodbye to a giant. The giant holds out his hands as if to say, ”Why are you leaving? Don’t go”.

On the floor are eight cups full of jewels and riches, presumably to show just how much the young man is leaving behind. But he doesn’t seem too bothered. He’s off to seek new adventure. Like the Littlest Hobo, he can’t stay in one place for too long. This has been one chapter in his life, that’s all, and as far as he is concerned, bigger and better things await.

The card actually tells two stories. That of the young man and that of the giant. The giant’s open hands make it look like he is releasing the young man, the way one would release a dove to the sky. Whereas the young man looks happy and excited, the giant seems heartbroken and seems to be losing someone he is very fond of. Now the giant is left with all the riches but is missing something far more valuable.

I like it from the giant’s point of view…it’s very poignant. Whilst the young man shows us someone who is moving on to pastures new - which is closer in meaning to the more “traditional” 8 of Cups – the giant represents the need to recognize when it’s time to let go. It’s hard to do, but something we are called on to do numerous times in our lives, especially the older we get.

It occurs to me that there is an (albeit tenuous) link between yesterday’s card and this one. The Ace of Swords raised the question of high ideals and perhaps could pose the question, “What high ideals are important to me and have I recently forgotten them?” The 8 of Cups raises the issue of priorities. Am I following my own path or am I letting myself be held back out of loyalty to someone or something else?

Universal Fantasy – Ace of Swords

My first daily draw with the Universal Fantasy is the Ace of Swords – one of my favourite cards in the deck.

A single sword is displayed in huge echoing halls. I can hear footsteps and silence. The sword points up, to high ideals, and is fixed to the wall. Truth is eternal? Yet displayed here, in this museum-like building, suggests that the sword represents an ideal that is difficult to aspire to in everyday life. It is like a relic of some great but long-forgotten empire. One can walk round it and admire it, but not hold it in one’s hands.

Deck of the Month

There are so many decks I own that I’d love to use more and yet on the whole they spend most of the time languishing in a drawer. So I have decided. I am forming my own Deck of the Month Club which means, starting today, I am going to focus on a different deck each month – not for intensive study as such, but just to use for daily or weekly readings or whatever else might come up.

And for my first Deck of the Month Editor’s Choice, I’ve selected the Universal Fantasy. Because cor blimey it’s grey out and I need a bit of colour.

Watch this space to see how long this latest fad lasts!