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In Search of True Love – Knight of Cups

What’s this Ms Shadowscapes, you think I need to learn more about the Court Cards? I haven’t spent enough time on them lately and you feel I need a little more? Ah, ok, if you think so!!! Today, once again, I drew a Court Card in my daily draw :P. The Knight of Cups to be precise. When I turned him over I was a little frustrated, but then I thought that it was quite appropriate after my night last night. I went out for drinks with a few mates from work and towards the end of the night we were talking about me and my romanticised view of the world. I have to admit, I am a romantic, and often fall into looking at the world through a romantic lens. They were trying to say that perhaps I would be better off if I tried to look at my situation more logically and realise that my idolised wants may be making it harder to find exactly what will make me happy. I didn’t really know what to say to this, for I can’t really do anything about my heart or its power over my thoughts, it’s just so natural for me. I’m a lover. I love love, I live for it! Just like the Knight of Cups.  It’s funny because when I first started out studying Tarot I did a few little questionnaires to find which court card best represented me at this stage in my life, and every single one of them came up with around 70% Knight of Cups (with a touch of the Knight of Wands and Queen of Cups). And to be completely truthful I understand why.

The Knight of Cups is the classical ‘Knight in Shining Armour’ off on a quest of love and light, seated upon his white horse of purity and hope. He is absolutely compelled to follow his heart above all else, for good or for ill, looking to his emotions to provide a map for his direction in life. He is someone who follows his heart rather than his head and draws upon his intuition and inner direction rather than thought to make his decisions. He is a romantic and sensitive soul who idealises love and responds so very deeply to life, appreciating beauty in all its forms and understanding both the pain and happiness of others. This can have its downfalls though, as he can be temperamental and over emotional, prone to mood swings, jealousy and melodrama when his feelings and dreams aren’t centred. Also if his emotions aren’t set in action and real life they can often get the better of him and turn into melancholy or depression.

He is also seen as an imaginative dreamer and a visionary in realms of love, emotion and art. What is important to note here however is the difference between imagination and fancy. In Rachel Pollack’s “Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom” she says that imagination may lead us to “an awareness of underlying spiritual truth” whereas fancy produces only “fantasies that may excite, but ultimately lack real meaning”. This is definitely a trap that the Knight of Cups can fall into. He could sit for hours upon hours daydreaming about when his prince will come and sweep him off his feet. Or when he will finally get that chance to storm that castle and save his princess from the evil queen.

Knight of Cups - Shadowscapes Tarot
Knight of Cups – Shadowscapes Tarot

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The Sweet Seductive Impulse of Creativity – The Page of Wands

The images of the wands suit appeal to me quite a lot, admittedly this is mostly because of the use of foxes, but overall they have such a glow and warmth that makes me just want to be a part of the picture. And today’s card is no different, the Page of Wands is immersed in a beautiful world, and to top it off she has four fox companions, one of which has sidled his way as close as he can rubbing his back affectionately against her leg :). I have to admit I am quite jealous!! I want fox companions :(. Anyway, moving on from that quick distraction, as you can tell I have once again drawn a Court Card in my daily draw. I feel like they just won’t leave me alone! But I believe this is the first time that I have drawn this Page in any draw let alone a daily draw, so it is a good opportunity to learn more about her.

Page of Wands - Shadowscapes Tarot
Page of Wands – Shadowscapes Tarot

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Be Truthful and Honest in All that you Do- The Queen of Swords

Now as I said in my post about the Queen of Cups, I find the Queens to be highly intriguing characters, matured to such an extent that they don’t need to present their wisdom and knowledge outwardly, but instead use it to help and develop others, and like an iceberg, most of their power lies beneath the surface. Today I drew the Queen of Swords, which is one of if not my favourite card that Stephanie has reinterpreted in the Shadowscapes Tarot. It is a gorgeous piece of art that I can stare at for hours. And for those of you who have never seen it, I shall now lay it before your eyes for your viewing pleasure 😛

Queen of Swords - Shadowscapes Tarot
Queen of Swords – Shadowscapes Tarot

The Queen of Swords is someone who has seen it all. She has been through so much in her life, both good and bad, and hence has the well rounded wisdom that comes from experience. She has a strength gained from being knocked down and getting back up again, from looking at both the good and the bad in her life and learning to accept the wisdom gained from each. Above everything else in life she respects honesty! She is upfront with everyone even if it may come across as harsh because she always strives to live a truthful life. She has no interest whatsoever in lies and deceit, but don’t take this lightly, for she is not one to be fooled. This is because she has one of the most astute minds going, quick to take in a situation and can see straight to the heart of any matter. Because of this she is quite a forthright character, direct and open in all her dealings, and has quite the witty sense of humour.

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The Consequences of Your Actions are at Hand – Justice

Today I drew card number 11 of the Major Arcana, Justice. Previous to finding the Shadowscapes Deck I never really had much of a connection with this card, but as soon as I saw Stephanie’s interpretation everything changed.

Justice - Shadowscapes Tarot
Justice – Shadowscapes Tarot

In the Shadowscapes card we see, in my opinion, a much less stark version of Justice. When I look at the RWS Justice I feel like she is judging every movement I make, that she would be harsh and unfriendly. Where as here I feel a real sense of impartiality and fairness. The Justice card to me stands for a time when the consequences of your actions are at hand. You have made various decisions in your past, and whether for good or for ill they are affecting your present. It asks you to strive to come to terms with cause and effect, to accept the results that you create and see how you have chosen your situation. To me this is really about assuming responsibility for your actions, acknowledging the truth and admitting involvement even in situations you may be ashamed of or feel as if you are the party missing out! Which I have to admit can be quite a hard thing to do!! Justice also represents preparing for a decision by weighing all sides of the issue, balancing all factors and then preparing a path for the future. And of course all things justice itself, insisting on fairness, seeking equality and acting ethically.

In the card above we see the Egyptian Goddess Ma’at. Ma’at was the goddess of truth and justice. In Egyptian mythology when death claimed a soul it would be sent to Ma’at who would then weigh the heart of the deceased, which was thought to be where the soul resides, against a feather. If the heart was lighter or equal to the feather it meant that the person had lived a virtuous life and they would go onto the afterlife, but if the soul was left wanting, the heart would be consumed by the demon goddess Ammit, and they would be forever trapped in the underworld. This brings to mind a real sense of Karmic justice, which I feel is important in the Shadowscapes interpretation.

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Weekly Reading Number Two: The Four Elements Spread

For those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile you may be wondering what’s been happening with me and The Alternative Tarot Course! It’s been three or so weeks since I posted my last weekly reading, which means that I have been on week two of the course for way too long!! It’s not that I have been struggling with it per say, it’s more that the procrastination bug has taken hold. That and life has just seemed to run away from me recently. So, having a few hours spare today I decided that it was high time for me to do the Weekly Reading for Chapter Two: Four Suits, Four Elements. This chapter was all about the four suits/elements of Tarot and how they interact with each other. It’s been an interesting chapter for me, as I struggle a bit with open ended exercises, probably the perfectionist in me wanting to get to the right answer :P. But at the same time it’s been great to think further about how the elements interact and what it means when they aren’t present.

So here we go, “The Four Elements Spread” by Beth Maiden. The idea behind this spread is to look at how the four elements influence a situation in your life. There are five positions in this spread, which are as follows:

1: Your situation at this moment (centre)

2: The Earth of your situation (bottom)

3: The Water of your situation (left)

4: The Air of your situation (top)

5: The Fire of your situation (right)

When I sat down to begin this reading I was unsure exactly what I wanted to ask the deck about, do I ask about my emotional state, about where I am in my life right now, or a way to move to a place where I am more stimulated and satisfied, I had so many things to ask that I decided I would let Shadow and my subconscious tell me what I should focus on. So here we go 🙂

Four Elements Spread by Beth Maiden
Four Elements Spread by Beth Maiden

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Be Careful, Things Are Not Always As They Seem – The Moon

Today I drew The Moon. The beautiful and mysterious queen of the night. Traditionally The Moon represents fear, illusions, bewilderment, and imagination. There is often a contrast presented between the light of the moon and that of the sun. In sun light everything is familiar and understandable whereas the light of the moon is dim and mysterious and things are not always as they seem when under moonlight.

The Moon - Shadowscapes Tarot
The Moon – Shadowscapes Tarot

I absolutely adore the Shadowscapes Moon. It epitomises everything I think about the card in a haunting yet mesmerising way. The Moon to me is about a situation in flux, being enveloped in an energy of uncertainty that can either be dangerous or reveal to you an inner truth that was previously hidden. The Moon itself is ever changing, waxing and waning through its cycles and hence when this card comes up it can often indicate a situation that is changing. And while the moon reflects light, it is also shadowy, concealing as much as it reveals.

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Follow Your Heart – Queen of Cups

So this week is turning out to be one of firsts! Yesterday I drew my first Knight in my daily draws and today was my first Queen! And not only that but my favourite Queen of all, the Queen of Cups. To me the Queens are the most mature and developed of all the Court Cards despite the fact that they are the penultimate of the Courts and this honour is usually given to the Kings! The Queens’ inward focus and relaxed and natural way of being to me demonstrates pure mastery. They embody the aspects of their suits without the need to shout them out to the world, more concerned with enjoying their environment than manipulating the world for their benefit, I like that about them :). And the reason why the Queen of Cups is my favourite, well I guess I feel a connection to her, I always have. I admire her qualities and feel like we have a lot in common, and I wish to become more like her as I progress through this journey.

Queen of Cups - Shadowscapes Tarot
Queen of Cups – Shadowscapes Tarot

So who is this Queen? She is a loving and tender hearted soul who is uncoditionally accepting and easily moved by other creatures’ pain or sorrow. She is caring and demonstrates patience and a kind and gentle sensitivity to the feelings of others. She is highly intuitive, very sensitive to emotional undercurrents and is open to the unconscious. She is a really soothing soul, I feel as if every pain or hurt we feel would wash away with her in our presence. If she was to tell us only one thing in this lifetime it would be to follow our hearts!!

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With the Heart of a Lion – Knight of Wands

Today I drew the Knight of Wands. This was actually the first card I ever drew so whenever it comes up I always remember back to the first time I ever shuffled my cards, late on a warm autumn evening, and asked my deck its first question. It’s a nice feeling, thinking back to that time where I was very much like the Knight of Wands, rushing headfirst into this project without really knowing where it was going to take me. And while the reason why I stopped delving into the tarot for that short period of time was more emotional than anything, I think the burnout from this Knight’s energy also had some part to play.

Knight of Wands - Shadowscapes Tarot
Knight of Wands – Shadowscapes Tarot

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Subdue the Lion Within – Strength

I was quite pleased to see Strength yesterday as my daily draw! When I did my birthday reading, Strength was one of the two cards that came up in position of the energies I should focus on during the year ahead. Having it come up yesterday was a good opportunity to spend some more time contemplating it’s meaning :).

Strength - Shadowscapes Tarot
Strength – Shadowscapes Tarot

What I love most about this depiction of Strength, that you may have gathered from my birthday reading, is that there are so many examples of different types of strength. There is the more obvious example of beastial strength of body in the Lion, but there is also the Bamboo’s hidden strength through flexibility. There is the strength of cunning and strategy of the Cats, one of which seems to be tempting those birds below it closer with a bell on a string, and the other has one paw upon one of the Lion’s, possibly suggesting the strength of cooperation or of combining different forms of strength. Then there is the Bridge itself which is beginning to crack, possibly representative of the mortal quality of this man made strength, at some point it will erode and turn to dust, and below it the Acorn, representative of the steady strength of something so small that will one day grow to be gigantic. And then there is the inner strength called forth when protecting those you love, represented by the Swan. The Swan also represents the transformative power of the Woman’s form of strength. The ability to use calm control to soothe a difficult situation, turning something potentially ugly into something more pleasant. And that to me is what this card epitomises, using persuasion and patience to calm the rougher, harder animal instincts that we can sometimes fall prey to. The demonstration of the power of love and compassion, showing that aggression and anger will not solve everything. This is true inner strength, perserverance and composure, the ability to endure any of life’s obstacles with an unparalleled inner calm!

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Follow Your Guiding Light – The Hermit

There comes a time in everyone’s life where we ask, “Is this all there is? Where we wonder, “What would life be like if I wasn’t here, in this situation? Why can’t my life be more like his or hers?” Where we begin to question all the common place things around us that previously went without question. And in my opinion, this is getting worse as we progress through this technological age. Like never before we have the ability to see into other people’s lives, to be connected with so many different people, and in turn have the opportunity to see so many different ways of living, that we undoubtedly start to compare our lives to others. And often this has a touch of envy as an accompaniment. We want for more and more and get stuck in a vicious circle of comparison and consumption. But there is a way out of this, and I see it in today’s card of the day, The Hermit.

The Hermit - Shadowscapes Tarot
The Hermit – Shadowscapes Tarot

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