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Weekly Reading Number Three – Courtroom Drama

Today I decided not to pull a Daily Card in favour of doing a reading. And as I am working my way through the The Alternative Tarot Course, created by the beautiful Beth from Little Read Tarot, I decided that I would do my third weekly reading :). Chapter 3 of the course was all about getting in touch with the Major Arcana! The Majors represent the larger aspects of our lives, the big changes that send us on a tailspin, those moments when we feel we are trapped in a situation, but also the times where we come to terms with our inner truth and learn that we in fact have everything we need to achieve what it is we want. It’s been a really good week and I may post a bit about some of the exercises at some point, but today is all about the reading for this chapter, entitled “Courtroom Drama”. This is a Majors only spread originally created by the French Tarotist Oswald Wirth in the 1920s. In this spread we imagine we are in a Courtroom and our situation is being discussed and judged by the ‘Majors’. It is a five position spread, where the fifth position is deciphered using numerology, an addition which I really liked :). You lay the first four cards out first, which are representative of:

Position 1: “In your favour” – What is ‘for’ your situation. A person, energy or influence that may be of help. Your key strength.

Position 2: “Against” – The negatives. Things working against you in your situation and hindering your progress.

Position 3: “The Judge” – This is the card that looks through the evidence presented by cards 1 and 2 and try’s to clarify where you stand, giving advice as to how to proceed.

Position 4: “Decision/Sentence” – The outcome. The lesson to be learned.

Once these are laid you add up the numbers on cards 1-4 and then if they are over 22 reduce them by adding the two numbers together. For example, in my reading the total was 36 – 3+6=9. So my centre card was The Hermit. The centre card is Position 5 in the spread but it is read first. This is because this card is what everything else depends upon and hence is the most important part of the reading! Now this spread can obviously be used for many different questions but in this instance Beth asked us to ask the cards a specific question, “How can I become a truly brilliant tarot reader?”

So now that you know the basic outline, here is my Courtroom Drama 🙂

Alternative Tarot Course Weekly Reading Number Two - Courtroom Drama
Alternative Tarot Course Weekly Reading Number Two – Courtroom Drama

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A Goal is Manifesting – The Three of Pentacles

Every time I question why I haven’t drawn many cards of a particular suit they seem to pop up just to spite me :P. Last time it was the Cups, and now it’s Pentacles. Yesterday I drew the Four and today the Three of Pentacles decided to say hello. And this after a month long drought of Pentacles in my daily draws. I wonder if this is going to be a common occurrence during November :). I’d really like to get in touch with my Earth energies, which I have to admit are probably the most weak elemental connection for me, so if this is the case come at me Pentacles :).

I see the Three of Pentacles as a message that a goal is manifesting. Traditionally it stands for Teamwork, Competance, and Planning, and the Threes themselves represent an externalisation of their respective suit, the first manifestation of its qualities. If we further link this to The Empress, which is card number Three in the Major Arcana, and her ruling planet Venus, also represented by Three, we can deduce that the manifestation of what we desire may be helped along by incorporating the assistance of others, by bringing into relationship elements that may be disparate, but create a solid result. And then there is the more obvious linkage to the Holy Trinity, or the Wiccan Rule of Three. The concept of three distinct energies coming together and working as one. And to keep going with the Three symbolism today is the Third of November :P. It was obviously meant to be :P.

Three of Pentacles- Shadowscapes Tarot
Three of Pentacles- Shadowscapes Tarot

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Let Go of Control and Possessiveness, and Soar Free from Your Cage – Four of Pentacles

It’s been quite some time since drawing a card from the Pentacles suit in my daily draws, the last time was on the 30th of September. I went through the whole of October without drawing one daily Pentacle! Today however, the drought has ended. The Four of Pentacles came to me today, which is interesting, because I don’t feel much of a connection with the card, and being the first Pentacle drawn in a long time I thought it would have been a different card to end the drought. But, it must have come up for a reason, so here we go, the Four of Pentacles…

Four of Pentacles - Shadowscapes Tarot
Four of Pentacles – Shadowscapes Tarot

The Four of Pentacles is all about Control and a desire to Possess. As you can see in the card above, we have the classical image of a gold-hungry dragon, coiled so very tightly around his hoard of gold. You can picture him lashing out fork tongued hissing, “Mine, my preeecciooous, stay away”, declaring ownership and endeavouring to prevent the Chameleons above from getting near his possessions. He is constantly on guard, worried that at any sign of weakness the Chameleons will swoop in and steal his gold. This is what happens when you become so concerned with your material possessions, so much so that they actually become a cage of limitations instead of something which should bring you pleasure and stability. You may be financially well off, and feel stable both financially and emotionally, but this is only because you are equating emotional security with money. This card portrays one of the biggest pitfalls of prosperity, the temptation and tendency to value money much higher than its true worth.

The Fours in Tarot are symbolic of structure and stability, and in this case this is a false sense of structure and stability that comes from a dependence on material comforts and security. A mindset of procuring as much as you can so as to feel safe and stable. The being in this card has created himself a type of protective layer out of Pentacles that he believes will prevent him from encountering any hardship. However, this is also blocking any form of change from occurring, which can in turn exclude others as the need for personal security takes over, making for a very lonely way of living! I like how Stephanie has made it look as if this way of living is leeching the dragon’s individuality and that his resistance to change is in fact making him indistinguishable from the gold which he holds so dear.

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