We’re just over half way through February and I’m starting to see a pattern emerge in my daily draws. So far a third of my draws have been made up of three cards, Death, the Three of Swords and The Hierophant. To be exact it has gone Death, the Three of Swords, Death, The Hierophant, the Three of Swords and The Hierophant. Whenever instances like this take place I take note, for they usually have a strong meaning behind them.
Death – Shadowscapes Tarot
Since the last time I posted a few things have changed in my life. February the 3rds daily draw of Death was definitely fitting. I was going through a transition in the workplace, from acting manager of a store that was potentially closing down, to manager of a store which was now staying open. I had to make a decision as to whether this was where I wanted to be and allow all the past thoughts and fears to wash away. In a way, like the Phoenix on the card, who is death, rebirth and life encapsulated in one image, I was going through a rebirth. I needed to cleanse myself of the negative thoughts and feelings towards my job during that unstable period, so as to begin afresh under this new ownership.
Three of Swords – Shadowscapes Tarot
Then came the Three of Swords on Feburary 7. Whenever this card comes to me I have a whole body reaction to it, it’s one of the only cards that does that to me. I think that subconsciously there is still a lingering link to my most recent heartbreak. I am so much better now than I was 6 or so months ago, but to be completely truthful I am not fully healed. The Swords have been removed, but the scars are definitely still there. I am still afraid of opening my heart back up. When this card first came to me I wasn’t 100% sure whether it was to do with that past situation or to do with my present. For recently a new person has entered my life, a person whom I really enjoy spending time with and who makes me feel happy inside. It wasn’t until the next day when I drew the Two of Swords, the card of conflict between heart and mind, that I began to think of the Three’s potential meaning. To be honest with myself previous to this draw I felt like I was split in two, half of me really wanted to pursue this budding relationship, to throw myself in completely, but the other half, the logical half, kept bringing up the fact that I had been planning on leaving the country in August (if not for good then for a long period of time). I was and have since been stuck in this conflict between what I’m feeling and what I’m thinking. And I fear that heartbreak may ensue, I’m just not sure whose heart it is that the Swan represents.
So first and foremost, on Monday I recieved the news that my store will in fact continue to trade with the new ownership. The Fool’s message of trust and faith in the universe came through for me. As soon as I received the news I was of course elated and felt a great weight fall from my shoulders, but with further thought I’ve begun to question whether I actually do feel happy and rewarded or whether I feel like I am simply plodding along, like the lovely SJ brought up in my Seven of Pentacles post. I feel like this may require a reading in the future but at this moment in time I’ve decided to create a free flow reading from the 6 daily draw cards I have drawn so far this week. I’ve never done anything like this, so bare with me, as it is a learning process more than anything else :).
Self Constructed Daily Draw Reading – Shadowscapes TarotPage of Swords
Starting with Monday’s card, the Page of Swords, we see a young girl allowing herself to be lifted and carried away so as to have some time to think clearly. The Page of Swords can represent a messenger bringing us challenges, and often it is these challenges that stimulate personal growth. To me this is representative of receiving the news that we would continue to trade. In the Shadowscapes representation the Page cradles a Cygnet in her lap which I see as representative of how this dilemma or quandary may affect the smaller things in our life. Another aspect of this representation I like is the use of black and white, symbolic of her ability to look at the balance of black and white around her without condemnation. I need this right now, for truly neither side is positive or negative, but rather holding both posibilities within themselves.
The Hermit
Linking this to both Tuesday’s card The Hermit, and Thursday’s card The Hanged Man, I am feeling a strong pull towards the need to spend some real time thinking about what I want out of this life! My job is not overly stimulating, and a lot of the time I feel mentally weakened purely from a lack of said stimulation! The Hermit is all about being alone and discovering truths about yourself. And coming after the Page it suggests a need to remove myself even further from distractions, for as we see on the card he has climbed even higher than the Page, above the flight of the birds themselves.
Queen of Cups
The fact however that these two cards fall either side of the Queen of Cups makes me feel that this personal development will both lead to and out of a connection to my true well of emotion and what it is I really want. I have always been drawn to the Queen of Cups, seeing her as the person I wish to become. I am deeply emotional, but can often allow these emotions to overpower me unlike the Queen of Cups who has full control over the waves of emotion!
The Hanged Man
So maybe this is saying that as a result of this introspection I will find a deeper connection to my wellspring which will in turn lead to The Hanged Man’sacceptance and willing surrender. For what does The Hanged Man represent but an end to the constant struggles we impose upon ourselves. He urges us to let go of our control, and what we think we need, to in turn reverse our view of our situation and hopefully come out with the realisation of where we then have to go.
Page of Wands
Following on from this personal reversal we find Friday’s draw, the Page of Wands. I see the Page of Wands as someone who has just discovered/rediscovered their sense of Self, what fuels their Passion, or something Inspiring. The place in the spread to me suggests the re-discovering aspect of this Page, but it could also mean that out of The Hanged Man I may discover something new. She urges us to be Creative, Enthusiastic, Confident and Courageous, all things which I wish to be more prominent and know I am, but are just currently lying dormant.
Six of Pentacles
Then finally we have today’s card, the Six of Pentacles, the card of flowing material energy. This was the hardest card for me to interpret in this constructed spread. I don’t know who I feel more connected to, the Plant receiving the energy or the Piper releasing it. I feel like I put so much of my energy into this job and all I receive back is a monetary reward. My soul receives very little nourishment! But if we look at the card more closely we see that the balance between the two is more delicate than otherwise assumed. For while the Piper releases his energy in the form of the flow of Pentacles feeding the Plant, the Plant is in turn adding buttress to the wall on which he sits. I see this as symbolic of the cycle of dependency between those who have and those who don’t and that by helping out someone less fortunate we may in fact allow them the opportunity to do so for someone else in the future. An interconnected cycle of energy :). But how does this link to my situation? If I look at it as flowing on from the previous 5 cards then maybe it is telling me that through this journey I will receive knowledge of where I wish to be and then with that self knowledge I will in turn be able to feed back into the universe and help others who wish to grow and expand as well.
I think it is clear from this that I need some time alone to think over where I am and where I want to be, and that hopefully by doing so I will get back in touch with my true inner self and discover what it is that makes me happy and feeds my soul! I really enjoyed trying to find a thread through these daily draws, and might even do them more often. I hope you also enjoyed this experiment 🙂
Ah Ms Shadowscapes, you always find a way to strengthen my belief in you, you cheeky thing. Before you begin to read this post, I would suggest that you read yesterday’s post for some background information! Ok, done? Good, we may begin :). So after yesterday’s rather appropriate visitation by the Seven of Pentacles I woke up this morning wondering what else I needed to learn or be informed of before I receive tomorrow’s news. So as I was shuffling the cards I kept the situation in my mind, rolling it around and allowing my thoughts to blend with my shuffle. Then I drew and what came up, well you wouldn’t believe it but it was The Fool. The Shadowscapes’ representation of The Fool has got to be one of my favourite cards in the deck, its energies completely jump out from the card with so much power, enthusiasm and vitality, it’s truly beautiful.
The Fool – Shadowscapes Tarot
The Fool is the first card in the deck, given the number Zero. Zero in fact, is not strictly a number, but represents the absence of a number and hence holds all numbers within itself. In this, we see it as representative of infinite possibilities. It also represents that there is no difference between possibility and reality. If all possibilities are open to you and like The Fool, you are open to all of them with a total emptiness of hopes and fears, then your reality is whatever you wish it to be. If you look at 0 closely, it resembles an egg, that from which life emerges! Everything is open to a being who is willing to go in any direction, who is completely free with a total openness to life. This is what The Fool represents.
As card Zero The Fool lies at the beginning of the Major Arcana, but also somewhat apart from it. Along with unlimited potential this card also stands for the fact that in any moment anything goes, she brings to mind the spontaneity inherent in every moment. She represents the fact that by living in the moment, with nothing expected and nothing planned, you will begin to feel uninhibited and carefree. In this she symbolises a complete faith that the universe is worthy of trust, that it is ok to let go of your fears, for if you trust in the flow of life then you will be protected and loved. This brings us to another aspect of The Fool, that of new beginnings or a change in direction. She will often come up when the querent is about to enter a new phase of their life, starting something new, or going on an adventure.
Above in the Shadowscapes representation we see a young woman who has travelled far, called to this high pinnacle by a unknown voice, standing tippy toed in a posture of complete openness and faith. What I like about this image is that unlike the RWS image below, she carries no belongings with her. Rather she stands completely open and free, ready to set out on this new beginning. She is dressed in a loose wrap of white cloth, a symbol of purity of being, and if you look at both the flow of the dress and the light around her it looks like the outline of a bird in flight :). All that holds her up from the iminent fall are the doves who have wrapped her in red ribbons of faith and folly, red being the colour of passion and the senses. Doves in and of themselves are a symbol of faith, and here represent her belief and trust in the world. Her faith will hold her up and her passion will keep her going!
So far this month I have drawn a card each day, 21 cards as of yet, and I am starting to see a pattern emerging. For the first two weeks or so I was pulling a lot of Pentacles. The King of Pentacles and Queen of Pentacles actually came up four days in a row, going King, Queen, Queen, King. I found this quite intriguing because I have been feeling a real lack of connection with my surroundings, maybe they were trying to tell me to get back in touch. The plethora of pentacles ended however and since I have been pulling Major after Major. Ten Majors in total with two repeats, The High Priestess and Judgement. Today in fact my card for the day was Judgement, which I feel to be quite apropos this being my first card post in a while.
Judgement is an interesting card, with themes that maybe seem on the surface to be in juxtaposition. The name itself has quite negative connotations, for when do we ever really feel that being judged is anything but negative. Whether this stems from the fear instilled in us at Sunday School that the ‘Day of Judgement’ will come and only the ‘saintly few’ will be brought up to heaven, or maybe as a result of bullying at school, a feeling of judging eyes always upon us, most of us link the word judgement to a negative feeling. But it doesn’t have to be that way, and in fact the card Judgement is quite a positive one.
Judgement is the second to last card in the Major Arcana, and if you split the cards into three lines of seven it is situated in the third line representative of the release of archetypal energies and development of spiritual awareness. First we break free from The Devil’s chains, from our attachment to the physical world and belief that nothing exists beyond personal desires. Next we come upon The Tower and experience a shattering of illusions, one which alters our perceptions of materialism and releases our repressed energies. Then we journey through the three forms of light and experience beginning with the inner revelation of  The Star, through the mysterious unconscious energy of The Moon and finally into the conscious warmth of The Sun. Once we have had our experience with The Sun we realise that we are in fact part of the whole, come out reborn and find a sense of our inner and outer having merged with Judgement. Feeling reborn, finding absolution, making a judgement on our past life, and hearing and heeding a call. These are all represented by Judgement.
Judgement – The Radiant Rider Waite Tarot
In the RWS depiction to the left we see an angel, usually said to be the archangel Gabriel, blowing a trumpet and awakening the dead below, ready to send those worthy up to heaven. Here we have, in my option, the most symbolically ‘Christian’ card in the whole deck, easily linked to the ‘Day of Judgement’. Now of course when we conciously link it to that, negative connotations are plentiful, but when you actually look at the card, no one looks fearful, in fact they look joyous, arms stretched open towards the angel in the sky! This to me links the trumpet blow not to an apocalyptic end of the world, but to a spiritual awakening, a change in conciousness. Which in fact is an important aspect of this card.
I’ve been in a weird place over the last week or so, getting stuck in overthinking and worry. It’s funny, because nothing overly bad has happened, in fact there have been some really positive things that have occurred! But these positive possibilities have also been laced with downfalls, which I think is the main reason why I’ve been a bit stuck! The day before last I drew Strength, which is the card that the Tarot keeps sending me when I’m feeling at a loss. Ever since it came up as my major tool for this coming birth year in my New Years Spread, it has popped up as a reminder every time I’m feeling a bit weak! And then yesterday I drew The Sun, as if the Tarot was trying to tell me not to worry, all will be ok! Â But I was still feeling frazzled, stuck in this cycle of thought centred on a situation I really have little control over! So today while drawing a card I decided to ask the deck outright what I need to do to get out of this energy, and what was her suggestion, The Hanged Man of course :P.
Could I have been sent a more suitable card? I don’t think so! The Hanged Man is all about letting go, and not in a forced way, but as a surrender or acceptance. It asks us to give up our hold on control, to surrender to our experiences, to be open and vulnerable and to end the constant stuggle that for so many of us is self-imposed! And I think it is this that is most important for me to take away from today’s card! Life is already hard enough, without imposing any other hardships upon ourselves! The Hanged Man also tells us that sometimes, in order to really see a situation for what it is/has to offer, we may need to suspend action, pause for a moment to reflect, and take the time to just simply be present. And if this doesn’t work then we might just need to take a real leaf out of this man’s book and reverse our view of the world.
Today’s card is one that I have always been interested in, I don’t think I can say why exactly, but in every deck it always stands out, as if it is calling to me. Lots of people are drawn to the Death card in a deck, or sometimes it’s The Devil or The Lover’s that make or break a deck for someone, but for me it’s The High Priestess who keeps calling out to me, taunting me with the secrets she holds. I see her as representative of why I wish to use Tarot, to learn more about life’s mysteries and to look beyond the obvious surface of the situations I find myself in, to what is hiding beneath.
The High Priestess – Radiant Rider Waite Tarot
The High Priestess is card number 2 in the Major Arcana and stands for mystery, potential, pyscic awareness and all things unconscious. She comes to tell us to look deeper, both within ourselves and in the world around us, to see what could be, to seek what is concealed or hidden, and to open ourselves to our own intuition. By doing so we can begin to trust our inner voice and in turn become aware of a larger reality!
In the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot we see a mysterious dark haired woman sitting before a veil, in between two stone pillars representative of ‘Boaz’ and ‘Jakin’, the two pillars in the Hebrew temple in Jerusalem. The dark  pillar here represents passivity and mystery, while the white represents conciousness and action. And she sits between them both. What I see as important however is that the letters inscribed upon the pillars are of there opposite colour, showing that within two extremes there is always an aspect of its opposite, that duality is in fact an illusion and the world is made up of a spectrum, not a one or the other dynamic. This is what The High Priestess promises, knowledge of the true nature of all things.
As in the RWS representation she most often sits before a veil, which represents the thin layer of consciousness that seperates us from our inner awareness. It is often thought that we are not allowed behind this veil until we have been initiated, for what we will find will be to unrational for us to understand, but I feel it is there to show us that there truly is little that holds us back from inner awareness. And what is behind the veil, not a dark and mysterious temple, nor symbols of magical power. It is a lake and hills, a body of water representative of our unconscious and the truths hidden within. And it is important to note that this body of water is still and calm, for that is the only way to come to terms with our inner reality, we must become calm, passive and receptive!
This brings us to the fact that The High Priestess is often seen as the ying to The Magician’s yang, where he is representative of the active principle, and she the passive. And more often than not activity is seen as a positive masculine trait and passivity is seen as a negative or weak feminine trait! I want to break this ill-conceived and outdated belief. For without passivity, we would never have the time to sit and think about what we have learnt from our actions. Passivity gives the mind a chance to think and in turn to learn from what we have experienced. And more importantly passivity allows the unconscious to come to the forefront, to emerge from beneath all that constant action and movement that we all too often burden our lives with. For if we are active, we never have to truly think about what it is we are doing, and question the motives behind our actions. I feel that this is a real problem with our society today, we build success upon outer involvement in the world, upon what it is we do, and how ‘important’, we are. And this creates a fear of the unconscious, a fear of our inner truth. And what’s worse is that this has grown to be such a persistent trait within our society that in a way has become unconscious. We need to conciously break this pattern, to in turn come to term with our true inner awareness.
First I must apologise for my lack of posts over the last five days, life has been a little crazy of late, and while I have still been drawing cards I just haven’t been overly compelled to write anything. This could also have something to do with the fact that I have predominantly been drawing cards that I have already wrote a bit on, but I think it is mostly due to a lack of motivation and the stress at work taking it’s toll. Today however I felt my drive begin to return as I shuffled my deck and drew The Lovers.
The Lovers is one of those cards that you may have heard of even if you have never seen a Tarot Deck in your life. It is often misconcieved as nothing more than the card of true love, but it is so much more than that. While The Lovers does represent a relationship based on the deepest love, it doesn’t always have to be a sexual relationship. At it’s base it represents the force that attracts two entities to one another, whether these be people, events or ideas. It is about establishing bonds, and forming a kinship, about experiencing desire in all its forms, making love and responding to a situation with passion. The other side of The Lovers, that is not as often shown in popular culture, is about choice, about establishing your own personal beliefs and determining what it is that you value.
I love it when I draw a card that I have never drawn before! It gives me an opportunity to not only learn something new but to also become more acquainted with an aspect of the Tarot I am a little less versed in. Today I was lucky in drawing The Emperor, for not only have I yet to draw him in my daily draws, but he has also never come up in any of the readings I have done!
The Emperor is card number four in the Major Arcana and is usually paired with The Empress as the two major archetypes of Feminine and Masculine parental energies. They represent parents in their archetypal forms. While The Empress can represent Mothering qualities, The Emperor is said to represent those qualities we link to Fathering. Protecting and Defending, providing Security and Comfort, emphasising Structure and standing out as an Authority figure. Now of course these qualities are not purely ‘Masculine’ or related to a ‘male father figure’, but being established during traditional times when the sex roles were stricter, The Emperor is usually seen in this way. He represents Structure, creating Order out of chaos, Regulating and other such systematic qualities to balance out the free-flowing, loving energies of The Empress. And while The Empress signifies the natural world, The Emperor caries with him the wider significance of the social world, the laws of society and the powers that enforce them.
The traditional representation of The Emperor is that of a stern looking older male, wearing a red robe over a suit of armour, sitting upon a rigid throne. His posture and position epitomises stability, and his confident direct gaze speaks of authority. When I look at this card I see someone who knows his place in that world, someone in a position of strength where they are able to exert their control and establish structure and stability. In The Fool’s Journey, the Fool comes across The Emperor and his associated energies around early childhood, after leaving the protective nurturing arms of his/her mother. He comes across structure and order when he begins to learn more about the world around him. And at some point he comes across rules and the people in authority who enforce them. At first he finds it frustrating and restricting having only experienced the flowing love of The Empress. But eventually he comes to terms with these qualities and comes to understand their importance.
Yesterday I went to the Adelaide Vegan Festival. It was an absolutely lovely day, full of friends, fun and Vegan scrumptiousness :). It was the first day I’ve spent out in the Spring sun since Spring began, and being as light skinned as I am I was scrambling for shade anywhere I could find it. I got to enjoy so many Vegan delicacies, and ran into a few people I haven’t seen for quite some time which was a blessing. I even got my hair wrapped, which I’ve wanted to do for so long and got the most beautiful complement from a stranger, who said my eyes were mesmerising and reminded her of her most treasured childhood marble :). All in all it was a lovely day!
Post Vegan Festival, with my hair wrap 🙂
Today when I woke up however I was feeling a little drained, originally I thought it was from all the sun but I think it may have also had something to do with running into a few people whom affect my emotions in a negative way. This realisation didn’t come to my mind until later today, and I believe it has something to do with the card I drew this morning :). Today’s Daily Draw was my new Tarot Stalker, The Hermit.
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
the fox and the otter 