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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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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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You have the Power, Harness It – The Magician

Ever felt powerless? Like you can’t accomplish anything, or that you need the help of others to get to where you wish to be? Well today’s daily draw is here to tell you that you that you have the power! The Magician. Card number one of the Major Arcana. A new beginning, a new life cycle. Embracing power, taking conscious action, concentrating your energies, using your will. This is what The Magician has to offer.

The Magician - Shadowscapes Tarot
The Magician – Shadowscapes Tarot

I love, love, love the Shadowscapes version of The Magician. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I find the more traditional representations to be quite lifeless and stagnant. Which is the opposite of what the card should be. Here however, I can feel the energy he is willing into existence seep from the card, and it is as if he could spring to action with a moments notice. There is also a real Shamanistic feel to this card which I love. A real earthy active energy.

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A Birthday Blessing

Today is my birthday 🎉, and instead of doing a daily card I decided that I would give myself a bigger challenge and in turn learn a little more about myself and the year to come. So I popped over to Little Red Tarot, my go to for all things tarot related and decided that I would do Beth’s New Years Spread, for your birthday is truly the beginning of a personal New Year 😃. And as you can see Cosmo decided he would like to help out 😊

Birthday Reading

While there are 10 cards in the picture above this is actually a 5 position spread. Beth constructed it with the interactions between cards in mind, how their energies support each other or if they show any tension/conflict.

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A Radiant Vitality – The Sun

So first I must apologise for being a bit lax in my posting. The reason is twofold. Firstly, my last two draws have been repeats of recent draws and I was unsure as to what they were trying to tell me so instead of posting I decided to ponder 🤔. They were quite opposite cards too, on Friday I drew the King of Swords and yesterday it was the Ace of Cups. My second reason is that I awoke Friday morning feeling incredibly drained and by the end of the day a cold had throughly worked its way in 😭. But today I am feeling a little bit better, despite having worked 10 hours yesterday, so I am back and ready to write.

When I first flipped over today’s card I thought the Shadowscapes was teasing me. The Sun. The complete opposite of what I’m feeling. I’m weighed down, congested and feeling really low on energy and what shows up The Sun.  Not only that but it is a beautiful 33 degrees Celsius outside, the sun is shinning, the birds are singing, and I’m stuck inside with an 8 hour shift. Cruel Shadowscapes, very cruel!!

The Sun - Shadowscapes Tarot
The Sun – Shadowscapes Tarot
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Weekly Reading Number 1 : The Reader’s Reading

So for those of you who don’t know, as part of The Alternative Tarot Course you are required to do a weekly reading to assist in your development as a reader. I started the course on Saturday the 19th and last Sunday I did the first week’s reading entitled “The Reader’s Reading”. I had quite a busy weekend but really wanted to fit this reading in and I have to admit it was quite hard to interpret some of the cards so this may be a little shorter than I had hoped but here goes.

The Reader's Reading

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The Chariot awaits…

Today I decided to do something a little different. Usually when I’m shuffling for my daily card I ask ‘What do you have to teach me today tarot?’ ‘What message do I need to hear?’ However I awoke today feeling in need of some guidance in relation to the thoughts and feelings my last two daily draws had spurred. So while shuffling I asked “What will help me move forward and stop me from falling into the morose energy I often find myself in?” “What can I work on to be happier in myself?” And what came up you ask, why none other than card number seven, The Chariot. I giggled a bit when I saw this card, ‘the triumph of will in difficult circumstances’. Definitely a useful card to contemplate today!

The Chariot is about triumph, using your will, asserting yourself, and mastering your emotions. All things that would be helpful for me in my current situation. When I find myself stuck in a sad energy I just need to say to myself ‘No, Adam, use the power of your will, focus your intent, move on from this. Be like The Chariot‘.

The Chariot - Shadowscapes Tarot
The Chariot – Shadowscapes Tarot

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