Card of the Day: Legacy of the Divine Tarot- The Star

Saturday, October 31, 2009

When I see the Star, the first word that almost always springs into my head is "Hope". The Star symbolizes hope.

It also symbolizes finding your way in the terrifying darkness. When we are in very bad situations, sometimes the star shines it's light on us, and we can see where we need to be. The Star doesn't fix anything for us, we still have to do the work ourselves- it simply says to us, "There is a solution. It can get better."

The Star can represent joining the physical with the spiritual. She also represents renewal- adding water to the land so that it can grow and blossom, and adding new water to the water so that it does not grow stagnant, and can support life.

Looking forward, it can suggest getting help from an unexpected source.

Reversed, this card suggests stagnation and clinging to the past instead of moving to the future. It can suggest hopelessness- not necessarily that the situation is hopeless, but that the querent feels hopeless, and possibly helpless. If this card appears reversed, perhaps it is time to look for someone to help you with your problems.


Image used with permission. Copyright 2007 Ciro Marchetti.

Card of the Day: Legacy of the Divine Tarot- 9 of Coins

Friday, October 30, 2009

The Nine of Coins, or Nine of Pentacles, is an interesting card; it comes between the diligence and hard work of the Eight of Coins and the security of the Ten. Therefore, it makes sense that the Nine is about self control and self reliance; enjoying the bounty of your own hard work.

This card shows a woman who obviously loves beautiful things; the richness of her clothes and surroundings shows us that. She has tamed the wildness and impetuousness of her nature (the bird); she is comfortable, at peace, and secure in her surroundings.

This card can refer to a love for art and music, and all things beautiful; it can also talk about success in business, health, or the fruition of creative endeavors.

The important thing to note about this card is that she is alone; this card talks about succeeding by yourself and providing for yourself. It doesn't talk about excessive wealth, rather it talks about having enough to live comfortably. You can run your air conditioner all summer- you cannot book every floor of the Montecito and have a slammin' house party.

This card can also talk about self discipline and sacrifice; not getting everything you want so that you can save those resources for later.

Reversed, this card can refer to being overly dependent on others, being lazy, or simply being over-indulgent.

Image used with permission. Copyright 2007 Ciro Marchetti.

Decks

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Whoohoo! One week to go in our fabulous giveaway! We only have 24 entrants so far, so odds are pretty good. In fact, I can say with 100% certainty that SOMEONE will win that deck. :D (It occured to me upon viewing this post that it could, possibly, appear that we were giving away that box full of decks. We aren't. Not even close. We are giving away one (1) deck, NOT pictured above, Ciro Marchetti's "Legacy of the Divine" which is gorgeous and beautiful and will come to the winner brand spanking new and straight from the retailer. Those decks in the picture are mine, and shall stay that way. Stop drooling. Mine.)

So, I was going to do a card of the day, and in fact, I have several set up and ready to go (not written, but I have pictures. Cause that's the easy part.) but I am tired and I have a brand new Terry Pratchett book waiting for me, so instead, I am going to talk about one of my favorite things about tarot.

The decks.

I love tarot decks. I love the variety in them, the sheer beauty of so many of them, the quirkiness and humor in others. I love how every different interpretation of a card deepens its meaning for me. No matter what you are interested in, what kind of art you like, what size cards you want- somewhere, there is a deck for you.

My very first tarot deck was the Mystic Dreamer Tarot. It was a gift from our very own Wakingspirit, in response to the words, "I think I want to learn to read tarot cards." Her immediate reaction was, "Well, don't buy one yourself. Pick one out and I'll get it for you."

Yes, I have the best best friend ever.

I went trolling through the decks on Aeclectic, and the first deck that I oohed and aahed over was the Tarot of Prague. I thought, and still think, that it is just lovely. Fortunately, I looked up prices before I told her what I wanted, because I am pretty sure if I'd told her to buy me that one, she would have laughed herself to death. Mystic Dreamer was my second choice, and I do love it- but not nearly as much as Wakingspirit does! She ended up getting her own copy a few weeks later and uses it all the time.

This was the beginning of my obsession with tarot decks. It was also the beginning of my education in tarot superstition. (Nice segue, right? I know, I rule.) The idea that a person should receive their first deck as a gift is a superstition hotly debated among tarotists. I've since learned about other "rules"- there are, for instance, a million different "right" ways to store the cards. Some people won't touch a deck that has belonged to someone else, and some people feel that the appropriate way of discarding a deck that you will no longer use is to (gasp!) burn it.

Don't use tarot cards on wood, ONLY use tarot cards on wood; don't let the querent shuffle, the querent MUST shuffle. It's really the same in all things tarot; each individual must determine for themselves what the "right" way is.

I personally don't see any reason why someone musn't buy their own first deck, if they've no one to do it for them. For me, it was a lovely "welcome" into the tradition to have someone give me such a wonderful gift; it felt like someone else opened the door and invited me in, saying, "Look around! There's so much to learn!" But as nice as it was, I feel sad for all the people who don't learn because they're worried about bad luck or a deck that won't "work" if they buy it themselves- not to mention the people who steal them and then tell themselves it was a gift from the store. (Even my powers of justification aren't that good, and I'm a grand master!)

As for everything else, I've done it pretty much every which way (except for burning decks) and really, it doesn't seem to make a difference. After all, it's not really the cards that do the work. The cards just lay there. I am the one working.

And if you are tempted to burn a deck once you're done with it, send it to me! You don't want to inhale all that smoke. Let me "burn" it for you. :D

The Master: Zen Card of the Day

In this tradition the Master is not master of anyone else, but of himself. He is willing to trust in his own wisdom and strength rather than fall prey to the currents of life, the ups and downs.

He recognizes his own immortality of spirit.

He also recognizes his own responsibility in this matter. You won't catch him depending on the perfect situation or person to further his own growth potential. He knows to turn inward and visit with his own essence for guidance and strength.

If you draw this card it can be telling you to look inside for growth instead of to the world around you. To become enlightened, you must conquer your inner mind, not the world around you.

Card of the Day: Legacy of the Divine - XVIII- The Moon

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

I have a lot of trouble with this card. A LOT. OF. TROUBLE. In fact, I drew this card a few days ago for my card of the day, researched it, and gave up. I ended up heading to the Aeclectic Tarot forum to ask for help; those brilliant people, between them, know everything there is to know about tarot.

The Moon is a very feminine card, dealing with Intuition and Spirituality; this card is closely related to the High Priestess.

It's ironic that I have so much trouble with this card- as one person said, that itself is evidence of the Moon in action.

The moon symbolizes confusion. Things that are actually mundane look scary and mysterious in the moonlight; the everyday becomes mysterious.

This card can be about secrets, deceptions; it can be about our own imaginations getting the best of us; it can be about our journey from confusion to enlightenment. Some people have said that the moon is about romance; I can see that; after all, having romantic feelings for someone tends to keep us from seeing their flaws!

Reversed, the meaning of this card becomes clearer. I see this card reversed as confusion fading away; reality becoming apparent. When the moon fades, the sun rises, and your path becomes clear again. Looking at it that way, though, it could also mean the opposite- when the moon is new, there is no light at all, and it's far too easy to get lost in the woods.

If this card comes up reversed, I would advise taking a flashlight with you when you go out. :D


Image used with permission. Copyright 2007 Ciro Marchetti.

Living Out Loud

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Over time, I'm sure I'll mention a hundred ways that tarot, and my ventures into living a more spiritual life, are improving my life and making me happier. What I probably won't mention are the ways that it's making my life more difficult or complex; those things aren't as significant to me, so may not get mentioned so much here. (If you're on Aeclectic, though, you may already know what a crybaby I can be!)

The biggest issue that I have dealt with so far is explaining my interest to other people. People seem to fall into two basic groups. You have the people who, for whatever reason, believe that tarot is evil and/or dangerous. These people tend to be ignorant about tarot in general, and get pretty freaked out when they find out that you do it. These are the people who insist that you're going to hell for reading, that tarot calls evil spirits, that tarot functions through the efforts of evil spirits, or simply that tarot is a sin. (So is eating shrimp. Try and get me to stop. You'll lose a hand.)

The other group are the skeptics. When they learn that you read, their estimation of your intelligence drops about 100 IQ points. If you're lucky, they're dismissive and will only ever speak to you of fashion magazines and animated sitcoms. If, however, you're unlucky, they're combative. They want you to PROVE it. PROVE it works. Tell them the winning lottery numbers/ location of missing child in the news/ winner of American Idol in 2010. It doesn't matter what you tell them, or what you see- if you are completely accurate, they come back with, "That could fit anyone." There is no point arguing with them- they are secure in their world view. You might as well argue with a brick wall.

In the interest of complete honesty, I used to be a member of the first group. Tarot scared me; more than that, I thought it was ridiculous. I had a reading when I was very young that was so inaccurate as to be offensive, and from that point on, I believed tarot was a con; more than that, though, my mother had a deck that she used specifically when she was in a bad emotional place. To me, that deck felt (and still feels) bad. Mix into that the fact that I grew up in a conservative religious environment, where my mother and her spirituality made her the black sheep, and you get a whole lot of intolerance and prejudice in tiny little me. I've been steadily moving away from that place of fear and intolerance; still, I'm still not sure what sparked the interest in me to try tarot. One day in July, it hit me like a bolt of lightening: "I want to learn that." The second bolt of lightening: "I have to keep it to myself."

It's a new and unpleasant feeling, to have to keep something I am passionate about, something that I find so wonderful, under wraps and hidden away like it's something I'm ashamed of. The way I grew up was completely the opposite of that- I was expected to share my beliefs, to spread them like a virus. To have to treat the things that made me happy like they are dirty or sinful makes me very angry; not only for myself, but for everyone that has to live that way.

Recently, I came out of the tarot closet in a very subtle way; I posted on my Facebook about the Tarot blog. A lot of the very, very conservative people that I am related to are connected to me on Facebook, and I suspect that there will be some fall out, some tearful phone calls about how they're praying for me, perhaps some type of spiritual intervention. I expect to have to make sure that my children are not being indoctrinated when I'm not looking.

Some people that respected my intelligence before likely think less of me now; that's ok. I suspect that will have no real effect on my life; I know how smart I am. It may effect my relationships with them in the long run; that's okay too. I have never been one to live any part of my life hidden away, and I don't expect that I'll start now. I'm not saying it's not scary- it's scary as hell. I'm living in the open, anyway.

The positive surprise is the way that people seem to be handling it so far; a lot of people that I was concerned about have been accepting or downright enthusiatic. The people I suspect to be the most disapproving are either ignoring that I ever said anything (we'll see how it goes when I see them in person), or have flat out asked me to not discuss it with them, as it makes them uncomfortable due to the whole me going to hell thing. Still- they're rejecting the tarot and not me, and that I can live with. I'm not pretending to be something I'm not, and that's what's important.

Edited to add: It has been pointed out to me, very gently, that there is another group of people that I dismissed: the people who are not familiar with tarot, and not prejudiced against it at all. I personally have not encountered very many that fit into this category, but they do exist. They just don't cause me angst, so they didn't fit into my rant. :D

Card of the Day: Legacy of the Divine Tarot- Eight of Swords

It might be a little hard to believe, but the Eight of Swords is one of my favorite cards in any deck, because I relate to it in a lot of ways.

Swords are the cards of struggle. They can refer to difficulty, new ideas, intellectual pursuits and education.

When this card comes up in a spread, my first thought is always "fear". This card talks about being trapped by fear or old ideas, unable or unwilling to see your way out of it. Being caught in a bad situation but afraid to move to extricate yourself because you don't know where the dangers lie- you only know that they're there.

This card is also about making yourself a victim. You see the woman in the card? Her hands are free. She could simply reach up, remove the blindfold, and use one of those nearby swords to cut herself free. She has the ability and the tools necessary to get out of her situation, and for whatever reason, she refuses to. Maybe she doesn't realize that the swords are there and can help her; maybe she's afraid of what she will see if she removes the blindfold. However, what will happen to her if she doesn't take that first step and simply look around is certainly scarier than what's going to happen to her otherwise.

Reversed, the blindfold falls away. When this card is reversed, it may be saying, "You're ready to move forward!" Things may get easier soon- or maybe you're just tired of being a victim and are ready to take that first step to freedom.


Image used with permission. Copyright 2007 Ciro Marchetti.