Give em the old razzle dazzle

I laughed when I drew this card this morning, because I woke up thinking about that used car salesman from yesterday and drew the card while still in the fug of my waking thoughts. I have always pictured the King of Wands as 'used car salesman', so when I pulled this card as the energy for today, my response was, 'What! You again!' The tarot is so adept at picking up the energies we are putting out in the moment, particularly if you have no focused question, which I did not. I was merely vaguely thinking, what's my card for today? And Billy Flynn turns up. ;)

In Sol Invictus Tarot, the court names have been changed from the traditional Page, Knight, Queen, King to Awakener, Quester, Nurturer, Master. These are apt descriptions of the nature of each. Thus, today's draw, Master of Wands, is the King of Wands. Traditionally, the King of Wands is sometimes called 'Fire of Fire', because the Wands suit is associated with the element Fire, having to do with action and boldness, will, energy, drive, passions, etc. I have always linked King of Wands to Captain James T Kirk from 'Star Trek'. He has all the qualities of the King of Wands--he is supremely self-confident, a maverick, convinced that failure is not a possibility, the kind of person who comes up with grand schemes but tends to leave the details for others to sort out. He acts quickly, trusts his instincts implicitly, likes to be the centre of attention and knows he deserves it. He takes what he wants, has a strong masculinity in the most literal sense. He must win out--failure is not an option. Even if he fails, he refuses to see it as a failure but as a 'temporarily unsuccessful' attempt, with the next attempt most likely already beginning. He has a sense of honour--but it may be unconventional and includes lying or cheating, particularly if it's cheating 'the system' and not an individual.  In the main, the King of Wands is a likeable rogue or rake. In his shadow aspect, he can be deeply deceitful, backstabbing and underhand in order to achieve the success and attention he craves.

I think it's interesting that deck creators Kim Huggens and Nic Phillips chose Giacomo Casanova to represent the Master of Wands. He is depicted standing squarely in the middle of the card, feet planted widely apart (clad in dashing bright red high-heeled court shoes), arms akimbo, holding aloft a glass of wine. At his side, an admiring fop, and all around him, masked ladies and gentlemen stare in his direction, hanging on his every word and movement. He is smiling broadly, his long curling locks flowing over his red velvet collar and ruffled cravat. Oh, how he deserves this adulation! That highlighted bulge in the front of his trousers is hard to ignore as well, and it isn't all caused by the mask stuck in his pocket, clearly! A complete creature of appetites and showman. That's the Master of Wands. Take him for good or ill, he is, as Casanova himself declared, a 'free agent'.

As for myself, I always willingly acknowledge my own self as the principal cause of every good and of every evil which may befall me; therefore I have always found myself capable of being my own pupil, and ready to love my teacher. 
~Giacomo Casanova, 'The Story of My Life'

All I can say to this draw is, we're off to the movies today to see 'Captain America' and may I not encounter a single used car salesman for the rest of this weekend!

Choices

Today I am drawing a card from the Sol Invictus Tarot, a lovely set that uses multicultural gods, myths, legends, and even real historical figures to represent the tarot through images of the Divine Masculine.

My card today is Two of Swords, Papa Legba. Two of Swords often depicts a blindfolded figure holding crossed swords in front of the chest, or someone sitting at a crossroads, or both! The card is associated with facing choices, having a decision to make, and usually a decision that once you've made it, it's difficult to turn back and retrace your steps for a startover--might even be impossible. You can see in the card, Papa Legba holds two keys to the gate and seems to be keeping watch or standing guard over the crossroads. You've got to pick one or the other, and the gate implies no simple way of turning back once you make your choice.

Papa Legba is a figure in the New Orleans voodoo tradition, who is seen as a keeper of the gateway between the worlds, who can remove obstacles and provide opportunities. What an interesting and appropriate figure for the Two of Swords.

I am facing lots of choices in my life right now, but today in particular I will need to use powers of discernment and decision-making, because we are going to test drive a few cars. And of course it is the case that buying a car is a decision that is not easily backtracked from! Once you've bought it, it's your baby, you can't just give it back. The card also suggests wariness in today's thinking...Papa Legba can be a trickster, so I must be wary of having my head turned by pretty colours, extra features, or the talk of sales people.

Papa Legba, open the way,
that we may see the truth
about the cars we test drive today! :)

It's now 6.42 pm. It was certainly a long day. We test drove 4 cars today. The first place we went was a Honda dealership, where the salesperson was lovely, low key and a pleasure to work with. The atmosphere was completely different in the Volkswagen place we visited in the afternoon, where we were served by a young salesperson who gave us the most high-pressure, most deeply flawed sales pitch in the history of car buying. It was a surreal experience during which he tried to demonstrate that a year's petrol if you drive 13,000 miles a year would cost £18,000. Things were pretty much down hill from there. The only good thing about the VW experience was we found that we loved driving both the Golf and the Polo. But I don't think we'll be going back to that particular VW dealership, even if we decide to buy a VW. Thank you, Papa Legba, for the warning and the discernment!

TABI Conference 2011

I had a great time at the conference in Birmingham on Saturday, 23rd July!

Cilla Conway on Tarot & Oracles

The first workshop featured Cilla Conway on Tarot & Oracles. I was really edified to find that she advocates a method just like the one I recently adopted, using the oracle cards to shed more light on the energies surrounding the issues, after the tarot cards have been spread and read. She demonstrated her technique with fellow conference attendee, Doolie, then we got to pair up and try out 3-card spreads on each other. It was great to see so many people at my table using the same combo I had brought myself--the Druidcraft Tarot with the Druid Plant & Animal Oracles. I received a reading from Louise that suggested that my son has acquired a girlfriend who, if not pregnant already, is at the very least exerting a calming influence on him. Well, I contacted him as soon as I got home. No pregnancy, but he has met a girl online that he's enjoying chatting with. He was quite taken aback that I knew something was up involving a girl. Tee hee for tarot. It was also great fun to meet and exchange readings with Chloe. Her advice was also greatly appreciated.

Mary Collin 'Working as a Tarot Professional'

Next, Mary Collin gave a presentation of tips for organising yourself and making business connections. It went overlong, so we didn't get to try out one of Mary's ideas, which is to use some of her acronymic lists as the basis for tarot spreads. I think this would be an excellent tool not only for personal brainstorming, but also for spreads to use with clients with business-related queries. I will definitely be looking further into those ideas and developing card spreads and reading techniques about this topic. So thanks, Mary!

Emma 'Intuition with the Thoth'

After Mary's workshop, Emma Sunerton-Burl explained using your intuition to read the Thoth, which is a highly esoteric deck and can be intimidating. She began her session with a 30-minute guided visualisation of the Star card. I think the photo above is appropriate because it sums up for me what it was like--Emma's voice seemed so far away, and was so quiet, I couldn't hear her and so sat and ended up doing a sort of breathing meditation. Ah, well.

Will Worthington and Alison Cross.

 For me, the highlight of the day was the interview with Will Worthington, illustrator of the Druidcraft Tarot, Druid Plant & Animal Oracles, Green Man Tree Oracle, and Wildwood Tarot. It was fascinating to hear the story of how his art career began, how he became involved in deck production, and his thoughts on his success through tarot and oracle decks. Will doesn't normally do workshops, and so it was a great honour to be able to hear him speak.

Disappointingly I was unable to attend the second day of the conference due to Sunday train services being so completely rubbish! But I loved attending the 2011 TABI Conference and definitely intend to do the full thing next year, including staying overnight! And if they have something between now and then, I'll go to that one, too.

My go-to decks

Tarot readers can be a capricious crowd when it comes to their decks. There are just so many to choose from, and all so luscious! But even the most fickle of us have our tried and true, and for me, here are my top three...

Number 3: Morgan Greer

Morgan Greer, 1979

This deck was first published in 1979 by Morgan Press, by artist Bill Greer and Lloyd Morgan. It is distinct in being one of the earliest borderless decks, and is noted for both its vivid coloring and its 70s-tastic sensibility. Predominately of  mustardy yellows, oranges, blues and greens, the deck could be made up of paint chips your mother used to decorate the lounge in 1973. Using the deck makes me want to put on a pair of flair-leg trousers and play a Joni Mitchell LP (vinyl of course!) Most of the characters are shown in close-up, with limpid-eyed women and luxuriantly mustachioed men. Flowers and vegetation abound--roses, lilies, oak leaves, acorns, lotus blossoms, grapevines, sunflowers, even the occasional palm tree. The deck is a straight talker, imminently readable and forthright. It is very popular and widely available.

I also have to add, this is my favourite deck to shuffle! The cardstock and size are just perfect for riffle shuffling and I can sit and shuffle this deck over and over and over and over...it's hypnotic!

Number 2: Anna K Tarot

AnnaK Tarot, 2008

 Self-published by Anna Klaffinger in 2008, this deck has developed a loyal fan base and following. The first edition is now out of print, but there are still copies available of the second edition (2010) at Anna's website and a few other online sources. When that sells out, chances are there will be no more copies of this lovely deck printed. Anna has said that the process is very trying, and I cannot imagine how much work and devotion is required to raise the money for and oversee such a project as this.

The deck is simply a joy to behold. Nearly borderless, the cards are remarkable for their complete lack of esoteric symbolism. While based on the Rider-Waite-Smith system, Anna has managed to reflect the meaning of the cards in scenes unlike any other RWS tarot deck. Her homely interpretations of the cards speak directly to daily life experience. The people depicted in the cards have been described as almost hobbit-like--a simple, earthy people going about the business of their daily lives. Anna is from Austria, and I can get a sense of the place, because there are several cards set in a cold climate, with snow abounding, and many of the cards are dark in coloration, reflecting the long winters there. All seasons of the year are well-represented in the deck, and the deck is dominated by yellow and dark blue. I can't really tell you how much I love this deck. It is a very special thing!

Number 1: Druidcraft 

Druidcraft, 2005

I have to say, though, that my number one go-to deck is the Druidcraft Tarot, by Stephanie & Phillip Carr-Gomm with art by Will Worthington. Published in 2005, it has remained a very popular deck amongst many readers.

To begin with, it is a very large deck, and may people trim off the outer and inner borders to create borderless cards. This makes the cards easier to handle. It is a very colorful and beautiful deck, filled with green, gold and blue. Nearly every card is set outdoors, with grass, wildlife, trees and stones. It is a so-called Celtic deck, and takes many of its card interpretations from Celtic lore and familiar setting on the British Isles and Ireland, such as New Grange in Ireland or the Long Man of Wilmington.

As with all my favourite decks, it is RWS based. I find the characters in this deck beautiful and endearing. They are bit more 'noble' than the hobbity characters in AnnaK's deck. One of the curiosities of the deck is the large feet on some characters, but I have noticed that most of the big-footed people are on cards that represent authority or power, such as Justice, Empress, queens and kings. There are many barefooted figures in these cards, suggesting, I suppose, connection to the earth. It is a self-consciously earth-based deck (ie, pagan) rather than an earthy deck, as with the AnnaK, and some people object to this as smacking of distastefully romanticised/sanitized neo-paganism. Well, it isn't nature red in tooth and claw or anything, but I don't care, I love this deck and find it wonderfully insightful.

At the moment I have some 25 or so other decks that I also use, but these are the ones I select when I need a clear answer with no messing about. I love them!