If you don't mind my saying, you can see I'm full of aces!

(apologies to Kenny Rogers for the title. :) )

I decided to continue with Kat Black this week, using the beloved Touchstone Tarot. Can you believe I drew another Ace?!

I really love the Touchstone Tarot (Kunati, 2009). It's Kat Black's second deck. Originally the cards had very wide borders designed to look like wooden frames, and heavily gilded edges. I hated the gilded edges because they hurt my hands, and so I cut the top and side borders off the cards. I was very pleased with the result,  though I have to warn that if anyone is thinking of doing this, be very careful. Unlike some cards where there is a clear line to cut along, the Touchstone deck has dark borders right next to dark backgrounds, making it really hard to see where to cut, so on a couple of my cards, the edge is crooked. I don't mind it, but it would devastate some people. I even bought a second copy of the deck so I would have one 'whole' one, but I have extremely limited storage space and always feel it's a waste to have a spare deck around, so I sold it. It's going for stupid money now in some circles, but I can't be worried about that. When it comes to decks, I don't look back. Lots of decks have come and gone in my collection, and I have never re-bought one (though I know some people do that) and I've never wasted any time regretting or pining for what I gave, traded or sold away. Plus, I think it is unconscionable to sell a product that originally retailed for £20 for £100, £200, £800 or whatever. It's greedy of the sellers and just plain stupid of the buyers. There will always be more decks. And after all, they're only cards.

Hmm, I guess from that ramble it would seem the Ace of Coins may be pointing toward money thoughts today! Among other earthy, material, physical plane concerns.

Stick 'em with the pointy end

Wow, two aces in a row! Yesterday I drew Ace of Wands and today it's Ace of Swords from Golden Tarot by Kat Black (US Games 2003). This is a card of inspired solutions, clear thinking, ability to cut through nonsense.

I like the way there's a little golden crown slid down the blade of the sword, like some sort of decoration. Nice touch. And I wonder what that 'trailing plant' is that the angel's holding. (The companion book offers no further information about it--maybe Kat Black didn't know, either.) Something about the angel's hair reminds me of Queen of Elizabeth I. I've also noticed that all the swords cards in this deck include a butterfly, a nod to the air element. I think the butterfly is a nice touch for a suit that is often taken to have negative meanings. It reminds us that hardships can be transformational.

Not that this card is an indicator of hardships. Aces are almost always seen as positive. Yesterday I felt inspired to start on a new project (and I drew the Ace of Wands). Perhaps today will see me think of ways to approach the project in a methodical, meaningful way so that I can actually finish it.

'Got my head checked by a jumbo jet'

Why, when I turned this card over, was my first reaction to start singing Blur's 'Song 2':

WOO HOO!!
Well, I feel heavy metal!
WOO HOO!!
And I'm pins and I'm needles!
WOO HOO!!
And I lie and I'm eas-ay
All of the time,
 and I'm never sure why I need ya
Pleased to meet yah...

Maybe it's the flames and the billowy cape and the wings! Woo hoo!

Ace of Wands is a 'Woo hoo' kind of card, anyway. Self-sufficiency. Personal empowerment. Creative energy. New beginnings. Self-reliance.

Where are you gonna get your 'woo hoo' today? I'm going to start the day with some weight lifting, and then finish work at 4.30. How woo hoo can you get??

Honouring the much-maligned body

Golden Tarot, US Games 2003

It's Wednesday and that can be a long day, but I think I'm a little better off than this poor chap in Four of Swords from the Golden Tarot (US Games 2003). To me he looks like he's taken to his sick bed! But maybe he's just having a rest.

The Four of Swords usually suggests we should take a break from thinking about whatever it is we've been thinking about. It's often interpreted to mean meditation, rest, relaxation, withdrawal. As a card of the day, it does seem to be a strong suggestion to continue my strategy of yesterday, to keep myself distant from grumblings and mutterings that have become a habit amongst staff at work. I also take it as a reminder to be very careful of overstriving in areas like my yoga practice. I simply must withdraw from 'effort' in this practice and LISTEN to the messages of my body. No matter what I want it to do, it can only do what it can do. Yoga is meant to be yoke or union between the soul and the universe, but I can see how it is also a union between the mind and the body. People say yoga is about control; I've heard people say yoga is about overcoming the limitations of the mind. I think they miss the point. For me, especially at this time of my life, it is about being inside my body, not fighting against my body, being aware that my body is my ally in this life and not my enemy, and that it is a vital part of me and can be a tremendously rewarding partner in the spiritual journey. But I don't think that is accomplished by ascetism or self-punishment, but through nurturing and loving and accepting the body, and feeling joy in its movement, rather than disappointment or even embarrassment at its limitations. Rest is as important to the care and maintenance of the body as work, and so perhaps this card reminds me that even though the striving part of my mind may think I'm not doing enough or working hard enough, I should also remember to honour the body by resting it as well.

Funny how a card about the mind has led to a post about the body, but I do believe, and yoga is helping me to learn, that we do ourselves a disservice when we say, 'I am not my body. I am not this crude matter.' That crude matter deserves every bit as much respect and care as your mind or your spirit.

He's not complaining

Golden Tarot, US Games 2003

Well, this seems an appropriate card for Bank Holiday Tuesday! We all feel a bit martyred the day after a bit of time off, don't we? Some of us do, anyway. It's also a card of self-sacrifice, self-imposed inaction, and sometimes can indicate looking at things from an entirely new perspective. The most important thing to notice about any tarot Hanged Man depiction is the serenity of the figure. He never appears to be in extreme pain or bondage. Rather, he seems willing, submissive, and to have reached a higher place mentally. (In other words, he looks kind of spaced out. I guess that happens when all the blood runs to your head.) Personally I think I would be so congested I'd have to breath through my mouth and would be feeling like my had was about to explode after 1 minute, but some people love being in an inverted position.

One of my favourite tarot books of all time is Rachel Pollack's Tarot Wisdom. She says that the Hanged Man 'may be an outsider, or with different attitudes than other people, with no push to convince others, and no need to seek others' approval. For those on a spiritual path, it may signal a moment of illumination or an actual initiation experience.' Well, that sounds pretty serious for the Tuesday after a bank holiday. But I will go with the idea of being a nonconformist, a quiet observer. I will make an effort today to not join in with any complaining about being back to work, or other grousing about the many evils and irritation of the daily grind. That's going to be some effort! But if like the Hanged Man I merely keep myself apart, looking at things 'upside down' and keep quiet, it should be quite doable. :)

Go for the Gold

Enough with the cats, I decided to have a dig around and select a tarot I've had forever but hardly posted with. I chose the beautiful Golden Tarot by Kat Black (US Games 2003). I think there are two reasons I don't reach for this deck very often: it's highly laminated and very slippery, and it has gilded edges that hurt the skin on my fingers and hands when I handle the cards. Some people don't have this happening, but I do. I am loathe to trim the deck, though, as I believe it is perfect in every way and quite gorgeous. I've heard there is another edition that is not so plasticky, but I have no idea how to acquire one.

Anyway, I decided to draw three cards today, no real positions:

Golden Tarot, Kat Black 2003

The King of Coins advises me to take mastery of the material/financial/physical aspects of my life. There are some tasks I was thinking of doing this morning regarding Paypal and so on, actually. And of course I see this as a reference to taking care of myself physically - I do intend to work out today. Two of Wands suggests I need to make plans regarding these aspects of my life, and not just drift about waiting for things to happen. So I suppose I better make a 'To Do' list for today. Then of course the Queen of Wands (stalker that she is) tells me that  it's not enough to make plans, I have to light a fire under my butt and actually get them done.

Gosh, guys, it's Bank Holiday Monday!  Oh well. No rest for the wicked, eh? ;)

Does he look like he's going to stay there for long? Not likely!

Cat's Eye Tarot, US Games 2011

The Knight of Wands comes up for me today, and it is another card that has stalked me in 2013. (By 'stalker card', we mean cards that keep turning up over and over in separate readings.) In Cat's Eye Tarot, the court cards seem based more on relative age of the cat than distinctions of personality. Pages are kittens, Knights are adolescents, Queens are sleek adult females and Kings are burly adult males. The Wands suit features orange tabby cats, and the Knight of Wands here is an adolescent/young adult tabby up a tree. He's not charging off into battle like the traditional Knight of Wands, but I guess it did take a bit of power surge to get up that tree. Presumably he's doing that weird cat thing where for no discernible reason he went charging up the tree, will then sit and stare for a few minutes, startle, and for no apparent reason go charging back down the tree again. I had a cat like this once. (I have owned cats in the past...my ex-husband liked cats). This cat was kinda psycho. He did things like sneak up on a box or upright brown paper grocery bag, and suddenly spring straight up into the air to land inside it. If I was in the loo, he would stick his arm under the door (we lived in an old house and the doors didn't fit that well--the bathroom door had a big gap at the bottom) and feel around on the floor and all around the door. It was strange to be sitting in the bathtub and suddenly see a cat arm poke through there. I don't know what he thought he was going to find. If I left the bathroom door ajar so he could get in, he would come in, hop on the toilet and step over onto the edge of the tub and then walk all the way around the edges of the bathtub a few times, sometimes using my knees or shoulders as a bridge to get across. He would suddenly appear thundering from the hallway sounding like a Shetland pony to leap upon the sofa, run across the back of it, race around the living room and then streak back into the hallway again. This particular cat caused us to have to wire the Christmas tree to the wall because he would run up the tree and ride it down to the floor. He liked to crawl under the sofa and attack my feet from underneath. But the most annoying thing he did was attack my backside when I was washing dishes. I guess when I was scrubbing pots I would get my whole body into it, which must have caused some jiggling to the backside. Well, he would launch himself halfway across the kitchen and latch onto my backside for a second before falling back off again and running away. Sometimes he really latched on and I would have to shake him off. After a couple of episodes of this I would close the kitchen door to wash the dishes. That cat was a menace. He was also mad. He liked to eat wasps. Seriously, how could I make something like this up? This cat was pretty dang insane.

Anyway, now that I look at the cat in the card, I can see he does look like he could at any minute get some wild hair up his butt to go charging like an insane thing either up or down the tree, leaving observers to wonder what the heck -- and that is a pretty Knight of Wandsy thing to do.

After yesterday's weights workout, I won't be sprinting anywhere, but I think this card today is telling me to continue to approach things (in this case, my workout regime) with gusto.

Change of plan?

Cat's Eye Tarot, US Games 2011

Here's a pip card with no pips on it. I have to admit, that does annoy me. I have a few decks in which the illustration does not include the right number of pips; I just wonder WHY? Why not put the pips in? And with this Seven of Pentacles from the Cat's Eye Tarot, I have to think, what does a cat sitting in an open doorway have to do with Seven of Pentacles? One of my little litmus tests for a tarot is, if there were no titles on this card, could I tell what card it is? This particular card gets a resounding no from me. If that bit at the bottom were chopped off, this would be a painting of a cat. A very attractive painting, very charming, but still -- nothing here to lead to me think, 'Oh yes. What an apt representation of the Seven of Pentacles.'

RWS 

The traditional RWS 7 of Pents shows a farmer leaning on his hoe in the middle of his field, admiring his crop and awaiting the bounty of the harvest. The Druidcraft shows a druid harvesting mistletoe, beside a rock carved with seven pentacles. Even the Gaian Tarot, even though there are no pentacles in the card, has seven trees standing in the background. I just like my pip cards to have the right number of something on them.

Anyway, leaving that aside, today's card is the Seven of Pentacles, a card which usually is interpreted to mean patience while something comes to fruition, amongst many other possible alternatives. I can't see that in this cat. So I looked at the LWB and had to laugh, because it describes exactly what I've already done this morning:

Druidcraft

'Take the time to assess your progress as you reach for a goal [so far so good, very traditional and expected]. If you do not see the expected results, you may need to make an adjustment. Do you find yourself standing at a crossroads needing to make a choice? Stop, assess and then prepare to move on and enjoy the good things life has to offer.'

Well, today I assessed my yoga programme and decided I should add in some weights work to support my practice. And I did a weights workout this morning instead of yoga. So after I'd assessed and made a change, I drew a card confirming what I'd just done. I assume more assessment and change is on the horizon. (I know I could use it where food choices are concerned!)

I really have no idea what this cat is assessing. Maybe he thought he wanted to go outside until he saw it was dark out there and now he wants to go back in? He is looking up (presumably at the person who opened the door) with a 'You've got to be kidding me' sort of expression on his face. I suppose whether to go out or stay in is one of the biggest decisions a cat may make in a day.

Clearly I will need to draw more cards in order to warm a bit toward both cats and this deck. It's cute, you know, but I'm just not feelin' it yet. Still, I'm trying to 'be more cat'!!

Be more cat

I am not a cat person. I've just never had much use for them. They don't seem to do much, they can clearly live without us, and they make my nose itch. I left Facebook because to me it was 'the place where people endlessly post snapshots of their cats' (among other reasons). Lately there's been an ad campaign for O2 with the slogan, 'Be more dog!' that features CG cats enjoying the freedom releasing their inner dog. It delights me:

Cats sense my antipathy, I think, because they invariably make a beeline for me and wind themselves around my feet or climb onto the sofa with me to shove their butts in my face.

So, you wouldn't think I'd end up with Cat's Eye Tarot (Debra M Givin, US Games 2011), but I did! On a whim, I selected it as trade for one of the decks I had on offer for free here recently. It arrived in the post the other day, and so I thought I'd try a draw with it. Doesn't seem to matter the deck, tarot is tarot, and the cards that have been stalking me lately turned up (I shuffled them nine times before drawing. Seemed fitting):

Queen of Wands has been stalking me most of 2013, and Temperance has just now turned up (possibly to remind me to look at the ways Queen of Wands is manifesting and make sure they are not out of balance, like doing too much yoga or maintaining too many blogs!) For the last card, I took a peek at the book, and this sentence struck me: 'Do you face challenges with confidence, or do you take a defensive stance?' Well the answer to that is pretty much 'defensive stance' across the board. So I guess the question for me now is, once I've identified the out-of-balance aspects of my recent approach to life, to determine how the imbalance is a result of taking a defensive stance. 

So yeah, for the next week, this blog will be a little more cat. 

Roots go even deeper today

The Crystal Tarot (Philip Permutt, 2010) gives me another message to focus on grounding today with the Ace of Pentacles. The roots in this card go even deeper than yesterday's card, and the chakra associated with the card is the root, or base, chakra. The crystal here is moldavite, which my Essential Crystal Handbook tells me is a tektite with a green transparency. It goes on to say that moldavite 'blends cosmic and earthly energies, expanding awareness of the universe,' and that it represents 'transformation, evolutionary process and spiritual growth.' I'm seeing everything as pointing to my yoga practice lately! Doing yoga twice a day certainly makes it stand uppermost in one's awareness. The Crystal Tarot companion book says: 'You are entering a good period in your life and will see the physical rewards of your hard work.' Well, yay!

Traditionally this card can mean a new job or promotion. It so happens I'm on a recruitment team today and doing interviews all morning, so someone will be getting a new job--just not me. Well, I'm involved in someone getting a new job, anyway.

Hope everyone has a great Thursday. Did you see that full moon by the way? Awesome!

Building on firm foundations

Oh look, it's Two of Pentacles again. After yesterday I could use some balance. I felt a bit out of sorts all day. But today I'm going back to work (after 4 days off in a row--something I'm not used to!) and I will fall back into a routine. I hope my routine will be more balanced than it has been in the past. Maybe today will be the day I finally go all day without eating any sugary or fatty treats.

I like the way the plants in this card are putting their roots into the ground. It is important to remember that balance is based on solid roots, firm foundations. What firm foundations do I have that I can build on? --

I have a supportive husband who does not try to undermine or sabotage me when I want to make changes. (I know that there are husbands who do that.)

I have a regular income. It's not much, but it's reliable.

Pretty in Pink

This is a very pretty Empress card from the Crystal Tarot by Philip Permutt (CICO Books, 2010). For an Empress, she's rather fragile-looking, and certainly quite young. She sits in a fertile green lawn with fruit-bearing trees nearby, flowers gathering around the hem of her vibrant pink dress. Her crown, necklace and scepter are of emeralds, and there's a big emerald boulder just behind her to the right side of the card. Her shield or coat of arms is a green valentine heart with a Venus symbol on it. It's nice that she's not pregnant (I get tired of pregnant Empresses in tarot) but she could look a bit sturdier and firm of purpose for my liking. If the title didn't say Empress, I'd have guessed she's the Queen of Cups.

The Empress is a card of fundamental creativity, and so I hope this signifies that today I will feel creative in the way I approach my tasks and activities. I'm off work again today (my day off in the week for Saturday -- boo to Saturday working!) and have a couple of projects to work on, as well as a few books I want to read.

I will meditate on the Empress today and see what she has to say to me.

The good fight

Crystal Tarot, Permutt 2010

I have to admit I have no idea where deck creator Philip Permutt gets his interpretation of Page of Swords in today's draw from The Crystal Tarot (CICO Books 2010). However unlike the usual Page of Swords interpetation it is, though, it is uncannily fitting with the cards I have been drawing lately, and with my current life situation. Listen to this:

'You have been working hard, and your previous actions will lead to success, but you will still need to be prepared and flexible to deal with challenges ahead. You are wiser now, having learned from your own mistakes.'

While that sounds nothing like the Page of Swords, it fits perfectly with the fact that I have been doing yoga twice a day for the past nearly two months and had to take a break yesterday because my left hip was protesting madly! I believe I overdid some side bends and in other ways just pushed too hard on Saturday. So strange, isn't it, that things like this happen, when a companion books says something unusual that seems to fit nonetheless.

Anyway, if I didn't have a companion book with this deck, I would of course fall back on my prior knowledge of the more traditional view of the Page of Swords, which indicates a bit of youth, a bit of hubris, a bit of self-righteous intellectual arrogance, a bit of loving to play devil's advocate. The Page of Swords is like that kid in class (it could have been you) who enjoys catching the teacher out in a mistake, or likes to ask questions that can't be answered. The Page of Swords is talkative, intellectually curious, easily stirred to take up causes, has a keen sense of justice, would have been at the forefront of youth protests during the Civil Rights movement, things like that. I always liken the courts to fictional characters, and this is the Lisa Simpson card.

Thinking about the meaning given in the companion book, it's true Lisa Simpson does learn from every mistake she makes, everything she observes. And yet, it never seems to blunt her keen energy for truth, justice, right, or her need to learn more and to try to make things better.

I wonder if drawing this card today means I will have my Page of Swords fire lit in some way? Hmm.

Living water

Isn't the tarot cute? Today's message builds on the one I got yesterday about finding balance. What do I draw today but Temperance, that card that so many people associate with balanced behaviour, thinking and feeling? Some people, including Rachel Pollack, have said that they find Temperance boring and that it's one of their least favourite cards in the deck. It's certainly not fiery or glamorous, but for me, Temperance is one of the highest aspirations of life. It's one of my very favourite cards. Temperance is balance. Temperance is moderation. Temperance is what the Buddha taught, what Patanjali taught, and even, I believe, what Jesus taught. Temperance is existing in a state balance, because we understand who and what we are.

So in this image we have a figure standing on the grass (earth) with one foot in the stream (water), having wings (air) and following a path that leads toward the sun (fire). Her balancing act is not really achievable just on the material plane. What she's doing with the water there, though not as exaggerated as in some Temperance cards, is not really possible. You can't pour water sideways. There's some magic happening there, the magic of the will and of the mind and of the realm beyond the mundane. Because the water flowing from that cup flows endlessly in an inexhaustible supply, and what type of water is inexhaustible? The Bible calls it 'living water'. Jesus said, 'Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. For the water that I shall give is like unto a well of water springing up into everlasting life' (John 4:14). What is this living water, this magical supply we see, both in the Temperance card and the Star card? Is it not enlightenment, realization? And what is the realization? The knowledge that we, our True Selves, are already balanced, are already Temperate, are already perfected, and that it is only our thought-forms that lead us to misunderstand, that throw us out of balance in our mundane lives, and that lead us to unbalanced behaviours.

The Temperance card from Crystal Tarot (Permutt, 2010) is reminding me to seek my true Self in order to find the place from which I can move toward more balanced thoughts and behaviour in my daily life. 'Seek ye first the Kingdom of God,' said Jesus, 'and all these things shall be added unto you' (Matthew 6:33). To me, the Kingdom of God refers to realization of unity with totality. It's the enlightenment taught by Buddha, and Patanjali, Krishnamurti, Eckhart Tolle, and all sorts of teachers I've never heard of. It's a teaching that's everywhere, that's everything. Just like you and me.

Contemplate the Temperance card today.

I want to break free

I knew exactly what this was about when I drew it this morning, because it was the thing I had on my mind as soon as I woke up. I have been struggling for a long time to deal with what I consider a food addiction, or at the very least an unhealthy relationship to food. I started writing down what I eat several weeks ago and in that time, I've managed to gain a couple of pounds. Yes, gain -- not lose. I really don't know how to get a handle on this issue. I just keep making poor choices; though actually it could be said that I don't make any choice at all, because lots of my unhealthy eating occurs with no thought whatsoever and I don't even realise I'm doing it until I'm half way through with something. I know that sounds strange to those of you who do not have any type of food issue.

The Crystal Tarot by Phillip Permutt (CICO Books, 2010) shows a traditional Devil image (though it is quite softened and friendly in comparison to some, because after all this is a very gentle and charming deck--that's why I'm extending my draws with it for another week!). But still we see a male and female figure chained to the Devil's throne. They have horns on their heads, signifying his influence over them, and they have tails, but those tails also show their connection to the good earth, because they actually form viney branches that end in leaves, or in the case of the female, in fruit. (I like to think this is because of the fruitfulness of the female rather than any reference to Eve and the Garden of Eden story, though it may be that these figures are Adam and Eve and the implication is that Eve is the one who chained us to the Devil. Meh.) Be that as it may, the fact remains that the chains around the necks of the two figures are very loose indeed, and their hands are free, so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Devil has no actual power over them, but that they are in chains to him of their own free will; whether they realise that or not is another matter entirely! When we draw the Devil, our first thought is 'Oh, no! We're trapped by a great evil force!' Then comes the subtext: 'But however we managed to get ourselves into this fix, we can get back out again. We can escape this bondage.'

The crystal associated with the Devil card here is one that I've also linked to it, smoky quartz. This is a crystal that breaks through a fear barrier - the fear of failure. I know from experience that smoky quartz does enhance the ability to overcome the fear of failure. It helps to break out of defeatist beliefs so that you can move forward.

I wanted to know more, so I asked for two more cards of advice--

Relax into the peace of the moment

Our last draw of the week from Crystal Tarot (Permutt) is 9 of Cups. I have to admit I'm sorry to see the end of this week's draws because I think this is a charming, pretty deck, and it's been fun to learn bits and bobs about the associated crystals. I may extend the draws for another week.

Nine of Cups is the card of self-satisfaction and contentment. It is similar to the Nine of Pentacles, the familiar image of the lady of the manor relaxing in her vineyard/garden with her falcon on her arm. But where that card speaks of being deeply contented with one's physical and material life, the Nine of Cups is more about emotional/spiritual satisfaction.

'Pause, contemplate, and allow yourself to be happy,' says the companion book. 'Yes, there can be more, but this is not the instant to pursue it. You are content emotionally and spiritually. Keep it all very simple, this is not the moment to start complicating things.'

The associated crystal is ametrine. This a rare stone that is formed with citrine and amethyst exist in the same crystal. Apparently, it is only found in a mine in Bolivia, and in small amounts in Brazil. So it seems highly unlikely I would ever come to own such a stone. I think it is appropriate that ametrine is assigned to this card, though, because deep emotional and spiritual self-satisfaction is pretty rare. Wouldn't you agree? The stone combines both citrine and amethyst properties in its magical/healing aspect. It is not a stone that has been known for long, apparently having been discovered in the 17th century. It is said to balance male and female aspects and enhance universal equilibrium.

I take this card to mean I should not push too hard in some of my recent pursuits today, but to enjoy where I am at the moment. That's good advice, and welcome!

Long and winding road

This Knight of Pentacles looks very noble and alert. Sometimes the Knight of Pentacles looks a bit like a dullard, but in the Crystal Tarot (Permutt, CICO Books 2010), he appears to be on a mission. Obviously the Knight of Pentacles is a slow and steady kind of character, but the Permutt companion book looks at this from a slightly different perspective:

You are working in the right direction, but there is still quite a way to go. You will have to continue to be industrious to achieve your goals. The Knight of Pentacles signifies a responsible and consistent person--this may be you, or someone you seek help from.

So -- no phoning in sick today! Dang. And the self-improvement project I have been toying around with for a while now is a long, long way from finished, this card makes plain. I need to be the Knight of Pentacles to achieve it -- slow and steady.

The crystal assigned to this card is blue topaz. Crystal Well-Being says of blue topaz:

Blue Topaz can be useful for problem solving or sorting out muddled feeling and ideas. It can inspire and uplift and promote truth, honesty, openness and forgiveness. It can help you to discover your own inner riches and help you to find and attain your goals. 

And Sunny Ray says: 

Topaz helps in establishing a practical point of view when it comes to life in general. It is thought to be able to point in the direction of the most practical solution to any problem or situation. It helps us to walk the distance between point A and point B in our everyday life without losing time.

Well, I don't have anything made of blue topaz, so I will just have to imagine one today. It's meant to be good for clear communication (associated with throat chakra), balancing of mind and body, and brings patience. These are all Knight of Pentacles qualities. I imagine he doesn't talk much, but when he does, he doesn't play games or mess around. And he of all the courts certainly has an abundance of patience! 

Awakening compassion

Ah, my favourite tarot queen, the Queen of Swords. I could use all the advice in the companion book, so I will give the whole thing here:

'You have two sides to your character; you can choose to let your beautiful aura of serenity shine around you or be harsh and judgemental. You are funny and intelligent, but sometimes your humour can hurt others, so avoid being judgemental and don't be harsh on your opponents and enemies in your time of victory. Be merciful; carry or wear verdelite to bring you compassion in all you do. It will also promote your mind power; place your verdelite crystal on your brow chakra to release your intellectual force.'

I feel quite convicted by this reading of the Queen of Swords card. I wish I had a verdelite crystal to carry with me to remind me to dial it down a notch for a change. I am also struck the fact that so far this week I've drawn green stones. I wonder if there is any significance to this.

I found this beautiful description of green tourmaline (verdelite) at Healing Crystals for You:

'This lovely crystal is a strong heart chakra stone with a masculine or yang energy. It is a powerful aid for self healing... and its vibration is notably compassionate especially towards yourself. This compassionate vibration resonates strongly within the thymus or higher heart chakra as this is one of the primary energies that this chakra governs.

The energy field of Green Tourmaline will entrain and harmonize with your personal energy, inducing within you a deep calmness, equanimity and feeling of completeness. Through its action within the third eye chakra... it brings through stronger visualization abilities. Green Tourmaline may stimulate a stronger connection between the heart and the mind... allowing you to feel the power of Divine love.'

May I soften my heart today and get in touch with the gentlest aspect of my Queen of Swords nature.

The Green Lantern

The Hermit is associated by many with the solar plexus chakra, so I'm a little curious as to why Phillip Permutt chose peridot as the crystal for this tarot major. The solar plexus chakra is yellow, and I would have expected citrine or some other yellow stone for that chakra, but perhaps that's just me being simple-minded. It turns out, it actually is me being simple-minded -- I just checked the book and Permutt says: 'Peridot offers protection from outside influences, allowing you to find the inner space that you really need. It also helps you focus within yourself during your meditation.' That makes sense. I'd love a peridot mala, but peridot is so expensive, that will never happen! It also turns out that many crystal healers associate peridot with both the solar plexus chakra and the heart chakra, and to be fair, it does have a yellowish cast to it. Yellow-green.

The card is telling me to be quiet today and hear my inner voice. The Hermit's head is facing the left side of the card, which is associated with the past or looking inward or backward. I should heed my own counsel and avoid the habit of seeking answers outside myself. I can see where this advice may be coming from, because I've just ordered a couple of books about a topic I've become more interested in lately. I need the reminder that I should follow my own intuition even if it doesn't match exactly what I see in books.

Fun as a slice of watermelon (?)

Today's card from Crystal Tarot is 3 of Cups, and features watermelon tourmaline. I quite like watermelon tourmaline, it's amazing to me that there's a stone that's green and pink with a little whitish layer between, just like a slice of watermelon! It is said to be a 'feel better' stone because it balances male and female aspects of self.

Of course 3 of Cups is about celebration and feeling good. I'm glad to see this card today; I see it as meaning that today will be an enjoyable day, the work day will go by quickly with no major incidents, and I will probably have some fun conversations with work colleagues. So that will be nice. :)

Watermelon tourmaline

Right Speech

What a pretty card! I love the green colour. Justice here is associated with the crystal Jade, and the throat chakra.

I can see how one could associated Justice with the throat chakra. Justice is a very abstract concept, and we define justice and address injustice through words. Without language, I'm not sure there would be a concept of 'justice'. (Of course, without language, I'm not sure there would be much a concept of anything).

What does it mean to do the right thing? We must start with right thinking and right speech before we get to right action. The throat is so important; when it's closed off, when we can say nothing, we effectually lose the ability to change our minds and to change our circumstances. We have to speak up for others, and for ourselves.

Fiery challenges

This week I'll be drawing from a cute little deck called The Crystal Tarot, by Phillip Permutt (Cico Books, 2010). It has cheerful colours, naive art style, and each card is associated with a crystal, which adds a fun dimension to the draw.

The Crystal Tarot features semi-illustrated pips, and today's draw is Seven of Wands, which shows seven wands in leaf, with a fire burst in the middle, and the associated crystal beneath them. You'll notice as the week progresses that the crystal is actually a photograph of the crystal, whereas everything else on the card is hand drawn artwork.

The Seven of Wands relates to proving oneself through challenges, and though the experience can be testing, it is also invigorating and uplifting to the self-esteem.

The crystal is fluorite, which is a stone that combines layers of purple and green, and is thought to increase concentration. I myself think of it as the 'everything is going according to plan' stone, or the 'everything is working out as it is meant to' stone. Yes, you may be facing challenges, but it is not a challenge that has come along to defeat you, but to teach and strengthen you. Yes, it's another of life's lessons to push through.

To be honest, I don't want to push through any challenges today, so I'm hoping this draw is pointing to something really mundane, like the computer system at work being down for half an hour or something along those lines!

Free Oracle Decks -

Oracle of the Grail Code

by Amy Sophia Marashinsky

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by Caitlin Matthews

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Fairy Lights Pairs: 6 of Cups and Justice

This very strange picture is our last draw from Fairy Lights Tarot (LoScarabeo 2013). I have to say, it is really bizarre, and it took me forever to realise that these two cards go together. I have no clue what is going on in this picture. In the foreground, there is a strange figure which at first looks like a lady growing out of a rock, pulling a roman style roller blind down over her eyes while holding a pair of scales in one hand and a big sheathed sword in the other. Actually, that may be exactly what it is, though on second glance, the rock might be a big fluffy brown skirt on a posh strapless frock. Behind her are two columns, one black one white. And then off in the background we see that the golden earth (if it is earth) has holes or pools in it, and emerging from the pools are strange fish and a water tentacle fairy creature eating out of the hand of a skinny Statue of Liberty faerie girl. Behind them are some trees, some pointy mountains like you'd see in China, and shooting star.

First reaction: WTF?

Second reaction: ...wtf?

Third reaction: ... Well. Where's the book.

Companion book says of 6 of Cups: 'The magical companions of your childhood are still with you. Expand your imagination to call them closer to you and listen to their advice.'

And of Justice: 'Between the balancing pillars of light and dark, Justice holds the scales that weigh the righteousness of every act.' Which doesn't help explain why she's growing out of a rock or why her Justice blindfold is a floating roller blind.

I think I'll try a regular draw with this deck. Let's talk to it:

Why was this deck created? The Fool
The deck was created whimsically, with no real structure or direction. I believe the images were painted without particular cards in mind, then they were later assigned, possibly by the artist, but more likely by editors at LoScarabeo. I have the feeling cards were swapped several times before they were settled on.

What is its greatest strength? Ace of Wands
The deck is good at finding 'life' in unexpected places -- such as an underused imagination or rusty intuition.

What is its greatest weakness? Queen of Swords
It lacks rationality and solid counsel.

Who will have the best relationship with this deck? 3 of Swords
Those who prefer to look at pain through the lens of whimsy.

I may have said earlier that if the Haindl Tarot and the Froud Faeries Oracle had a dirty weekend, this deck might be their surprise result. I still stand by that. I'm not entirely sure it's a tarot deck, at least not in my view, and I do have a rather view of what constitutes a tarot as opposed to an oracle. I won't really know how well this deck functions as a tarot until I use it to do a real reading for another person.

If you would like a 3-card draw from the Fairy Lights Tarot, click on 'Order a Tarot Reading' on the tab above and drop me a line!

Fairy Lights Pairs: Empress and 5 of Wands

Fairy Lights Tarot, 2013

Our penultimate draw from Fairy Lights Tarot (LoScarabeo 2013) gives us the Empress and 5 of Wands. I like this pair. To me, it gives a new and welcome dimension to the Empress. Here she seems to me to be more of a Priestess of the Moon or Hecate figure, a dark Fairy Queen. In this pair of cards, the Empress sits perched on what looks like a gnarled tree stump as her throne, standing in a patch of red lichen, or possibly sacred fire.  According to 'Herbcraft' by Anna Franklin and Susan Lavender, the cypress tree is associated with element earth and the female gender, and many goddesses, among them Hecate, Isis and Artemis. In ancient Eyptian, Greek and Roman cultures, the cypress tree was associated with death. The website Wiccan Altar says that followers of Hecate see the cypress tree as a symbol of blessing and protection.

Upon this cypress stump sits the Empress, and a very ethereal earth spirit she is, with her diaphanous wings, delicate thin limbs and luminous shepherd's crook. She is a far cry from the usual sturdy and fecund Empresses we see in most other decks. She does not give birth so much as confer on others the power of transformation. Beneath her passes a line of robed acolytes, each carrying a glowing orb. She must confer some sort of power on them as they pass, because in the next card, as they approach the moon, they lift off from the ground and turn into black dogs (or possibly cats, but I seem them as dogs because 1) I like dogs and 2) dogs are associated with Hecate).

Looked at individually, I really have no idea why these cards are given the designation they are. The Empress looks like nothing like an Empress (apart from her being crowned and elevated on a throne of sorts). And the 5 of Wands doesn't even have five anything on it -- there are six figures, three human figures in robes and three dog-like beings. Nothing in the card suggests any sort of strife to me, other than the rather 'dark' tone of black-robed figures turning into dog/wolf/cat creatures. The LWB says, 'Your wild nature longs for release. Honour your instincts and trust their guidance.' This isn't an RWS interpretation, but I suppose if we look at it numerologically it may be. Five is a number associated with Mars, and represents freedom from restriction, routine and convention -- with all the strife, uncertainty, fear and upheaval that goes along with that sort of freedom.

If I drew these cards for someone in a reading, I would probably advise them to listen to their bodies and the evidence of their senses and allow that to guide their direction, because the Empress is associated with sensual matters, and the Five of Wands here shows a transformation of a sort.

Fairy Lights Pairs: 10 of Wands and Hierophant

This pair from Fairy Lights Tarot reminds me of the story of Solomon and the two mothers:

16 One day two women came to King Solomon, 17 and one of them said:

Your Majesty, this woman and I live in the same house. Not long ago my baby was born at home, 18 and three days later her baby was born. Nobody else was there with us.
19 One night while we were all asleep, she rolled over on her baby, and he died. 20 Then while I was still asleep, she got up and took my son out of my bed. She put him in her bed, then she put her dead baby next to me.
21 In the morning when I got up to feed my son, I saw that he was dead. But when I looked at him in the light, I knew he wasn’t my son.

22 “No!” the other woman shouted. “He was your son. My baby is alive!”

“The dead baby is yours,” the first woman yelled. “Mine is alive!”

They argued back and forth in front of Solomon, 23 until finally he said, “Both of you say this live baby is yours. 24 Someone bring me a sword.”

A sword was brought, and Solomon ordered, 25 “Cut the baby in half! That way each of you can have part of him.”

26 “Please don’t kill my son,” the baby’s mother screamed. “Your Majesty, I love him very much, but give him to her. Just don’t kill him.”

The other woman shouted, “Go ahead and cut him in half. Then neither of us will have the baby.”

27 Solomon said, “Don’t kill the baby.” Then he pointed to the first woman, “She is his real mother. Give the baby to her.”

28 Everyone in Israel was amazed when they heard how Solomon had made his decision. They realized that God had given him wisdom to judge fairly. (Kings 3:16-28, Bible, Contemporary English Version). 

There's something about the woman with the baby standing before the authoritative-looking male figure which made me remember this tale. The mother who had been so burdened (10 of Wands) has now been given her child by the wise king (the Hierophant, his head asparkle as he is levitated by faeries). 

The card pair perhaps points to where we could turn when 10 of Wands burdens oppress. The Hierophant is sometimes maligned as a card of rigidity and dogma, but there are times when turning to a higher authority, to established institutions, is called for. There are times when someone other than ourselves actually may know better. And there are times when we have no alternative but to appeal to these higher authorities. 

What this card has to do with me today, I don't know. The work day is over and I was neither burdened nor put in the position to act as or appeal to a higher authority. And the evening's entertainment is to go to the cinema to see 'Alpha Papa'. Ah ha!!