And now...the end is near...

Visconti-Sforza Golden Tarot

Today's the very last day at my old job. Yesterday was my last day to be there for both opening and closing...today is the last day indeed. I won't be back for 12 months, and who knows what could happen in 12 months. It's possible I won't be back at all.

So who else could I draw but Mr Death?

My current job draws to a close. The current moon phase draws to a close (it's a new moon tomorrow). Mercury retrograde draws to a close (today's the last day!). It is a day of endings in many ways.

I like this Death card. He's not so much a skeleton as a dried up corpse. Eventually he'll be a skeleton...He wears a bandage around his head like some sort of martial arts competitor, but most likely they are the bandages of his winding sheets, the rags he was wrapped in for burial. It could also be a blindfold that he has pushed back off his eyes (or that has just slid off). The striped item he holds in his left hand could be a serpent or it could be the remains of a long bow. The wand in his right hand could be the remnants of an arrow, or it could be a riding crop...I believe they are a bow and arrow: Dal Negro.

For further reading on Death imagery: Death Takes a Grisly Shape.

Interesting iconography, and I can see the significance of the card for me today. But Death is only card number 13 in the trump sequence -- there are many cards to follow. So onward and upward!

Firmly planted

PCS Commemorative 

A long day today, my last opening and closing at the library for at least a year. The Knight of Pentacles from Pamela Coleman Smith Commemorative Tarot reminds me to pace myself and be thorough in all the jobs I turn my hands to today. It is a day for tying up loose ends. Rachel Pollack says the Knight of Pentacles is ' responsible, hardworking, uncomplaining' and Mary K Greer adds that he represents 'doing or teaching your accomplishments, using your knowledge.' I guess this shows that today is a day to try to pass on things I know to those who will be taking up my responsibilities over the next year. I ought to go around to the three people who have had my duties divided between them and make sure they know how to do these things and offer my tips, if they are interested.

Out of curiosity, I had a look in Yoav Ben-Dov's 'The Open Reading' to see what he has to say about the Knight of Coins:

'Advancing toward a goal that seems close at hand but somehow eludes our grasp. ...Constantly chasing after money, either due to a real need or because in this frame of mind one can never have enough.'

Now that is not an interpretation I have ever used for Knight of Pentacles, though of course in the Rider Waite Smith deck, the Knight is holding the pentacle, whereas in the Tarot de Marseilles, the giant coin float in the air in front of his face, which could, I suppose, lead to this alternate meaning.

Well, I'm certainly not chasing after money. And in my tarot world, the Knight of Pentacles is the firm, stable, slow-going, patient, hardworking, gentle-spirited, self-effacing one in the tarot courts. Sitting firmly on his big, sturdy horse, well-rooted to the fertile earth, the sky awash with the glow of the life-giving sun, and bunches of lush greenery decorating himself and his horse's harness. I don't think he's materialistic, I think he's grounded, and those are not even close to the same thing.

Western Union calling?

CBD Tarot

I have quite ambivalent feelings about the Tarot de Marseilles. I know it's an important deck, historically, but I find it so strange and ugly that I rarely use it.

Here we have the Page of Wands (Valet de Baton) from the CBD (Conver-Ben Dov) Tarot de Marseilles. The first thing that catches my eye, after my usual squinting at the overly long back and short legs, spaced apart in a way that suggests no known structure of the human pelvis, is the arms. What the --? That arm in the blue sleeve is NOT coming from this dude's left shoulder. It seems to be growing out of his right rib cage. That's weird. Also, the 'batons' in the TdM are odd because they are bright green with red tips, like when the branch was cut from the tree it oozed blood. Plus, I can't help but saying, the red-tipped bits just remind me of penises. (Sorry!)

Anyway, ignoring the blue earth and yellow grass and white sky, the bleeding green penis tree and the Picasso arms, what does the Page of Wands mean for me today?

Mary K Greer's 'Tarot for Yourself' offers these questions to ponder: What new territories are you checking out? Who is calling you? Who is enthusiastic about your endeavors or looks up to you as a mature adult? What risky actions are you taking? What are you all fired up about?'

Well, I know the Page of Wands is traditionally seen as the bringer of messages, and is often interpreted as important phone calls or letters. In my mind, he's always been Bart Simpson, tearing about on his tricycle wreaking havoc, in a good-natured, high-spirited way. Freaky-arm dude here doesn't seem terribly high-spirited, but you never know, maybe that's how he dislocated his shoulder.

Maybe I'll get some sort of important communication today. Watching for it will keep the day interesting. :)

Tear it down to build it up

Ancient Italian Tarot

'How are you improving and restructuring yourself and your environment? What structures in your life are breaking up?' 
~ Tarot for Yourself, Mary K Greer

Today's card is La Torre, the Tower, from Ancient Italian Tarot (Llewellyn, 2000), which is of course the Soprafino Tarot , created in 1835 by Carlo Della Rocca. It's based on the Tarot de Marseilles, but is, as its name makes plain, 'very refined' in comparison.

Actually, today is my last day at my 'new' job, the one I've been going to every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday since the first week of January. I'm leaving it to go to my new new job next Monday. I'll finish out the rest of this week at my old work place (my Monday/Thursday base since Jan), and then that's that.

So, Mary K Greer's book 'Tarot for Yourself' asks, 'What structures in your life are breaking up?' And that seems pretty obvious. On Sunday morning, I had a huge cull of my wardrobe, getting rid of all those old clothes that no longer fit me. It was a giant black sack full, one of those big plastic sacks like you use to rake leaves. And then yesterday at my 'old' workplace, I spent time deleting documents from my personal area and cleaning out the file drawer assigned to me. Tomorrow I'll be cleaning out my locker and pigeonhole. I've sent emails telling everyone to take me off their mailing list. It's a strange time for me. I've worked at this workplace nearly ten years. That's probably too long to stay in one place.

You know, the Tower doesn't always have to be a bolt from the blue. It can be a conscious choice. It can be simple disruption. It can be, as Mary K Greer says, 'outgrowing your environment' or 'involvement in drastic self-improvement program, housecleaning, fasting.' Well, I certainly haven't been fasting, but there's been a lot of housecleaning and bringing things to a close lately. Today is the first full stop. Then Friday is the last full stop. It's only a 12-month secondment, but 12 months is a long time, and who knows what I'll be doing come March 2015. So...the end of the known, and heading into the unknown.

Today's the first lightning bolt I guess. The first crash into the structure and routine of my days. Not to worry, though. I'm a pro at structure building, and I'll begin building my new one next Monday. :)

With good comes right

Golden Tarot (Visconti-Sforza)

This week I will be drawing from the oldest decks in my collection: Visconti-Sforza, Tarot de Marseilles, Soprafino, and Rider-Waite Smith.

Today I've drawn the 3 of Coins from the Visconti-Sforza. It's the oldest almost-complete tarot known, painted for the Vistconti-Sforza family. Their family motto, 'A bon droyt' (With good, right), appears on many of the cards, particularly in the coins suit. The coins themselves are the sun from the Visconti-Sforza family crest.

The 3 of Coins often means team work to me, which makes perfect sense for today, because I will be working with two colleagues to  shortlist for two new members of staff. We will need to work quickly, efficiently and with a spirit of cooperation in order to get this task done in the allotted time, and of course the outcome of our work is very important. It's always vital to recruit the right people, even if the job is just a part time of very few hours a week doing relatively mundane tasks (which this is). You still need someone who can do the job and is reliable!

I quite like the Visconti-Sforza deck, and the Golden Tarot is a nice kit, but be warned. Some of them are printed crooked. Mine is one of the crooked ones. (This card is slightly crooked, some of them in my deck are very off-centre indeed!) Instead of an exchange, I settled on a refund, because I didn't want the hassle of possibly getting a second poorly printed one and having to go through the returns process again. The good folk at Book Depository let me keep the flawed copy, so I use it anyway. Though the crooked cards are quite off-putting I must admit, it is a nice deck to have in my collection, however flawed. :)

Deep Purple

Cachet Tarot 2003, 2013

Purple haze!
in my brain
lately things don't seem the same
actin' funny but I don't know why
'scuse me while I kiss the sky.

Purple haze!
all around
Don't know if I'm comin up or down
Am I happy or in misery
whatever it is put a spell on me...
           ~Jimi Hendrix

Or as the Brady Bunch put it --

When it's time to change, 
then it's time to change.
Don't fight the tide, 
come along for the ride, 
don't you see
When it's time to change,
you've got to rearrange
who you are into what you're gonna be.
Sha na na na, na na na na na, sha na na na na,
Sha na na na, na na na na na, sha na na na na!

Philosophers, both. :)

Thin thighs at card number three

'Until we learn to experience the outer world completely we cannot hope to transcend it. Therefore the first step to enlightenment is sensuality. Only through passion can we sense, from deep inside rather than from intellectual argument, the spirit that fills all existence.' 
     ~Rachel Pollack, 78 Degrees of Wisdom

 I've never really associated the Egyptian pantheon with sensuality. They strike me as somewhat cold, frozen into stiff, expressionless postures. But that's just my reaction to the ancient Egyptian artwork. Study and meditation, as well as contemporary art work, have helped me see there's more there than walking like an Egyptian.

Not that the Empress is Egyptian necessarily, but she is in this deck. And certainly the Empress in all decks is associated with sensuality. (Though in this particular card, she appears less like she is sitting on a throne than that she really, really needs a wee. Plus she might be a little anxious that her stiff bodice is sliding down off her strangely Victoria-Beckham-implant-like chest.)

Rachel Pollack advises that drawing the Empress means a time of passion, a period when we approach life through feelings and pleasure rather than thought. Good. I like that advice for today. I don't want to think about anything. I need to take back some clothing items I bought yesterday that don't fit (one had the wrong size garment hanging on a hanger marked with my size, the other two are cut for women who have more Empress-like chests than me. I can usually tell how something's cut while it's on the hanger and I don't even pick it up, but these surprised me when I tried them on. Wow. Not pour moi!) And then after that, I might...just might...actually do a workout. I haven't done one since 4th Feb. And the last one before that was 10th Dec 2013. So, yeah, I am really out of shape. Out of touch with my 'sensual' side, you might say.

What do the 8s mean to you?

Cachet Tarot 2003, 2013

The 8 of Wands, even in 'illustrated' pip decks, is usually the one with the least adornment. This is because in the usual Golden Dawn tradition, it has narrow range of interpretations -- speed, being busy, communication of some type, messages, news, moving quickly. The little companion book that came with the Cachet Tarot in my set (which does not even give a name to the deck) has somewhat unusual interpretations for some of the cards. For 8 of Wands it says, 'This card will often represent the type of cathartic discussion which ends confusion. Eight of Wands always brings a new surge of energy and freshness when it appears. It often signals entry into a new phase or project -- one which stands a good chance of success.' I can sort of go along with that, though I would never see 8 of Wands as the start of a new project, rather I would see it as moving swiftly along the process toward completion. The 8 would be when you hit a phase of rapid progress, like in the game 'Sorry' where you land on that square that lets you slide along across several more in one move.

I see the card as saying I will be quite busy today. No time to get bored! Too busy busy busy. And that's okay. But -- Mercury is still in retrograde, so I won't be surprised if some of that 'busyness' is trying to deal with breaks in technology or overcoming misunderstandings of some kind.

Wonder and delight

Cachet Tarot

This week's deck is the Cachet Tarot (art by Colin Howard), which apparently has been published in a few different kits. The one I've got came in a kit called 'Tarot: Delve into the World of Tarot Reading' (Top That Publishing, 2013). The Cachet Tarot itself first came out in 2003, it seems. There's nothing wrong with this affordable deck of pips-only tarot cards, despite some rather stuck-up opinions in the tarot world, which might declare this deck cheap and clunky, but will go bananas over a restored TdM, or the Wild Unknown, or Prediction Tarot or any number of so-called 'unillustrated minors' decks that are self-published or HTF or OOP and/or cost a bloomin' fortune. Just because something is mass market or even bargain bin, doesn't make it bad. I like this deck-- its huge size, its thin floppy cardstock with the edges already chipping, its glowy artwork and mad borders. Why not? Why does everything have to be either tasteful, or studiously edgy? I like this deck! Seriously, I really do. (Except for that Chariot card. Whoa.)

Today's card is Page of Cups. My first thought is that the chap here looks a little old for a Page, but that's okay, as I myself am a little old for a Page! Pageness is a state of mind, people. :)  His face has the Page of Cups qualities -- all open, receptive, naive, charming and charmed. I like the background, with its green trees and slowly moving stream, little flowers in the grass. I like the Page's vivid blue waistcoat and bright green shoebuckles, and especially his blousy poet shirt, which I always associate with a certain artistic or emotional temperament. This Page looks as if he's just dipped the cup into the stream and is about to reach out and offer it to us. An earnest and sweet gesture inviting us to be refreshed at a very basic level.

The Page of Cups is certainly a ' breath of fresh air', as they say. He asks us to relax into a more childlike enjoyment of life, to be more passive, more imaginative, and more full of wonder. Drawing the Page of Cups, I expect the day to be slow-paced with plenty of opportunities to daydream and even to play. It is not a day for worry, excessive planning, or a lot of action. It's day for responding to what life offers with openness, acceptance, and joy.

James Ricklef in his book 'The Soul's Journey: Finding Spiritual Messages in the Tarot' talks about how we interact with a little child we may see in a public place, such as a supermarket. The baby looks upon us with open delight, and we smile and make faces at the baby because we know he or she will welcome them and respond in a joyful way. So the Page of Cups reminds us to approach the world with unconditional love, like a small child, and to be emotionally open, seeking wonder and delight.

Very good advice for a Monday.

Be your own Valentine

Several bloggers have done a self love spread, so I thought I'd give it a go, too. I saw it on Greylady's Hearth.

----------2----------

-----4------1-----5------

----------3----------

1. Relationship to Self

2. Admirable qualities - the parts of your self that are easy to love

3. Disowned self - shadow aspects

4. Release - judgments or expectations to let go of in order to be more loving to yourself

5. More love - something you can do to nurture yourself right now

The Love Tarot, Liz Dean 2005

The Love Tarot is a majors only deck that I got in a trade a few months back. Thought this would be a nice spread to try it with. Wham! Big cards here. (The deck adds three extra cards: Faith, Hope and Charity, and one of these turned up in my spread.)

Crossing over

Morgan Greer Tarot, 1979

Is it going to be rainy again today?? I think so! But I hope this card means we're going to be seeing the backside of it soon. We've been lucky here in Warwickshire; we haven't had the sort of flooding and devastation they've had in Somerset and the south of England.

I'm also heading into the home stretch of my notice period before I start my new post. Two more weeks. I guess this is the winding down period. The card suggests being rowed away from the familiar and toward a new horizon.  It is a traditional interpretation of the card, but can be applied to so many transitional situations. What's left behind can be either good or bad. What's in the future can be either good or bad. It's a neutral card as it is. The interpretation comes both from context of the question and the cards surrounding it, if part of a larger draw.

As a daily card, I see it as a cue to watch for the 'transitional' elements today, and a sign to start tying up the loose ends of my job. Long row ahead to other shore, but it's in sight. These are things I already knew of course. The tarot card is just a reminder, a trigger. It sparks personal reflection. What's in transition in your life? (And how's the weather?)

Anyway, that's it for this week with Morgan Greer. I think next week I'll draw from Elisabetta Trevisan's Crystal Tarot...or maybe that big funny-looking deck I got from the Works the other day. Apart from that hideous Chariot card, I rather like that one! :)

What are you three staring at?

Oh, another watery card from Morgan Greer tarot--though there's no actual water in sight. This card reminds me of the Stepford Wives, those beautiful women with their vacant stares. Here the three traditional lasses of the Three of Cups do not do a dance of joy, but rather gather round a table in what appears to be a vineyard, judging from the grape leaves behind them. I notice the table is not groaning with a feast, but in fact contains a rather light repast. One bunch of grapes, one orange, two cherries, two strawberries, half a peach and a quarter of a honeydew melon, to divide between three grown-ups--that's not much lunch! But wow, look at the size of those cups. No wonder their eyes are vacant.

Today I travel to Warwick to show HR my qualifications and passport, even though I've worked for the organization since 2002, apparently they have to copy them again because I'm starting a new role. The forms must be filled in, whether it makes sense or not! It reminds me of when I went for my citizenship test. Even though I am a native speaker of English and have a degree in English, I was going to have to take an English proficiency test. Then some bright spark realized that taking the test in English was itself evidence of English proficiency, so they dropped that component. Never mind that much of the test was based on the 2001 census and had little to do with life in the UK. I had to learn things like more households in the UK have cats than dogs. Nothing there about dealing with a dividing queue or how to avoid the splodges of vomit on the pavements on a Sunday morning. Essential skills indeed.

I'm taking this card to mean there'll be more rain today (cups) and that lunch might be light (!) but that overall, it will be lighthearted day and my spirits will be high. Fingers crossed!

Queen of Ocean and Emotion

Morgan Greer Tarot

Today's card is Queen of Cups. It's supposed to be very rainy and blowy today. Hope I don't drown! :)

I do think this card has a lot to do with the weather today.

I'm off to the hospital for a first consultation about treatment of tinnitus. Hubby is graciously giving me a lift, because going on the train involves two changes and a long walk. I've been to the hospital on my own several times and have had to walk it, and did tell him it took about 40 minutes to walk, but until he looked at the map last night, I don't think he realized how far it is. It's okay as long as the weather is okay. But today it's supposed to rain a lot--so I'm glad of the lift.

I like this Queen of Cups, though I wish the courts in the Morgan Greer deck weren't all in profile. Well, they aren't all, but most of them seem to be. I don't really like that. It's bad enough they are in close-up and not really doing anything to help you understand them. They then have to be in profile so you can't even seen their faces. No wonder so many people have trouble with court cards. I like the pearls on her dress and crown and earringings, and the sea foam colour of her dress, and how her crown is made of shells. I like her little crescent moon pendant with a teardrop shaped pearl. Nice touches, all, for a queen of Water and emotion.

The left-handed king

Morgan Greer

Nice that the King of Rods should turn up. The full moon is this Friday, and it will be in Leo, and the cards associated with Leo are Strength and King of Rods (or Wands).

This card does not show the King of Rods in action, even though he is definitely an action man. He's seen in profile from more or less the waist up, facing to the left side of the card, which I always associate with the past. I would usually expect the King of Rods to face the right side, which to me is the future. Like several men in the Morgan Greer Tarot, he has a full beard and mustache. His robes and helmet are orange,deep red and gold, the colours of fire. The landscape around him is sear desert sand and the sky is bright yellow. It's a glowing image, but looks rather hot and dry. I am not sure what to make of the shapes in the lower left corner of the card, I assume he is seated on a throne and that is the left arm of it. In his left hand he holds a rod, which appears to be from an oak tree. It has three oak leaves and three acorns attached to it. Of course, the oak is a symbol of endurance and longevity, was a sacred tree to many cultures, held sacred to Zeus and Jupiter, to the thunder god Thor, and revered by the Druids.

I have to admit I've never thought much about the strength of the King of Wands. He's my Captain Kirk card, so I have always thought of him as clever, impulsive, confident, bold, charismatic, forceful, and creative in finding ways that lead to the shortest route to his preferred outcome. I suppose I've seen him as strong in small bursts. He's never struck me as 'strong' -- that's the King of Pentacles, steadfast and true. But I suppose there is a strength in the qualities of the King of Wands.

It occurs to me that facing left and holding the rod in the left hand might point to the nature of his strength. The left hand is associated with intuition, etc, and the King of Rods' strength, I believe, is certainly based on esoteric qualities such as instinct, intuition, that nebulous quality charisma, or X factor, and not on logic or anything systematic, such as we might associate with the right hand.

I hope I am not called upon to come up with clever schemes or show a lot of fiery passion or endurance today. It's just a Tuesday, and my objective is to have as quiet a day as possible.

Homecoming

Morgan Greer Tarot

Ah now, this is a nice cheery card for a Monday. Bright yellow, featuring a keep perched atop a butte, framed by four upright wands and a garland of flowers. It's the 4 of Rods from Morgan Greer Tarot (1979).

In my new timetable (soon to change entirely with a new job!), I've been enjoying Mondays and Thursdays because I've been 'back home' in the library where I've worked since 2004. It's familiar, I can walk there, I know where I stand there, I'm on very comfortable ground. This card does have a meaning of a celebration of home, homecoming, or reunions, personal ties, social concord. It can also mean a harvest celebration, the joy of something being completed, thanksgiving after labour. And that has relevance as well, as my new job starts in just a couple of weeks, so it won't be long until I say good-bye to this familiar work place for at least 12 months, possibly forever, depending on how things turn out.

What are you bringing to completion or fruition? What are you celebrating?

Today, may I celebrate my successes and enjoy my day.

But but but...I don't wanna!

Morgan Tarot

I don't want a card telling me to be patient today. I don't want to be told I need to put the work in and then wait to see what happens. I don't want to then have to do even more work to gather the harvest of my previous work. BUT...that's what I got today. The 7 of Pentacles from Morgan Greer Tarot. Dang.

I want a card that shows a fairy godmother riding a unicorn from a rainbow-filled sky, alighting into my life to make me slim, beautiful, wealthy, confident, owning my own house, with a clear financial future, a flat belly and thigh gap.

But what do I get? A farmer who looks like a refugee from The Joy of Sex telling me anything I want in this life I've got to work for it. Booo!

Oh well. He could also be telling me today is a good day to take stock of my harvest, so let's do that. What have I got?

*My husband
*A new job about to start
*My health
*A place to live, even if I don't own it. (At least the rent hasn't gone up since we moved in here in 2002, and that's got to be a good thing!)
*A pulse

So...it's not all bad. Can you see I've had a mood swing since yesterday? Just a bit!

Look around and love what you see

Morgan Greer Tarot

When I first started buying tarot decks, I used to frequent a few online tarot communities where I picked up various ideas about the 'right' way to do things...and one of those things was to get rid of the box a deck comes in and get or make a bag for the deck. Ideally with a silk lining, or at least have the deck wrapped in silk before you put it in the bag. Consequently, most of my earliest acquisitions are lacking a box. I stopped buying tarot bags after the first 10 or so, and now they all stay in the box they came in...but this was the third deck I ever bought, so -- no box. Pity. (I didn't save the boxes. I don't have storage space for both decks and their boxes, separated. The point of throwing out the box was to save space...)

This week I'm using one of my old work horse decks, Morgan Greer Tarot, by William Greer and Lloyd Morgan (US Games 1979). I love this deck. It was one of the first 'borderless' decks, and is famous for its close-up variations on RWS images, groovy colours and very 70s-looking characters. (The deck contains my favourite Queen of Swords of all time.)

Today's card, 9 of Coins, is the only purple card in the deck, and in fact is my favourite 9 of Coins of all my tarot decks. I broke it down pretty well in a previous entry: Tarot Blog Hop-- Lammas. I do love the messages of this card, the sumptuous luxury of our daily life, enjoying what we have, allowing ourselves to recognize abundance in our lives. However modest the details of our lives may appear to the outside world, it can still be a robe of purple and a golden bowl of fruit to us. Indulge yourself in the joy of loving your life today. I think I will do that!

Mysterious sparklies

Bonefire Tarot

This is an attractive image from the Bonefire Tarot, but I'm not entirely sure I understand how it relates to the traditional meanings of the 6 of Coins. It's night time with a giant full moon, star and golden orbs in the sky. Next to the moon, a sun emerges over a green horizon with a bonefire standing watch.  A cow stands in a pool of water. In the foreground, two heads of wheat frame the image, cradling organic-looking growth that remind me of tree roots, and nestled within them are more coins and a crowded section of red sparklies--jewels? berries? innards? Who knows.

Not sure how you get from all that to: 'a small improvement in money, charitable donations, stoic approach to finances, being open to opportunities, altruism versus self-satisfaction.'

As I was typing this, I just heard on the news that at Cabinet meeting last night, the county council has decided to shut 9 libraries. They've already reduced us from 32 libraries to 16 in the last few years. This would take us down to 8 libraries for the whole of this county. Of course, what the implication of this would be for staffing, I cannot say. I am starting my 12-month secondment in a different sector soon. I just got my start date yesterday and it is Monday, 3rd March. That would put me back in the library service March 2015, presumably just when the cuts start. Of course I can't worry about this, as worrying doesn't change anything. I'm sure there will be more details today in my email at work, but I refuse to worry.

In light of this news, 'a stoic approach to finances' and 'being open to new opportunities' shine out in a new light. Whatever happens, the only thing one can do is keep moving forward. Life doesn't end because a job does. That's just a change. That's not the end.

Maybe that cow's about to jump over the moon -- into a new day.

ETA -- MERCURY RETROGRADE ALERT! The news got it wrong this morning. It was not agreed to close any libraries. No library closures. That retrograde. It always gets ya. It's 6-28 Feb, by the way, so be warned.

TCB

Bonefire Tarot

Wow, another two from Bonefire Tarot today. Here's the 2 of Coins, which pays homage to the RWS image by having a man juggling two coins in a figure of eight, near wavy water with boats. He has a pouty mouth and broody face, reminds me of the Knight of Cups, actually. Maybe he's just in a bit of a meditative state. Finding and maintaining the status quo can become a repetitive and mundane task, the mind wanders, not unlike that stream meandering upward into the sky. Maybe he's doing some daydreaming whilst he goes through the motions that keep the disks juggling in their ceaseless loops.

Sometimes days can feel like that. You do the things you have to do to keep the house going, you go to work, do your tasks, come home, do the tasks there, just keeping things ticking along, and sometimes, you can get through a half a day, a whole day, perhaps even a week or more, without a blip, without breaking the rhythm of the routine. It's like a flow, and I for one do not criticize it. It can be a psychologically healthy thing to be in the groove for a while, the groove of doing what needs to be done. In the 70s, they used to call it 'taking care of business' - 'TCB'. And business must be taken care of, through all the phases of life, from the new sprouts of fresh events or ideas (the green shoots) through to the end of cycles (the dead trees) -- birth to death, those two coins need to be juggled, to remain suspended in the never ending loops. This is what life is about, and the rainbow and valentine heart in the center show that actually, a sort of contentment and deep happiness comes about from the comfort of sustaining routine.

So, hi ho, off to work I go! :)

Waiting for time

Bonefire Tarot

Now this is a weird image from Bonefire Tarot, the 2 of Swords. Blindfolded with a red and white polka-dotted cloth, a lass wearing only a top with puffed green sleeves sits on the nose of a giant, red-eyed ram or goat's head with a ring in its nose. It exhales bilious pink smoke. She clutches between her knees a giant hour glass, which shows a heart at the top and purple sand falling through, which becomes a mountain surrounded by pink clouds against a yellow sky. Her arms embrace the top half of the hour glass, crossed at the forearm, and in each hand she holds a dagger -- but she can't really be holding them, because her hand is turned at an impossible angle to do so. Her hair blows out into the watery sky, more pink fog hanging against a glowing crescent moon.

I told you it was a weird image.

The LWB accompanying this deck suggests 'a decision to be made, no further information required, head over heart, the answer is known, finding your own truth.'

Those sound pretty innocuous, but you just can't argue with the sinister overtones of that ram or goat or whatever the heck it is. And the hourglass suggesting that time is running out. This is not just 'a decision to be made', this would appear to be something of quite vital importance, something to do with morality or ethics or something like that. This is a decision with serious ramifications. ('Ram'- ifications. Oh boy. This is what happens when I drink real tea instead of decaf coffee).

To be honest I haven't a clue what this card could mean for my day today. Maybe it's just me being in a holding pattern with my current job, knowing that I am working out my notice period.

Check the guidebook

Bonefire Tarot

The 3 of Wands from Bonefire Tarot combines my favourite elements of this card -- a winding path to the horizon, and ships sailing. Rather than seeing the back of the person in this card, we look from their perspective. Interestingly, instead of gazing thoughtfully out into the distance, we are holding a guidebook open to a picture of the scene. So! We've been planning this. We know where we're going. We have a source of information which helps lead us along the journey. I quite like this. The traditional 3 of Wands implies an internal compass, but the Bonefire Tarot shows us gripping and consulting it. The hand that holds it is aflame, a signal to me that this is a symbol. It seems that all symbolic objects in this deck are on fire.


The LWB says:

'*Plans are underway obode (sic) well
*To capitalize for further progress
*Help yourself to see bigger picture
*Preparedness for travel'

(It must be said, the LWB contains spelling and grammar errors and appears to have been hastily scribbled in pencil, like a shopping list on the back of an old envelope. If this bothers you, just don't use it. The meanings are all very standard, anyway.)

I just drew this card last Thursday, 30 Jan. I guess this must mean progress is being made toward my transition from my current job to my new one. The advice I take from it today - check the guidebook - reminds me that I better make sure all forms are filled in and everything is in order or else this job might not be mine! It's a conditional offer, all I need are a few forms and photocopies of my qualifications, but it's best not to be too complacent about this sort of thing!

Blessed by the Pope

Bonefire Tarot

This week I'm blogging with the Bonefire Tarot, a self-published deck by Gabi Angus West. It's a lovely little deck that comes in a custom made pouch with a very homemade-looking, handwritten LWB. The art style is said to be 'old school tattoo art'. I really like the deck. It is colorful and attractive, and it came to me after I set an intention.

This Hierophant card, like all the cards in Bonefire Tarot, is chock full of symbols and references. The artist says she just chucked in everything that came to mind in association with the card. Her LWB doesn't explain them, though, so we're pretty much left on our own to figure out the ones we can, and let the others play on our own subconscious. I believe she may writing a companion book, but I sincerely doubt I would buy it. I almost never do, with RWS-based decks.

Monday is over now and I don't really know in what way the Hierophant has anything to do with the day, but it is interesting that I've drawn it a few times lately. I drew it on 20 Jan, 28 Jan, and now  I need to take a closer look at it and see what it's saying to me. 20th January was the closing date for applications for the job that I ended up getting. 28th January was the date that I emailed to see if there was a reason I hadn't heard anything back yet, and was told that a member of the recruitment panel had been off sick. So I wonder if right now the Hierophant is closely linked to my new job. I did not blog on 20th January, but on 28th January I wrote that the Hierophant symbolizes stubborn strength and endurance, an unusual interpretation, but it is Crowley's idea about the card.

Hierophant is connected to Taurus, so we see the flaming symbol of Taurus on the card (the green ring with the horns on the right side). There is also the symbol of visshudha, the throat chakra (blue lotus in bottom right corner). This makes sense, as the Hierophant is a teacher, and so he shares his wisdom through speech. The crossed keys are present on traditional Hierophant cards, and represent authority, the 'keys to the kingdom'. Some say they represent the conscious and the subconscious and are sometimes depicted as one silver and one gold key. Here they are both gold, and aflame, like most symbols in Bonefire Tarot. Instead of two acolytes, we have two long-haired maidens, giving the card a pagan touch, as I assume they are 'skyclad'. There's a sword, a pencil crossing a spear -- maybe a reference to spiritual writings? -- and the Eye of Providence, or all-seeing Eye of God. The Hierophant's hand is raised in the blessing position. There' a big, rather unhappy-looking mouth over the Hierophant's head. Maybe that represents negative aspects of organized religion. It doesn't look too friendly...Or maybe it's the disapproving mouth of the wrathful God that organized religion sometimes espouses.

That's all interesting stuff, but I am going to have to do some pondering on how this relates to my new job.

Today's zentangles:

My second zentangle. I enjoyed doing it, even though I got a bit rushed at the end due to a 'need' to complete. It's a pattern in my life, where I get a bit obsessed with something and worry it like a dog with a bone. It would be tidier if I had not insisted on continuing even after I'd got tired. These are all zen lessons, though I guess. :)

Shades of the Marsden Fire Festival have crept in -- the weather (snow, splashing water), the coming of spring (leaves, easter egg shape with flamy-looking design, flower shapes), fireworks in the pinwheel designs. I didn't realize I was doing this, it didn't occur to me until I'd finish and was studying it. Celtic designs in upper left corner...stars from the night sky (we talked about stars even though we couldn't see any). There's probably even more from my subconscious there if I sat and made a study of it. That's kinda neat.

Consensual Leadership - Way of the Horse

Way of the Horse by Linda Kohanov & Kim McElroy, 2007

31st of January was Chinese New Year, and 2014 is the Year of the Horse. I'm taking that as a good reason to use the oracle Way of the Horse a lot this year, starting with a one-card draw asking for my 'Card of the Year'. I drew a card called 'The Herd'.

This card explores the complicated and ever-changing dynamics of leadership within the herd. According to the companion book, horses do not have one constant leader, but the alpha role switches from horse to horse according to the situation at hand. 'In these equine communities,' Lina Kohanov writes, 'what an individual knows about, what he cares about, or what he's calm about determines leadership, as all members have some talent, drive, or experience the others value or, at times, defer to. ...Consensual leadership draws on the wisdom of sentience of the entire herd. It is, to a great extent, improvisational. ' The key phrases assigned to this card are 'Authentic Community', 'Consensual Leadership' and 'Balancing Individual and Group Needs'.

The sun beams down out of the clouds at a black horse standing a bit off from the herd to the left of the card. He is the usual leader of the herd, but in this card he has dropped back and other horses are leading. They are on the move, so perhaps leadership has naturally transferred to an older, more sure horse who has knowledge of the terrain. Our black horse will defer to his knowledge, let him (or her) take the lead. He becomes part of the followers.

The dynamics of the herd are like that. Fluid, depending on the situation.

I can see many applications of this advice in my life. First, I need to recognize the many communities I belong to, and examine my notions about my place in them. My position in any of the groups should be fluid. I should not always expect others to listen to everything I say, and neither should I always silently follow. I don't have to always be right. But I don't have to always keep my opinions to myself, either. There will be times when I may find myself suddenly being looked to as a leader, when suddenly people are waiting for me to make a decision, show a way forward. And there will also be times when I will need to defer to others, not be too headstrong.

There's another aspect of the card, 'Balancing Individual and Group Needs' -- the card I've drawn reminds me that I must always be aware that I am in a group. I am always part of a group. I do not lose myself in the group, but neither am I ever truly outside of a group. 'No man is an island, entire of itself,' as John Donne wrote.

Happy Imbolc

Isn't this card beautiful! What a lovely card to draw on Imbolc, the fire festival to Brigid. Okay, Ace of Cups is not a very fiery card, but it does remind me a lot of the Bride. with her many loving qualities. Also, there are traditions of visiting holy wells at Imbolc, to walk 'sunwise' around the well, pray for health, and perhaps leave tokens or bits of ribbon or cloth. The vessel is also appropriate as the festival is considered by some to be a day honouring women and even childbirth (some translate 'imbolc' as 'in the belly', other's as 'ewe's milk' -- either way, that sounds pretty maternal). And finally, the festival is seen by some traditions as the perfect time for initiations - a definite Ace activity.

I'm just hoping that it isn't one of tarot's tricky jokes, indicating that it's going to rain really hard during the festival! :) Wouldn't be the first time Ace of Cups has turned out to be a deluge!

So...the 2014 Thoth-a-thon, Yule to Imbolc, is officially over. You know, I'd misremembered the date from last year, when it turns out I did a Thoth One Deck Wonder Imbolc to Spring Equinox. Oh well, I got the general time of year right. :) I believe I'll make it a tradition every year to do all my draws with the Thoth early in the year. It seems a fitting deck for winter time, and I do have to say, I now love it very much.

I believe my next deck will be Bonefire Tarot...But first, a brief interlude with Way of the Horse.

And here's my first Zentangle, done with a plain black biro--