10 is a lot

Camoin-Jodorowsky

Ugh. I only slept 4 hours last night. I think it must have been a backlash from having slept 7 hours per night for the last two nights. I wasn't sleepy at all until 12.30 pm and then of course woke up at 4.30. Then I draw 10 of Wands.

Camelia Elias calls this the 'Can't see the woods for the trees' card. She also says it indicated 'a lot of work, pressure and blocked ways. Not good.'

In Dawn Jackson's playing card mnemonic, ten is 'the end'. The card could be a tipping point spilling over into a new cycle of some sort.

But Yoav Ben-Dov has a different take on the card entirely. In The Open Reading, he calls this card 'Loyalty', and sees it as an ally, someone you can trust in times of trouble. This comes from the two wands standing together amidst the entanglement of the other eight wands. They actually pass underneath the entanglement -- they're not interwoven like the others. He suggests the card means pure intentions, alliance, loyalty, partnerships overcome hardship. Honouring one's principles in spite of difficulties. (We also saw the idea of an alliance in the 10 of Swords card, which depicts two swords crossing tips, apart from the other eight swords...)

There's a lot of passion and violence in this particular card, the Camoin-Jodorowsky. Lots of red. But I actually drew from the Dodal TdM, and that one has red batons, but the centre is all pale blue with only 4 red diamonds in the middle, and those are disconnected from each other. (Sorry for using an image from online -- I couldn't be asked to scan this morning and for some reason Camoin is the most popular TdM on Google search). Pale blue is the colour of ice, and is associated with detachment. A lot of ruckus, but at the core there's detachment. You care and you don't care. Or you care, but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter, whatever it is you're riled about. That's one way to look at it.

On the other hand, it could be as simple as, 'If you've got a lot to do, don't forget to ask someone to help you.'

Full Moon in Aries Emperor Reading

                               1. How am I an Emperor?
                               2. How am I not an Emperor?
                               3. Where do I need to take charge?
                               4. What will help me do that?
                               5. How am I weak?
                               6. How am I strong?

I really don't think I like this reading at all--and it is those uncomfortable readings that we need to pay most attention to. This one has brought up some of my shadow aspects, things about myself I don't like to look at.

The safe choice?

Watch the clip from Jim Carrey's commencement speech to Maharishi University of Management Class of 2014. It's such an important lesson for us all, the lesson he learned by observing his father:

You can take the path that seems like the safe path, but there is no guarantee of safety there. As Jim Carrey puts it so well, 'You can fail at what you DON'T want...so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.' 

My bulletin board

And Here's the Tale as Told by Gaian Tarot

The world's a scary place. 

So you do the 'right thing' - take the safe and responsible option.

But guess what -- you can't keep lightning from striking the oak tree by stockpiling a few acorns! (You don't even like acorns, but they seemed like a safe bet...)

Well, surprise! All your 'safety' goes up in smoke. You didn't think this could happen. You thought karma would accept the 'noble sacrifice' of your dreams and give you security as a reward. Wrong.

You might as well have listened to your own heart, although it is scarier than gathering acorns.

And dared to dance a little too close to the fire, out in the open, where everyone could see you. Yes, you might get burned. 

But you might also find real joy. 

It's not too late. It's never too late. What have you got to lose that you couldn't lose anyway? 

'Just a few more days for to tote the weary load' -- no, wait! Forget that!

Robin Wood Tarot 

There's absolutely no way I accept this card for today, 10 of Wands from Robin Wood Tarot! I am working from home today and I have my work day planned and I am finishing at 14:25, so I will pick up no burdens today -- I say, no thanks. Not doin' it.

(Ten minutes later)
I've just tried to log on using the laptop I've been given and I can't map my network drives, but I don't care. I am not picking up this burden. I will go to the library and use one of their PCs if the laptop doesn't work today. I will phone IT support as soon as they are open and get them to fix it and if it doesn't work I will access my work at the library. I refuse to pick up any burdens today! Well, okay. I might pick up a burden today, but I can carry it. I can carry it steady and strong and I can put it down at 14:25 today. That's all that matters! Plus, I don't even have to carry it. There are people I can pass it along to; they can help me carry it.

Astrologically, the 10 of Wands is associated with Saturn in Sagittarius, which apparently has to do with learning the lessons of patience and perseverance:

Saturn in Sagittarius is conservative, and change only with much resistance. It may be narrow-minded or have tunnel vision. Saturn in Sagittarius needs to learn to trust. Whether open and honest or careless and rebellious, if it doesn't open up, it will continue to suffer. It may need to judge more carefully or learn what is appropriate and what is not. (~Always Astrology)

Sagittarius is a sign that envisions all kinds of possibilities, it thrives on experience and ultimately meaning. Saturn is the planet associated with father time and is seen as being hard-working, persistent and disciplined. (~Astrology Place)

So Saturn in Sagittarius has strong ideas about working hard, persistence, and doing the right thing. Do you see how this can lead to picking up too many burdens, putting too much pressure on yourself, trying to do too much, of somehow feeling that things going right hinge on you and you alone? Oh, the drama of it! That's what the 10 of Wands has always meant to me, and I see that it is confirmed by the astrological associations.

The Golden Dawn call this card Lord of Oppression. It has to do with doggedness. As usual, I love the advice given at Angel Paths Tarot:

On a day ruled by this card, there are certain processes you need to go through in order to work out what the problem is. First, consider whether this is a fleeting effect which will pass. However, if you find you've been feeling frustrated for a while, today is the day to get to grips with that.

I believe I've taken that advice before I even read it. I encountered what could have been a burden and refused to see it that way; instead, I immediately began thinking of alternate routes, solutions -- people to hand a few of my ten wands to.

So I think I've already identified what I can do today to make myself happy and positively impact my future. Ten wands is too much - and I don't have to carry it. You don't either!

Tote that barge, lift that bale

Thoth Tarot

I had to laugh when I saw this card from Thoth Tarot this morning. I've been moaning about having to work on Sunday, and here it is Sunday and boom! 10 of Wands.

The card's title is 'Oppression'. (The RWS image shows a man trying to hold a bundle of ten wands against his chest vertically while climbing up a hill. As Rachel Pollack says, that's the stupidest way in the world to carry 10 sticks.)
DuQuette calls this card 'an explosive and suffocating image of oppression and repression.'  Crowley elaborates: 'It is a stupid, obstinate cruelty from which there is no escape. It is Will which has no understood anything beyond its dull purpose, its "lust of result", and will devour itself in the conflagrations it has evoked.'

Well...I'd say opening on a Sunday even though hardly any customers come in could be classed as 'stupid, obstinate cruelty from which there is no escape.' Sundays in particular, I feel like I'm just getting paid to put in time, rather than to accomplish anything meaningful.

But hey ho! It's off to work I go anyway! :)

Nothing either good or bad...

Anna K Tarot, US Games 2013

Today's card comes from the mass market edition of the Anna K Tarot, US Games 2013. I have had the 1st edition self-published version since 2009, and I also owned the 2nd edition self-published deck, but traded that one as I did not particularly like the card stock. I was so pleased that a mass market version of this deck came out, so that many other people can have the chance to own a copy of this charming and highly readable deck.

Ten of Rods does accurately reflect my mood this morning. I didn't sleep well or long last night, and I've got up feeling quite heavy, dragged down, and weary. I have no idea why I feel this way, and probably the figure in the card doesn't, either. The Golden Dawn meaning of Ten of Rods is 'Oppression.' Because the Rods (or Wands) suit is the suit of action, the thing that oppresses here has more to do with tasks or actions than thoughts, feelings or responsibilities (swords, cups and coins, respectively). So in a reading, I would see this as being oppressed either by having too many things to do, too many irons in the fire (the Rods are the Fire suit, after all), or by feeling overwhelmed by an action or actions that need doing. If the thought of doing something (or the obligation to do something) fills you with anxiety or dread, I would say that is a Ten of Rods moment. It's the action that is the cause of the anxiety.

Musings on the Celtic Tarot: Wands

Celtic Tarot, Aquarian 1990

I received my second copy of the Celtic Tarot (Courtney Davis) the other day, and have been admiring it since. I believe this is the most beautiful pips-only deck that I have seen yet. In the photo above, I have arranged them so that the bottom row is Wands, next up Cups, then Swords, and the top row is Coins, with courts in a pile at the end of each row. You can see that the suits are linked by colour, inner border style, and in the case of the Coins, by shape of the design. The Wands all feature the Sun, Cups are contained in circles on a blue background, the Swords are red and feature diamond patterns, and the Coins have a green background with Celtic knot discs in gold. Unlike some pip decks, there are many cues to meaning in the design and coloring of each pip card, so it seems like a good idea to have a closer look at them.