Greenwood Week - Day Three - Watch out for the massive...dose of maleness

Greenwood Tarot, Ryan & Potter 1996

The two cards I've pulled today from Greenwood Tarot (Mark Ryan and Chesca Potter, 1996) and Celtic Shaman's Pack (John Matthews and Chesca Potter, 1995, 2015) have, to say the least, a strong masculine energy.

The 5 of Wands from Greenwood features the Cerne Abbas Giant.  Nobody knows why or when this figure was cut into a hillside in Dorset, but the first earliest mention of it isn't until 1751. It almost certainly isn't as ancient as it appears. And no one knows who cut it or why. Strange.

Potter has added some embellishments that reinforce the themes of the figure -- virility, fertility and power. The oracle card also depicts a powerful male figure, as a head emerging from a cauldron.

The questions that spring from these cards today:

What will give me this fiery drive today? How will it manifest? In what way can I ground and direct it, so that it is not wasted engine revving? What project or idea will I turn my attention toward? Or will it be a series of rapid, staccato tasks, buzzing through a to-do list?

How will I be assertive and authoritative today? How will I be a strong leader?

What fires me up?

What gets me excited?

What germ of idea or action will I fertilise today?

What lights a fire under my feet?

What do I need to bash with a big club?

And how do I keep all this raw male power from becoming overly aggressive?

Listen to those Chariot wheels creak!

CBD Tarot

What is the most important thing for me to do today? 

Boom! Look at how those cards have fallen. The man of the material realm and the despot have their eyes fixated on the 5 of Wands, the card of physical work/action. Today I must work out and if I do, it will be the first workout since April 2015. Can you believe that? 

I thought I'd draw a goddess card to see what energy I need and look who popped up: 

Journey to the Goddess Realm

Yes, it's Hygieia, goddess of health, with her kundalini rising and her pentacles representing the body (fire, water, earth, air, spirit) in protective circles. And there are four of them, showing how balanced she is. 

All right already! Where are those old Kelly Coffey-Meyer DVDs? ....

ETA: I did something. It wasn't a workout DVD -- I did my own 30 minute stepping, squats, lunges and biceps and triceps while watching 'Harold and Maude' (1971 cult classic) on You Tube. Then I went and ordered 4 KCM DVDs at Coffeyfit.

Do you wanna get this done or just show off?

Tarot of the Hidden Realm (Moore and Jeffery 2013)

It's the 5 of Wands but these faerie kids are not hitting each other with sticks. They're climbing a tree. So where's the conflict?

True, the faerie-lings aren't hitting each other, but they aren't helping each other, either. They are all trying to climb the same tree, but each is doing it by himself, oblivious to the others (well, the one guy seems to be smirking at the kid who looks like he wishes he'd never climbed this far and wonders how he can get back down, but other than that, most of the others are just climbing upward.)

If these five worked together, they could no doubt quickly come up with a cooperative way to get them all to the top of the tree easily, safely and systematically. But they're not working together, they're just bashing away at the task individually. See?

Wands are the element Fire, representing motivation, individualism, conscious pursuit of personal development -- all good things. The number here is Five, representing uncertainty, adversity, activity, movement, crisis, shifts. So Five of Wands is going to represent action in crisis, personal growth in adversity or uncertainty. I think we associated Five of Wands with 'conflict' because the RWS card shows five boys hitting each other with sticks, whereas perhaps the essence that was meant to be depicted was actually something more subtle.  

Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot asserts, 'This is a card of going through the motions of activity but not actually getting anythign done. The characters are young and full of show, but all is not as it seems. Waite says it is "mimic warfare" and "imitation". In a reading, it would say to not be impressed by what appears to be happening; it could merely be for show' (Katz, 248).  Okay, so are the kids here mostly showing off for each other, and really don't have any grand desire to climb a tree? Probably. It's likely to be one of these double-dog dares (and I bet the mean-looking kid hanging from a branch near the bottom started it -- he probably won't go far before dropping out of the tree, laughing at them all and running off home!)

I guess this card could be telling me to be careful today to look out for false conflicts, petty squabbles that could just be idle posturing. Also, find ways to work together to achieve a goal -- if it turns out to be a goal you even want to achieve, and not something you may have been goaded into.

What is the dragon that haunts you?

Chrysalis Tarot, Brooks and Sierra 2014

I've been off work for 10 days straight, on holiday. Tomorrow I have to go back to work. No surprise I've drawn the 5 of Spirals (5 of Wands) from the Chrysalis Tarot today, then!

I don't know why Sundays are usually miserable for me. I often feel grumpy, like a cloud of gloom is hanging over me. I guess it must be because the work week starts up again the next day, or maybe it's some residual guilt leftover from my Christian upbringing that I'm not in church -- though to be honest, I hated Sundays when I was a churchgoer as well. Even on perfectly pleasant days, there's always a feeling of gloom in the background for me on a Sunday.

The LWB of the Chrysalis Tarot gives this card the keyword 'Shadow'. It recommends that we 'shine the light of consciousness on your own shadows and subdue them'. That doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun for a Sunday, but obviously if you don't do it, your day is going to end up being even worse. Trust me, I know! 'Struggles customarily associated with this card are interior conflicts. With effort and diligence you'll vanquish any dragons that haunt you.'

The dragon in Five of Spirals (5 of Wands) perches on the cliff face above the abyss of the psyche, dropping his little love bombs of pain and confusion into the darkness below. Each one casts a shadow against the opposite cliff face. The dragon belches or vomits his sputum all over our bleak little souls -- nice, eh? It reminds me of the Beast from the PsyCards. Our poor little unsuspecting unconscious minds are being fed all this rubbish from the conscious mind, and they are defenseless! The unconscious mind cannot tell the difference between past, present or future, imagination or reality. It thinks all the fireballs we spit at it are real! Every negative thing we say, every negative image that crosses our mind might as well be 100% true and have actually happened as far as the unconscious mind is concerned. Poor little blighter.

So how to stop this dyspeptic dragon from spitting up into our pysches? The LWB says, 'The 12-petal lotus mandala provides an inviting focal point for contemplation.' Why, though? Typically, the heart chakra (anahata chakra) is thought of as a 12-petal lotus -- and this is the seat of love, compassion, acceptance, balance and forgiveness, not only for others but also for ourselves. It might be argued that our love, compassion, acceptance, and forgiveness of ourselves comes first, for without it, we cannot truly have it for others. The 12-petal lotus gives us a focal point for meditation, a lifeline for climbing up out of the pit of despond so that we can see the firebombs of self-hatred for the lies they are and let them fizzle out.

The next time you hear yourself saying or thinking a negative or judgemental thought about yourself, picture this dragon, and imagine the 12-petal lotus on his wing glowing and growing until it consumes the dragon, lights up the cavern below, and flies in a glowing ball of green light (the colour of the heart chakra) right into your chest, where it fills you with a glow of peace and radiant calm. The dragon carries on its own body the thing that will turn it from a bringer of discord to a bearer of light. You also have that same sort of equipment. Let's use it today. :)

Don't feed the monster - 5 of Wands

Oh, boy, the Lord of Strife. In the 5 of Wands  from the Cosmic Tarot, we see two young men in a circle of stones doing battle against one another. They probably won't do one another serious or life-threatening damage, but those sticks surely hurt. The pink colour of the card is a sickly hue, more like a pale red, signifying anger and upset. Angel Paths Tarot says, 'This card will often come up when some-one is very unhappy with a working situation - there is, perhaps, a clash of personality with somebody else; or perhaps the individual is unhappy with working practices. Often in this situation there's a tendency toward rashness and loss of control which can lead to further problems.' I think this interpretation sounds applicable. My manager (who is leaving soon) has a meeting coming up today during which she will try to iron out with another manager, in another team, the division of duties between myself and that team. Where I work, there used to be an entire team of people. Now there's only me. I have been led to believe that this person will want her team to do all the 'big projects' and leave all the admin tasks to me. Also, I know that my manager and this person have had personality conflicts in the past. So although I won't be directly involved in the conflict, it will impact my working life. 

The advice Angel Paths Tarot offers is to arm myself with a sense of humour, be on the lookout for 'bad attitude' in both my colleagues and myself, and try to get through the day doing those tasks that are most enjoyable and leaving the more frustrating stuff for another day. She offers an affirmation that she says is designed to be hard to say, to try to help us laugh: 'I meet conflict and obstacles with equanimity.' 

The 5 of Wands, according to Golden Dawn tradition, means Saturn in Leo. 

'Saturn in Leo has a strong need for recognition. They clearly want to be the leader. They expect a lot from themselves and others. They have a limited sense of humour and can appear cautious and reserved. Leo Saturn can undermine their goals by undervaluing themselves, an attitude that can sabotage all they work towards. Their feelings of jealousy and lack of spontaneity can push others away. The often put up a coldness toward others to protect themselves. Their challenge is to connect with others and find value in themselves. Cooperation may be a challenge for them. They may be over-cautious. Life challenges them to properly use their personal power, creativity and ego. If they learn to successfully deal with these issues, they will have a joyful life of vitality and spontaneity.' ~ Always Astrology 

What is this card suggesting I can do today, then, that would bring me pleasure and have a positive impact on my future? I can remember that struggle and strife are inherent to life. I can avoid being drawn in to conflicts, particularly those that are not my battles, such as the one happening today. I can avoid becoming, as James Ricklef suggests in his book 'The Soul's Journey,' 'fascinated by the arguing going on over there.' Just being a 'mesmerized onlooker,' says Ricklef, allows negativity to creep into you and stirs up bad things. I can also avoid jumping to conclusions based on this perceived conflict going on around me, and possibly about my role. (Not me, but my role. The conflict started before I was even recruited, when the role was created. Not something they included in the job advert or interview!) Ricklef suggests that if I withdraw my energy from the power struggle, it will collapse. At the very least, I can take steps to insure that I do not feed it with my energy. I should withdraw both my curiosity and my speculations from this situation, and just get on with whatever tasks end up being assigned to me.

Oh, boy! Conflict!

Spiral Tarot, 1997

Nobody likes a squabble, so I wasn't too thrilled to see 5 of Wands as my card of the day. Though heaven knows I've been conflicted enough over the last two weeks about all this job stuff. I went to the assessment for the experience. Then they offer me two posts which involve commutes. I try to get them to offer me enough of a raise in salary to at least cover the the commutes with a bit left over for me. No go. So I end up taking one of them and turning down the other to stay half time in my current post. After commute costs and taxes, I'm going to end up only slight better off per month financially. When I say slight, I mean slight. Like, the cost of a tarot box set slight.


These guys remind me of the cast of 'Gangs of New York'. Remember that film? Leonardo di Caprio vs uber villain Daniel Day Lewis. No, I don't remember much about it either, except the costumes.

I suppose the good thing is at least the squabbles aren't serious. Rachel Pollack points out in Tarot Wisdom that the number 5 falls Gevurah in the Tree of Life, a place of contraction and adversity, but the wands energy is so optimistic that it keeps the conflict from being terribly serious. It's minor clashes or some sort of competitive energy.

To look at the card from a more positive perspective, the 5s can be a time of change (but then, what tarot card isn't!) and so the 5 of Wands can be a shift in energy or new sense of purpose. Well, I find that a bit of a stretch for me personally, but that's what Rachel Pollack suggests. Still, it's competition that doesn't 'hurt', and can also show the excitement of participating in the world.

Well, I wonder then what the day will bring.

The struggle with negative forces

Sacred Rose Tarot 

I can't believe I've drawn 5 of Wands again! What is going on with this card! I just drew it the other day, and thought it had to do with work difficulties. Now I'm not so sure it has to do with forces outside myself. I'm thinking it might be internal things -- in particular I think for me personally it could be referring to my difficulties lately disciplining my eating habits. The card shows a central figure hanging on for dear life to the five wands, which are arranged in a configuration not unlike a cross. This figure is being pulled down by a second person, and from beneath, two hands (both right hands, suggesting there are two more people there) grasp and pull down on both the wand structure and the central figure. There's a far more serious-looking battle going on in this card than in most other RWS 5 of Wands cards.

The second figure and two other hands are said in the Little White Book to represent 'negative forces' that the central figure is doing battle with. This could be all sorts of things, anything, really, that exerts a negative force in life.

I don't think the central figure is going to actually fall, though. He looks there to stay. I don't know why I think so, I just do. He won't be defeated, though he might get pretty darn tired before all is said and done.

Annoyances

The Five of Rods in Anna K Tarot shows the spirit of friendly competition: two blokes arm wrestling in a pub. Their friends and family gather around to enjoy the spectacle. Of course, in a testosterone-fueled contest like this, things can get out of hand, tempers can flare, things can go wildly wrong. But for the most part, the competition depicted in this card is of the controlled, good-natured variety. Or at the very least, the not-ultimately-harmful variety.

Often interpreted as petty or meaningless squabbles, the Five of Rods (aka Wands, Staves or even occasionally Clubs) can turn up to indicate challenge, competition, game or sport, having a debate, feeling at cross purposes or disagreeing with someone, quibbling, sniping, arguing. Usually these things are of a trivial nature, though they can be annoying.

I'm pretty sure I know what this card is about; I was hoping to see the back of the annoyances at work, but it looks like more will continue today. Well, Mercury is in retrograde still, so I shouldn't be surprised communication is not going so well. I will just have to keep in mind that the source of my irritation is merely a trifle, of no real significance or consequence. Just let it roll of.

You thought that was the 2 of Wands, didn't you?

Arthurian Tarot, 1990

Today's card from Arthurian Tarot (Matthews, Aquarian Press 1990) is a good example of the confusing nature of the minor arcana (or 'Lesser Powers') in this deck. We have a sunset landscape, a standing stone, and two spears propped against it, crossed. Two of Wands, your mind clicks into gear. But no. The title at the bottom of the card says, 'Spear Five'. Five of Wands? You what? So here I was, thinking of alliances, of combined force, of choices, of all those things associated with 2 of Wands. And now I have to back up and think of five little boys play fighting with long sticks (the traditional RWS image). I suppose it depends how deeply entrenched you are in Rider Waite Smith imagery, but even a beginner would likely squint back and forth from the title to the image, searching the background in vain for three more spears.

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.