Weird Science: 6 of Swords Parrott Tarot

'Six of Swords is a time of outreach, travel, study and learning. You are empowered by your own knowledge and the accumulation of knowledge.' - Paul Hughes-Barlow, Super Tarot

Today the service is shut down so that staff can travel to a central location for our second annual staff conference. It looks like this card from Parrott Tarot by Margaret and Thom Parrott is 'spot on', as they say. 

I have absolutely no idea why the design is as it is. To me it looks sort of like the iris of a blue eye with a star over the pupil and swords growing out of it like those worm-alien things came of that dude's eye in 'Prometheus'.  Eww!

Notice how the pip card has the playing card association in the top left (6 of Spades), the planet and astrological association under the image (Mercury and Aquarius), and the parrot doing something cute and science-y in the corner there?

Hope today goes by fast, is productive and doesn't make me want to lance myself in the eyes. Ha! 

Big change - what now?

You guys, I've deactivated my Facebook account! It's not the first time I've done it. A hiatus from Facebook for me usually lasts about a year. Then when I go back on, slowly but surely, I spend more and more time on there until I realise it's taking up nearly all my free time, and so I deactivate. I deleted the account once and stayed off for a couple of years. I might do that this time, too.

Thought I'd do a read about it:

What am I leaving behind (or what do I think I've left behind)?
What am I really leaving behind?
What are the three choices ahead of me, my 'points of power'?

(Spread was found here. Sorry, I don't know anything about this site; stumbled upon by googling 'spread for a big change.')

Tarot de St Croix, Lisa de St Croix, Devera 2013

By deactivating my Facebook account I 'think' I've left behind Ace of Wands -- a source of inspiration, a place where I can make a difference. I was all into political stories and memes and petitions and so on, there. In addition to my kitten videos.

But what I'm really leaving behind is the Emperor -- Good lord, could I really have been 'working for the man' by using Facebook? I guess I was, really. I mean, I know Facebook saves everything about me, and alarming connections are made, like if I browse an item on Amazon or elsewhere, ads for it turn up on my FB feed or in the sidebars. There are even scarier ways Facebook (and Google, but one thing at a time, people) control and track us, that I don't even know about. So that's what I'm really leaving behind.

Now, what are my power points? Six of Swords, Four of Wands and Queen of Cups. Just for kicks, I'll string together the interpretation suggested in the Tarot de St Croix LWB:

I'm led 'out of the dark dungeons of my mind' and find my power through 'creating ritual and space' where I 'accept the flow of all emotions.' Once again I have a powerful card about capturing living water. I also like that the LWB describes it as 'flow'. Actually, these are the exact reasons I wanted to free up time by leaving FB.

Another thing I like about these power cards is how they are all facing to the left -- in opposition to the Emperor, who seems to be trying to point them toward the right. F*** you, Emperor! Not only are we going the opposite direction, we're ready to crash right into you in a clash of wills -- or fight for our souls, perhaps! We are gonna do what we want without your input. (Also -- see how the wand is pointing in the same direction the power cards are going? I thought I was going that way but I wasn't!)

That's 'now what'!

The ferryman!

Today's card is the 6 of Swords. It's Air of Air, which probably explains why I feel a bit spaced out today. (That and the fact I only slept 4 hours last night). 

I don't want this card today. I don't welcome it. I associate it with bad times and pain, with slinking away after troubles but carrying all the crap with you, inside your head. Air of Air could certainly represent overthinking, dramatising, catastrophising, and all those other '-isings' so beloved of Albert Ellis in his REBT writings. 

I also associate this card with an 80s song, 'Don't Pay the Ferryman.' 

It was late at night on the open road
Speeding like a man on the run
A lifetime spent preparing for the journey

He is closer now and the search is on
Reading from a map in the mind
Yes there's the ragged hill
And there's the boat on the river
And when the rain came down
He heard a wild dog howl
There were voices in the night (don't do it)
Voices out of sight (don't do it)
Too many men have failed before
Whatever you do

Don't pay the ferryman
Don't even fix a price
Don't pay the ferryman
Until he gets you to the other side

In the rolling mist, then he gets on board
Now there'll be no turning back
Beware that hooded old man at the rudder
And then the lightning flashed, and the thunder roared
And people calling out his name
And dancing bones that jabbered and a moaned
On the water

And then the ferryman said
There is trouble ahead
So you must pay me now (don't do it)
You must pay me now (don't do it)
And still that voice came from beyond
Whatever you do

Don't pay the ferryman
Don't even fix a price
Don't pay the ferryman
Until he gets you to the other side

The ferryman always seems an ominous figure, the huddled shapes of what we assume is a woman and her child trustingly presenting him with their backs as he poles them across the water. I wonder if they paid the ferryman already and what that could mean about their chances of getting to the other side?

I know it's a 6, and a 6 has good connotations, but I don't like this card. I've never liked it. At best it looks like cutting your losses and refugeeing out of turmoil, and at worst it feels like heading into the unknown with a stranger at your back who has the distinct upper hand. And I really do not want this card today. 

So I'm going to shuffle it back into the deck and walk out into the beautiful blue and go buy some veg. 

Tarot de St Croix Diamond Spread

A reading for this week at work

De St Croix Diamond 5-Card Spread

(from Tarot de St Croix LWB)

1. Signifier: What or who am I in this situation? - 6 of Swords
2. Unconscious: What is underneath or hidden? - 8 of Cups
3. Release: What do I need to let go of? - 8 of Wands
4. Conscious: What is on my mind, what do I already know? - Judgement
5. Receive: What do I expect or need to open to? - Hermit

The signifier tells me at least one and possibly all of the following: I am in a position to be a catalyst for change, I am in a position to receive guidance through this change, and this change will happen and will soon be a memory, all behind me. It would seem that it's up to me to determine how smooth the sailing is. The idea of moving on or turning into a new direction is seen in both 6 of Swords and 8 of Cups. Both cards imply that the turning away is caused by some pain (or is causing some pain) but that the transition is both welcome and inevitable. In other words, the situation has reached a turning point and there is no way a corner won't be turned this week.

Tarot de St Croix says this about 8 of Cups: 'Emotional strength is not about overcoming our feelings but instead immersing ourselves in them until we can release them.' There are many ways to read this statement - none of which seem to have much to do with traditional interpretations of this card. It's saying to feel what I feel and not deny it. It could also be saying that there is a time and a place to release emotions and to be aware of that (ie, be on guard against emotive outbursts).  Finally, I also see it as a reminder that I am not the only one with feelings and it might be useful to try immersing myself in someone else's feelings in order to understand them better and be of help to them.

I need to let go of urgency. The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, as good old King Solomon obligingly reminds us. It is probably time to listen more than I talk and by that I don't mean sitting in silence, but actually understand and accept the ideas and opinions of others in a way that may change the way I behave in the future. Listening may not always be expedient, but it is certainly more helpful.

I already know that a sea change is needed in my work place in order for us to survive. My grave concern is that certain others will not take seriously the precarious situation we are in. It is so important, for our very survival, that we make big changes in the way we do things, and this is where my sense of urgency comes from. I lose patience watching others going through the stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance) that go along with big changes. Some of us hear the trumpet call and ready to rise up renewed (RWS imagery), others still slumber in the tomb, as it were. The Tarot de St Croix depicts life changing moments in a cathedral: 'Look at your beliefs and decide if they work for you,' the companion book advises. I already know that I have been doing that, and I know that all members of staff need to do it, too.

I need to expect and be open to the fact that this will take time. The Hermit is Father Time and it is that aspect that I see applying here. I don't see how 'solitude' has much to do with anything, though the implication is there that I may not have many allies during this transitional time. I also must be prepared to receive that it's all going to take much longer than I would have hoped. I just hope it doesn't take so long that it becomes too late.

In summary, this spread is telling me that change happens slowly, it is complicated, it involves a lot of emotions, and being impatient is only going to complicate matters. It tells me to LISTEN and to empathise.

Long week ahead. LOL

How about a draw from The Wicca Deck (Sally Morningstar 2001) for a final word on the issue:

Okay, the companion book says and I quote:

High Note - Change is coming. Are you ready?
Low Note - Release; let go. Prepare.

So, that pretty much confirms all of what I said in the tarot reading. The book goes on to say that it is a time to draw toward you what you need to advance your position in life, and that you need to release something in order for this to happen. What I need is for staff to bring their practices in line with the rest of the service, and what I need to let go of is the desire for them to do it how I want it when I want it. As long as they do it, that's what counts.

A new program

The Golden Tarot - Visconti-Sforza Deck, Packard 2013 

Question: Tell me about the new program I've begun to explore.

This new program looks very positive indeed. The time of my embarking on it coincides with (or this new program ushers in) the start of a period of smooth sailing, a stable state of mind, overcoming of adversity. I've already done a lot of work, come far. This new program carries me further still toward new horizons.

This program fosters improved interpersonal relations, emotional expansiveness. It will help build ability to make the other person feel validated and heard.

And finally, this program will help shed some much needed light on things that have been hidden from consciousness, in the murky depths of the unconscious.

Can any program live up to such promises? Possibly. It is certainly worth a good hard look and a fair go.

Green Man

Now this is an interesting card we have drawn today from Wicca Deck (Morningstar 2014). The green man image is depicted on an oak tree (you can see it has acorns on it), and carved into the tree is a door with runes around the frame. To be honest, I don't think these carry any meaning, which is a shame. I think it's purely decorative -- too bad. If any rune experts know better, do let me know!

In front of the door is a glowing orb wrapped round by a snake, which reminds me of the orphic egg.  Just outside its glow are some little flowering plants that might be some sort of lily. In the background we see a buck deer rearing up on its hind legs.
The card obviously speaks of masculine energy, creation and fertility. But who is the Green Man?

Who is the Green Man?*
As with many neopagan properties, the Green Man has been appropriated and a new history created. He is not an ancient remnant of a horned-god-and-earth-mother worshiping pagan faith. (Though I see absolutely no reason why he can't represent those natural masculine energies now, as he does to the pagan community). Actually the Green Man appeared in churches from the 11th century as part of the Christian visual iconography and declined after the Reformation period when the visual culture of medieval Christianity collapsed. He enjoyed a comeback in the 19th century as part of the Gothic Revival and appetite for medieval things. He was later appropriated to represent 'the archetype of our oneness with the earth' and embraced as such in counter-culture movements.

Modern study of the Green Man began in the 1930s with folklorist Julia Somerset, Lady Raglan. Influenced (as so many folklorists of the time were) by Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough, and by Margaret Murray's The Witch Cult in Western Europe, she came up with the notion that the Green Man was a remnant of pagan tree worship and spring sacrifice. But studies of pre-Christian religion in Britain have failed to find green men and they were not deities of classic pantheon. These images were not carved into Christian churches as a remnant of ancient pagan faith, but by devout Christian craftsmen.

Green men, being neither green nor always men, started as small drawings in the margins of Christian books in the 11th and 12th centuries. Their profuse tangled branches suggest an origin in the interlaced ornament of Saxon and Celtic art. Green men on churches, therefore, derived from an artistic culture rather than popular custom, as images in books were an important source of inspiration for patrons of churches. Sources for many motifs in churches and cathedrals have been traced to English manuscript illuminations, in particular English psalters of the 12th century. If the carvings are studied through the ages, the Green Man moves from a type of medieval demon to a Renaissance decoration, then into the Gothic revival period where they become mere badges of 'authentic' medieval style. The post-Industrial Revolution yearning for a more natural past informs recent transformation of the Green Man from an image rooted in medieval Christianity to the one that now, to some, stands for humanity's relationship with nature.

The Cards
Anyway, all that aside, the Green Man has its own meaning now, and certainly its own meaning in the Wicca Deck, which no medieval Christian mind would have derived from it, but which modern pagans do, and that is the idea of oneness with nature, abundance, fertility and growth.

In a draw, this card could suggest returning to simple things, ecological concerns, oneness with nature, natural growth processes, going with the natural flow, and so on.

The supporting card from the tarot deck is 6 of Swords. The card's meaning of journey, travel, exploration or overcoming difficulties takes on resonance in light of the history of the Green Man. If we take the pagan meaning of the Green Man as growth or ecological concerns, we can see 6 of Swords supporting us as we make a change from damage or hurt that may have been sustained (either personally or to the environment) and toward better times. (Though I'm really not sure how the huntress and hounds fit into that!)

Some things to think about today:

How is fertility and abundance playing itself out in your life right now?
When was the last time you went outside and enjoyed nature?
What can you do today to help the environment?
What new, fresh direction can you turn yourself toward?

*Hayman, Richard. 'Ballad of the Green Man'  History Today. April 2010. 37-44.

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! :)

When is a cross not a cross?

Thoth Tarot

What a relief to see this card today. After the depressing series of daily draws I've had, and the bumpy start at the new job, it's nice to see the 6 of Swords, a card that usually signifies calm after the storm, success after anxiety and trouble.

Last night I fell asleep on the sofa around 9.00 and didn't wake up until 2 AM. After a nice bath and a few minutes reading, I went to bed and slept until 3.45. Got up and finished the book and drew and scanned this card. Went back to bed at 5 AM. Woke up at 8.00. So...perhaps I have been more anxious than even I realised. Fitful sleep is usually not my thing, a typical night being seven hours straight.

And so, it really is a relief to see this card today, with its curious imagery. We have six swords, all pointing to the centre of a cross. In the background spin an abundance of those curious wing-whirly-gig designs that Lady Frieda Harris has included in every card of the Swords suit. The cross would appear to be at the centre of a bubble. Either the swords pierce it without bursting it (as scientists do when manipulating cells) or they are in front of it. At the top of the card is the symbol of Mercury, at the bottom, Aquarius. The Golden Dawn title of the card is 'Lord of Earned Success.'

Thoth card back

The cross is certainly the focal point here, but it is not just any cross. It is the Rosy Cross. You can see the rose in the centre, where the points of the swords meet. The same Rosy Cross is featured on the back of every card in the Thoth deck. Lon Milo DuQuette devotes an entire chapter in Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot to this design element of the cards. According to Crowley, the cross is the shape it is because it is an 'unfolded cube'. Perhaps...but it is also clearly a cross, as in the instrument of the death of Jesus of Nazareth. This is plainly indicated by the inscription 'INRI' going clockwise around the outside of the shape, an acronym for 'Iesvs Nazarens Rex Ivdaeorym', Latin for 'Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,' which was inscribed on the cross, according to the New Testament of the Bible. DuQuette suggests that it could as easily stand for 'Igni Natura Renovatur Integra' ('All of nature is restored by fire'), an alchemical axiom. Leaving that aside, we can see that the four colours of the cross could easily stand for the four suits of the tarot minors. The rose shape in the middle of the cross contains 22 petals, which coincidentally match the number of tarot majors. Each petal gets a corresponding Hebrew character and astrological association, to match the majors. The pentagrams on each arm of the cross are said to represent the Aces and court cards of each suit. It gets pretty complicated. For the full explanation, see chapter 8 of DuQuette's book.

In any case, I take this card to mean that the initial stress of starting the new routine is behind me. Now...today I need to go shopping for something to wear to Monday's interview!

The other shore

Touchstone Tarot, Kunati 2009

'Let the water wash over you
Wash it all over you
Swim to the ocean floor

So that we can begin again
Wash away all our sins
Crash to the other shore'

~ Madonna 'Swim' 
____________________
Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi swaha
(Gone, gone, all the way gone, gone all the way to the other side, hooray!) 
~'Prajnaparamita hridaya sutra' mantra 
____________________

There's something about the idea of crossing over water. It appeals to the human spirit. The image pops up in pretty much every type of spirituality and faith. Christian Protestants sing about the far side banks of Jordan. And of course there is the beautiful ritual of baptism. Buddhists chant about going all way to the other side. Even Madonna had a song about a spiritual cleansing and fresh start, the words of which sprang instantly to my mind when I turned this card over this morning, even though I haven't thought about that song in 20 years. We like the idea of being cleansed by water, by leaving behind the old and pressing on to the new. 

We see this beloved motif represented in the tarot 6 of Swords. Most RWS-based tarot decks feature a boat of some sort, a ferryman, and usually a woman and child being ushered across water. The image speaks more deeply to us than words. We see the image of a crossing, and we just know what it means. 

I feel like I've been making a crossing lately, a crossing into a new phase of my life, a new way of living in the day to day, and it doesn't have as much to do with my daily activities as it does in the way I see the light, the way I breathe the air, and the way I think my thoughts.  I can feel it happening, like feeling the waves underneath the boat. 

Cosmic Tarot Arabesques

Cosmic Tarot, US Games 1988

These two cards echo one another so fully that I can't help but be intrigued by them. They are the 4 of Wands and 6 of Swords from Cosmic Tarot, US Games 1988. In both cards we see a dancer wearing loose trousers and either a tight vest or no top, flowing hair, the left leg back and extended, left arm held parallel, right arm down. Both dancers balance on the ball of the foot within a circular pattern on the ground. Each card has a pyramid on the right side of the card, behind the dancer. Each card features the horizon. Each card has an oval shape of light that extends off the card. In the upper right corner of each card, we see an item--a bird in one card, a caduceus on the other. When the cards are placed side by side in order, both the horizon and the oval shapes more or less line up. The 4 of Wands seems to be daytime, the 6 of Swords night. The 4 of Wands features a woman, flowers and a bird and is pink; the 6 of Swords shows a man, swords and the night sky with caduceus and is blue. In the 4 of Wands,there are some slightly mountainous formations on the horizon, where the 6 of Swords is flat. I'm not sure why, but the woman seems to have her chest more toward the ground in a more classical arabesque, though the hip is quite open, while the man has his chest and hip fully in alignment, more a leg extension than an arabesque, I guess. No idea why this might be.

Anyway, these two cards echo each other so strongly, there must be something behind it.

Musings on the Celtic Tarot: Swords

Suit of Swords--Celtic Tarot, Davis  

The first thing I notice about this suit is the arcing of lightning or electricity and its various manifestations throughout. You can see the first stirrings of it on the tip of the sword in the Ace, then the big spark jumping between sword tips in the Two. It's gone in the Three, but beginning to whirl up again behind the swords in the Four, goes a little crazy in the Five, shoots a clear steady beam in the Six, becomes a full on power storm in the Seven, then is pretty much gone in Eight, Nine and Ten. The background of those cards also appears a deeper red. Why? Looking closer, you can see that there is a ball of energy in Eight, a few glimmering pinpoints in Nine, and a few even smaller ones in Ten. Curious...what could it mean?