The Pope of Nope says Nope

Camoin TdM 

Oh boy, 'troubled plans'. That's not what I need today, in any aspect of my life. So I refuse to accept it. My plans won't be troubled! I defy you, stars!

There may be complications today, but I'm going to do everything I can do to prevent it.

ETA: So this is what happened...

I had a children's event planned and went fairly well but I ran out of time and left out the plenary -- forgot about it!

I misread the timetable and was 20 minutes late to my next work shift.

Found out the hold-up on our mortgage offer was because the surveyor hadn't collected an amount owed by us for an upgrade from mortgage valuation to Home Buyers Report -- although there is no way for us to pay that, we have to be contacted by them to collect the money. Yet they were sitting there waiting to be paid by us. Idiots.

Hubby had planned something for Friday but hadn't made all the necessary arrangements and so that nearly fell through but it got worked out in the end.

Cards right again!

7 of Wands - standing tall amidst the troubles

Camoin-Jodorowsky Tarot 

I'm totally being stalked lately! Now 7 of Wands is back.

Troubled actions. Headaches and heartaches with work, callings and plans.

Yoav Ben-Dov calls the card 'Struggle'. Other key words are challenge, opposition, competition, rivalry. Some readers take this a step further and start to interpret this as advice for overcoming trouble: taking a stand, standing up for what you believe in, putting up a fight, standing your ground, perseverance, gritty determination. Those are all well and good, but the card just shows 'struggle'. All the rest of it comes by association.

This is why it's useful (necessary) to draw more than one card for a meaningful reading. Even one major can't give you more than a perfunctory answer. But as a daily draw is really just a 'tone of the day' or 'what energies are present' sort of thing, it will do. (Of course, I also think if you don't have a question, there's no reading, either. My daily draws are for observation or to kickstart some introspection or just do some rambling about the card itself...not really 'readings'.)

To be honest, there's struggle everywhere I look lately. I'm not surprised this card turns up. It doesn't even have to be something specifically to do with me, just the feeling of 'struggle' present all around me. I see it on the news, I see it in my workplace, it's everywhere. But when you come right down to it, life is just a struggle, isn't it? It can't be 9 of Cups every day. 7 of Wands or 10 of Swords, a day will come to an end and we'll have survived it. That's the important thing. We can observe struggles going on all around us without engaging. We can even observe our own inner struggles with some measure of detachment, though that is a conscious choice and not easy to sustain without practice.

Let the others become enmeshed in troubles if they want. We will stand tall amongst them, not apart from them obviously, but not truly involved. That's not overcoming it or fighting it. That's being present in it. It's often the best (and only) option.

7 of Batons (and at last a Queen of Wands I can relate to)

TdM Camoin-Jodorowsky 

This colourful version of 7 of Wands is from the Camoin-Jodorowsky Tarot de Marseille. I don't actually own it; I found this image online. It differs from the Dodal (which I drew the card from in real life) in the darker blue segments of the rods and the vines. Dodal has all pale blue in the centre, except for the four red diamond shapes, and instead of dark blue leaves, red stems and gold outer leaves, there are gold stems with pale blue tulip shapes having large red stamens or protrusions. Personally, I don't think it makes any difference at all to the reading of this card.

Seven of Batons signifies a struggle. Troubled plans. Hmm.

I drew a few more cards to get some idea where my struggles lie, and came up with Force + Queen of Wands + Temperance. That's three draws in a row for Temperance, by the way.

Dodal Tarot, Flornoy 2009 

Where am I struggling? Wow. That Queen of Wands really stands out. She looks knackered! I've been tracking my sleep for the last month. I made a chart and for each day I will colour in a square if I manage to sleep 7 hours in a night. In the month of June, I slept 7 hours five nights. The rest of the nights were around 5 hours, sometimes less. Last night I slept 5.5 hours. I really do not know what to do to solve this problem. But let's back up.

I wanted clarity on the 7 of Wands, so I drew Force. That suggested taking control of a situation, but I wondered what situation, and as Force is facing right, I drew to see what she's facing. I got the most exhausted looking woman in the tarot world, Dodal Queen of Wands. I wanted to know where the two of them are headed, since they both face the same way, and I drew Temperance. Maybe I'm dehydrated. There's a stream of pale blue running down the front of the lion, and Temperance pours water and stands beside water. Temperance's wings are made of pale blue, maybe water is the answer to some of my troubles. It looks like it might be time to get Temperance to write me a stalker letter. 

In the meantime, though, that Queen of Wands needs looking after. She don't look too good. That wand she carries must be a really heavy burden, it's a doozy. Not to mention that axe wound to the chest she's got there. Good lord -- I know what those are! The Big Baton is my recent projects of home buying and worry about work (a hobby of mine), and the chest wound is the Big Bad that happened to me nearly two years ago. Those are the reasons she's so worn out. Trying to be 'strong' has led to this deteriorated state. She needs Temperance -- and I'm seeing that today very strongly as liquid, liquid and more liquid. Keep pouring the water. On a higher level, this could be fluidity. What did Camelia Elias say about Temperance? 'She knows how far to stretch her elastic.' Well, some of my elastic is stretched too thin and some of it has perished from lack of use. The thing to do today is drink plenty of liquids and ---

Wait! I see a rhyming element! The hands in Force stretch the jaws apart. The hands in Temperance stretch the water between jugs. How far can they stretch? 

Temperance is looking straight at the axe wound in the Queen of Wands' chest. 'Temperance can annoint,' says Camelia Elias. 'She can make things smooth.' How can Temperance help heal that weary Queen of Wands? Strength appears to be looking straight at it as well. How can Strength help? 

Strength and Temperance both wish to heal the Queen of Wands of her burden. They stand on either side of her, facing her. And yet she stares directly out of the card at us, rather like one of those characters from 'The Office', or Oliver Hardy when Stan does something stupid. 'I'm sick of all this,' she seems to be saying. 'Too much crap. Too much.' Will she ever take the healing that's on offer? Strength and Temperance both appear to be trying to show her how far to stretch, when to stretch and when to release. She ought to listen. Of course, they both eye the strange wounded spot on her chest. Maybe they're hinting about knowing how open or closed to keep her heart.

Is there some way in which you are weary today? Is there some struggle for you? How are you stretched too thin? How are you not stretched enough? How can Temperance heal you today? What Strength do you have to see you through?

Right, I'm off to get a big glass of water...

Push it back, shove it back, waaaaaay back!

PCS Commemorative 

Great! Just trying to get this image on this blog post has been a struggle this morning. Took four tries, my scanner decided no matter where I told it to save, it was going to go in a mystery folder where I wouldn't be able to find it. So yeah, 7 of Wands.

7 of Wands (like King of Wands, Ace of Wands and 4 of Wands) is Fire of Fire. The Fire of Fire energy shows 'formidable determination and resolve' (Benebell Wen), is extremely gung ho, can have a one-track mind, and may be conqueror (albeit a charismatic one), a cult leader, maybe even a Hitler.

If these traits sound negative, sorry, I tend to see the downside of Fire before the upside. Fire is, after all, a wild and destructive force. A useful tool if contained and controlled, but always dangerous. At least the number 7 has its influence here, thus the 7 of Wands shows that despite the seeming struggle involved, important developments are happening, and there is progress, sometimes a leap ahead, sometimes it's the unknown causing the stress, but whatever, the 7 of Wands is a time of challenge. Others may be questioning us or slowing us down, we may be questioning or slowing ourselves down, whichever it is, there is some resistance requiring valour or courage.

I guess the key word here is resistance. The 7 of Wands can indicate a feeling that no matter what you try to do, big or small, you have something to fight against in order to get it done. I remember the other night watching the premiere episode of the show '11.22.63', a character said, 'When you push the past, the past pushes back.' (It's a story about time travel, and the characters are discussing how the past doesn't seem to want to be changed and throws up blocks when you try to change it.) The present can feel that way, too! When you push the present, when you push the status quo, the present often feels like it's pushing back! Want to post an image to your blog? Your PC pushes back. Want to get to work on time? The train timetable pushes back. Want to buy a house? Other buyers push back. Want to lose some weight? The chocolate pushes back!

But the 7 of Wands is Fire of Fire, and the figure in this card may be facing these challengers alone, and no one seems to have his back, there's no wall he's backed up against, nothing but clear blue sky and at least he literally seems to have the 'upper hand'. In any case, he shows no sign of giving up. He is fighting Fire with Fire!

If life is pushing back at you today, rise up to meet the challenge. Your foe may be only yourself, after all.

Confronting the stalker cards

'Stalker' cards are those that keep turning up over and over, no matter what deck you're using, what question you're asking, or sometimes even what person you're reading for! The lovely and wise Pearl Annie shared a technique for looking at stalker cards (she calls them 'cards that haunt me') in a group on Facebook called The Tarot Readers Development and Study Group. She shuffles her deck thoroughly and then divides it into five piles to determine what plane of existence the stalker card is attempting to deal with: Fire, Water, Earth, Air or Spirit.

I thought I'd just try that with my two recent stalkers, Knight of Wands and Chariot.

Three cards into the Fire pack, I found the Knight of Wands. I placed the two cards before him face down above the Fire pack, and placed him on top of them facing up. Then after two more cards, I found the Chariot! So I placed it and its previous cards below the Fire pack. 

(It doesn't matter what order you put them, that's just the order I said out loud as I laid them out so I stuck with that, even though normally I would have done Fire - Water -Air - Earth - Spirit. It's early, and I am a witch of dismal memory.) 

Both cards have fallen in the Fire pack, which comes as no surprise at all, but you never know until you ask. Knight of Wands is a Fire card of course, being Wands, and its elemental affinity is Air, so he is Air of Fire. The Chariot is a Water card, associated with the moon and Cancer. It's action that they're calling for, both in thoughts and feelings. I should act on thoughts and feelings, and not just think or feel them. 

I thought it would interesting to take this technique a bit further. What would happen if I looked to see what cards fell in the same spot in the other packs? Would that give me insight into how to support the Knight of Wands and Chariot across all planes? How can my other aspects aid this one that wants so much to come out?

I counted down into each pack and repeated the laying out of the cards as I did for the Fire pack:

Aiding the Knight of Wands

Fire - Knight of Wands, Water - 9 of Wands, Earth - Queen of Wands, Air - 2 of Cups, Spirit - 8 of Wands (confession, the 9 of Wands and Queen of Wands came out reversed, but I turned them over for the photo, so I'm going to read them reversed). 

I can aid the Knight of Wands' manifestation by watching out for feelings of being judged by others, being more sympathetic and forgiving of my physical body and habits, sharing ideas with others, and engaging in a daily spiritual practice. 

Aiding the Chariot

Fire - Chariot, Water - 7 of Wands, Earth - World, Air - 9 of Cups, Spirit - 2 of Pents Rx (confession, 7 of Wands was reversed so I will read it that way.) 

I can aid the Chariot's manifestation, again by avoiding defensive reactions, glorying in my physical self (note the glorified naked form in the card), thinking about where I am satisfied and successful, and accepting that being alive means not always (or even usually) feeling anything like being on an 'even keel'.

In summary 

My stalker cards want very much for me to make progress. The other cards show the blockages to these cards -- possibly they are the real reasons the stalkers keep stalking. They're not waving but drowning, as the poem says. They're stymied by attitudes in the other planes. The cards are telling me to stop seeking balance and get on with things. Lighten up. Stop looking for perfection in myself or my methods. Just DO something. Knight of Wands and Chariot will be satisfied if they see me do something, anything. So stop telling myself it won't be good enough.

Good insights. 

Go for it -- Seven of Wands

The Llewellyn Tarot by Anna-Marie Ferguson (Llewellyn 1995)

I drew the Queen of Cups again today, so I decided draw a different card for the blog, and got Seven of Wands. I like that this guy is standing at the top of waterfall against a blazing orange sky -- it makes me think of seeking relief from the heat! Hopefully today will be cooler.

My personal key phrase for this card is 'proving oneself.' I've been working on a job application, and that always entails a feeling of doing that.

The companion says, 'Portends a good time to hazard a gamble. Though the odds may seem against you, there are advantages to your position.' That to me seems like encouragement to submit my application for the post and just go for it. The competition for the post may seem fierce, but I may have things to offer that perhaps some others don't. The reversed meaning is listed as, 'Danger in doing nothing. A warning to take action of any sort.' And again, that suggests to me that if I don't apply for this post, I will regret it when I find out who did get it, and think to myself, 'Hey, I could do as good a job as they can!'

So I guess today will be the day I send in my application.

March up to the gate and bid it open - 7 of Wands

'You're out of the woods
You're out of the dark
You're out of the night
Step into the sun
Step into the light

Keep straight ahead for the most glorious place
On the face of the earth or the sky

Hold onto your breath
Hold onto your heart
Hold onto your hope
March up to the gate and bid it open'

~Wizard of Oz 

The 7 of Wands is traditionally about self-defense, or proving oneself through some sort of trial. Today's card from Deviant Moon Tarot (US Games 2013) has a similar sensibility, but the trial is over in this depiction. 

'A bewildered child has been lost in the thicket for several days. Against overwhelming odds, she finally discovers a path that will lead her home. Seven blooming wands mark the end of her ordeal.' ~ Patrick Valenza, LWB

I'm really glad it's Friday, but I can't help but think how fast weeks go by these days. Weeks seem to go by as fast as days used to when I was a kid. I wonder why that is. Do you remember how summer break used to last forever? All those endless glorious days, and when the school finally started again, you felt like it had been an age since you were there. Well, I suppose that's natural. When you're only 10 years old, a year is 10% of your entire life so far! No wonder a week or a summer seems so long. When you're getting on to 50, it doesn't feel like such a significant chunk. :) 

But anyway, this card is about finding your way out or overcoming obstacles. What obstacles are you facing, or what 'thicket' are you feeling lost in right now? The card assures you that you can find your way out, if you don't lose faith in your own ability. Don't doubt yourself. You're nearly there! 

Sherlock Holmes Tarot -- Hot Pursuit

Hey, it's bank holiday Monday, no work! Lovely. :) Today we begin to see why some people may not like the Sherlock Holmes Tarot (Connections, 2014). The majors have all had their names changed, which might be bad enough to some, but the minors are a great departure from tradition. Not only have all the suits been changed, but there are no pips of any kind on any card. You simply cannot tell by looking at the image which tarot card it is meant to be. Today's card is 7 of Wands. Can you see seven wands here? Can you see anything here that remotely reminds you of the 7 of Wands? Me neither.

John Matthews and Wil Kinghan have chosen to dispense with Swords, Wands, Cups and Pentacles and have instead made their suits Observation (cards have an icon of an eye), Evidence (footprint), Analysis (magnifying glass), and Deduction (question mark). And so the icons and the number are all you get on each card to cue you as to what tarot card it is. The image itself refers to something from the Sherlock Holmes stories, which may or may not seem, to you, to relate to the traditional card meaning.

Let's talk first about the 7 of Wands. It is a card about boldly going on the offensive, going after what you want, defending yourself, standing up to challengers, showing conviction, meeting challenges, fighting spirit, courage, perseverance in the face of seemingly hopeless situations.

In the Sherlock Holmes Tarot, we see Watson with a dog, moving through a tunnel in the usual lamplit, foggy London streets we associate with Holmes stories. To me, it looks like they're taking a leisurely stroll, but according to the companion book, Watson is being dragged along by this dog, hot on the trail of a fleeing criminal. The book refers to the dog as a 'drag hound', but as drag hunting involves an artificial trail created beforehand by dragging something along to create sport, I would say it is more of a trail hound, because he is following the trail of actual prey (in this instance, a criminal). But that's just being picky.

The dog in question is from the Holmes stories, and is called Toby. Holmes says he would 'rather have Toby's help than that of the whole detective force of London'. I can see how being dragged along by a hound hot on the trail would be rather like the tenacity of the man in the 7 of Wands leaning over his enemies to whack and slash at them. It's too bad the image in the card looks more like Watson is whistling a tune with his hat pushed back on his head than having his arm pulled out of the socket by an excited dog on the chase.

The card asks me to consider: where do I need more tenacity in my life? In what areas should I put more effort? What am I hot on the trail of? or Where may I have lost the scent of my true direction? What is the elusive prey that I seek, and what do I need to do to catch up to it? It asks you to consider those things, too.

Have at you! Take that!

Sasha Graham, in an interview with Daily Tarot Girl, made a nice recommendation for the daily tarot draw. Many people draw a card each day for a general impression of the day, perhaps asking 'What does the universe want of me today?' or 'What is in store for me today?' Sasha puts a more positive spin on it by asking: 'What can I do today that will bring me pleasure and also be positive for my future?' This question certainly encourages you to look for the most positive application for even the most negative cards, and also prompts action of some sort, instead of passive waiting to see what comes about. For these reasons, I believe I'm going to try seeing the card in light of this question for the next few days.

So today I've drawn 7 of Wands from the Cosmic Tarot. The Golden Dawn call this card 'Lord of Valour,' and its astrological correspondence is Mars in Leo. Whoa. This card is all about fighting spirit -- courage -- self-belief. If Mars in Leo doesn't have it, who does?!

'There is a fearless quality to Mars in Leo that's determined to put on a good show. We're ready to fire off some gutsy moves under this influence. Mars in Leo can evoke our inner drama queens, so be sure you have a stage other than your relationships to act out the need to be seen, adored and worshiped. Praise and appreciation go a long way, don't be stingy on the compliments.' ~Sherene Schostack 

I can certainly see this courage and drama in the 7 of Wands card from Cosmic Tarot. The man in his high-waisted trousers with poet shirt tied up at the belly button (!) takes the stance of a dance instructor and draws back his staff to smite the half-hearted jabs of his opposition in a majestic sweep. They don't stand a chance. He will rebuff them with one graceful blow, draw himself up, click his heels together, tuck his staff under his arm and stalk off into the sunset. Probably with a toss of his head.

I really like that, and boy do I need a message like that today. I have some challenges at work, some knotty problems that need to be untied. Today's card tells me I can rise to the challenge -- and not only that I can, that I should. I should do it with the same confidence and assurance as this haughty fellow, with an Errol Flynnish  'Ha ha!! I laugh at you!'

So...what can I do today to bring pleasure to myself and positive impact on my future? I can approach today's challenges like Mars in Leo. Confident, self-assured, and brave, knowing I am most certainly up to the challenge.

Ain't playing today

Struggle, challenge and obstacles are what the Druidcraft Tarot offers today (Carr-Gomm & Worthington, 2005). Well, yay. My favourites.

In this card we see a Celtic warrior, barefoot and shirtless, defending a hilltop position against a barrage of enemies attacking from below. He's in a good defensive position at the top of the hill, but he's on his own and not exactly fully armoured. It looks to me, though, like those guys below are more brandishing their spears and jeering than really attacking. I've always thought this card was more about defending one's position or standing one's ground, proving oneself in some way, rather than actually engaging in a full-on fight.

Well, but I don't want to defend my position, stand my ground or prove myself today. I just want to get through the day as quietly as possible and get home and make a pot of chili. So maybe this is me warding off all attempts to engage with me on any level today. Just can't be bothered to do more than give the message,'I don't want to talk about it. It doesn't matter to me. Just do whatever.' When I look at the card that way, he does seem to be crossing his wand across theirs as if to push them back without engaging them. Just a kind of shove. 'Get off!' He seems to be saying. 'I have more important things to do, like finding my robe and slippers and the remote control. Go home. Go pick a fight elsewhere.'

Fiery challenges

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

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

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

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

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

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.