New Years Eve spread

The Elements of Wellness Spread by Chloe McCracken

This spread works in pairs. How does something affect your wellness, for good and bad,  and what can you do about it? Line one - thoughts. Line two - physical reality, spiritual path, and motivation. Line three - emotions.

I decided to break out my beloved old first edition Anna K Tarot. So...without further ado...

How do my thoughts affect my wellness and what can I do about it? 
Queen of Cups - Knight of Cups

My thoughts help me master my emotions, but they can also rule me by leading me to overthink or overreact. I can allow myself to be more of a dreamer and less of a dweller on things, someone who wants to control myself and others. I can fix my thoughts on the experience of the rose itself rather than worrying about its cultivation or its thorns.


How does my physical reality affect my wellness and what can I do about it? 
Ace of Coins - Lovers

My physical reality remains strong and good, though at the moment a lot of this strength is waiting for development. I can make choices that are of a long term nature and have long term rewards, and that will lead to a happy old age.

How does my spiritual path affect my wellness and what can I do about it? 
Page of Cups - Wheel of Fortune

In fact I am still very much a seeker, a novice to the spiritual path. My spiritual path dabbles in the spring of living water, but I don't seem yet to have filled my bowl with it. I can take a tip from the Wheel of Fortune and ladle it up in huge bucketfuls.

How does my motivation affect my wellness and what can I do about it? 
Queen of Swords - 6 of Wands

I'm tough from past experience, but this also left me a cynical old bugger and that can certainly affect my wellness! What I can do about it is allow myself to feel good about the things I accomplish, no matter how big or small. 'Imagine what would happen if we obsessed about the things we love about ourselves,' says a meme I read today. Indeed.

How do my emotions affect my wellness and what can I do about it? 
Temperance - Queen of Coins

Being on an even keel is a very good thing, but you can also get on such an even keel it becomes a rut. Or like the lady in the picture, you so much want to avoid spilling the water you become afraid to step up onto the next step. What can I do about it? Reap a harvest and enjoy it. Forget balance and go for exhilaration. :)

How can I turn these into aphorisms for this year? Well...how about...

Enjoy the roseness of the rose.
If it will make you a happy old lady, carry on.
Drink deep from the living water.
Let yourself feel good.
Forget balance and go for exhilaration.

Off to write these in my journal. :)

Survivor

After a long, hot and in many ways troublesome week, I see myself getting up from it all and moving AWAY from the source of irritation --which is perfectly appropriate, as we're going away for the weekend and what a welcome break it will be.

Today's card is Ten of Swords from the Anna K Tarot (Llewellyn, 2013), which depicts an austere, snowy scene of 10 swords standing (and lying) in a pool of blood. Walking away from the swords toward the horizon is a man with a wounded, bloody back, leaving bloody footprints in his wake. The swords must have been in his back, and yet he's survived the ordeal and is walking away, toward the horizon, which for me is always a symbol of hope.

This is one of my favourite cards in the Anna K Tarot deck. It shows what the traditional 10 of Swords only implies -- that the worst has been endured, and from here on out, the only way is up.

As usual in a daily draw, the interpretation is less melodramatic! I haven't been stabbed to the ground by life this week, but I have had some irritations, so it's nice to see the 'worst' is behind me.

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.

Just over the horizon

Today's card from the Anna K Tarot (Llewellyn 2013) is the Death card. He is an appealing chap, with his slinky black garment draped around his hips, abs looking all chiseled, his black hair scraggling down over his shoulders in an Aragorn/Daniel Day-Lewis in 'Last of the Mohicans'/Daryl from 'Walking Dead' kind of way. Big ebony wings gleaming behind him, his scythe resting on the ground, he beckons for us with his free hand. The path leads straight to the horizon, no turning to either side, certainly no turning back. You feel compelled to take his hand and continue on the path with him. He is a welcoming and gentle Death.

I'm not one of those readers who will tell you that Death never means a death. Because literal death is an inevitable part of our life experience, there's no reason to believe that it wouldn't be represented in tarot. However, there would have to be significant reasons indicated in surrounding cards before I would see literal death in the Death card. And I would be sure to emphasize that my seeing a literal death is not a prediction but an intuitive flash, not something definite. This because I don't believe that tarot foretells specific events, but rather, gives shadows of overall patterns, which are (mostly) conditional upon one's actions and upon one's beliefs about the situation.

 For the most part, though, Death is the step that leads to transformation. Now here's another area where I differ with some readers. Death itself is not transformation. Transformation is what happens AFTER the Death card. The Death card represents the end of something, which has to occur before the transformation into something new can happen. Death is change, endings, and it's hardly ever comfortable or easy. People say there's no such thing as a dignified death, and of course in many ways that's true. Physical death is undignified. Humiliating things happen to our bodies; we have no power over our bodies anymore. At any other time, this would be an embarrassment. So yeah, physical death is undignified, in that sense. It is uncomfortable. It is scary. Similarly, big changes to our lives can make us feel awkward, sometimes not in complete control, sometimes embarrassed or humiliated or just simply scared. But then when we get through that stage, the changes start to manifest, and the ordeal was worth it. That's the experience that is suggested by this appealing and welcoming Death. He will help you on this path to transformation, which is just over the horizon.

We are the champions

I do feel a bit like a champion this morning. I've just completed my fourth morning yoga practice in a row. I won't bore you with the details other than it was a 27 minute practice and when I finished it I felt like a switch in my brain had been flipped on. I still feel tired (I've not been sleeping well lately) but I feel mentally more alert.

Today's card, Six of Rods, from the Anna K Tarot (Llewellyn 2103) shows the feeling of triumph. The man standing on the podium with flowers at his feet does look to me like an athlete, in his loincloth with the laurel wreath on his head. Maybe he's just defeated someone in a wrestling match, or perhaps he's just completed a marathon. Whatever his achievement, he's worked hard for it, feels great about it, and the crowd around him is equally thrilled and chuffed for him.

What is it in your life that makes you say, 'Yaaaaaaaay!!!!' Look for it today. :)

Warrior Three on a stick?

Today's card is the Ace of Rods, an appropriate card, since I'm late posting this this morning as a result of doing yoga at 6 AM! My resolution is to do at least 15 minutes of yoga every morning. This morning I did about 20 minutes of a kind of flowing yoga called 'yang yoga' by its creator, Simon Low. I enjoyed doing it, and I'm sure as soon as I have memorized his sequence (one complete side takes about 4 minutes), then I can do it on my own without the DVD and then two sequences per side will take roughly 16 minutes (depending on how fast my breaths are, as they tend to be one move per breath).

Today is the Ace of Rods in other ways as well; I have a plan to take some action recommended to me by a friend, where my job path is concerned.

Warrior Three

Reading the card 'intuitively' (ie, based on the picture), I also see a suggestion that today will be balancing act between keeping myself on an even keel and enduring the heat (which is suggested by the very yellow sky). At least there is a breeze in the picture. I wonder if I should take the suggestion to wear a skirt.

Whatever happens, I'm certainly not in any danger of falling off that little rod I'm crossing. That girl looks solid and confident. In fact, I can see her stepping out into Warrior Two, my favourite pose. Or maybe she's about to defy all her fears and lift her back leg and lean forward into Warrior Three! (Also a good pose, actually, but probably not on a stick, at least for me!)

What we need here is a little privacy!

Anna K Tarot, Llewellyn

Lovely card for today, the Two of Cups, a card of friends and companions. It can indicate a romantic attachment, but it can also be any type of friendly relationship, and sometimes even a business partnership.

I like this image, but I've never been entirely sure what Anna K was getting at with the curtains being held up by the two figures here. They are standing in an alcove on a balcony, overlooking a rose garden, apparently. They look into each other's eyes, toasting over goblets of wine. I assume they are drawing the curtains closed so they can enjoy a bit of kanoodling without an audience. Sometimes, though, it makes me think about the way that new lovers don't see the flaws in each other yet, and the way they are on their best behaviour, presenting to and seeing in each other an idealized version of themselves. But that's a bit cynical for a sunny Sunday morning, so let's go with version A, the kanoodling interpretation. :)

Hubby is venturing out to see a movie today (Pacific Rim - I have zero interest in it so he is going on his own) and I am meeting a friend for coffee. So perhaps the curtain is the 'spaces in our togetherness' (to quote from Kalil Gibran) and the Two of Cups card itself refers to this meeting with a friend I haven't seen since Christmas, even though we live in the same town! (I know, that is scandalous isn't it!)

(By the way, I have reconfirmed something - the best way to get a deck buggered up is to hand it to a client to shuffle. Amazes me what people can manage to do to a deck in a few seconds. I was taken aback by what someone did to my deck the other day. I'm going to back to my preferred method of only letting them cut, from now on! My Justice card is mutilated on one side. Boo!!)

Choose how you react

Anna K Tarot, Llewellyn 2013

This week I will feature the delightful mass market version of one of my all-time favourite tarot decks, the Anna K Tarot, by Anna Klaffinger. I have the 1st edition self-published deck, which I've used until the edges are worn as soft as cotton wool and the dark borders are faded. I love it. I had the 2nd edition, but found the cardstock too thick for my liking, so sold it. This new mass-market version is the best version I've seen so far. The cards are bigger, the stock is supple and flexible, the colors are more saturated and benefit from better contrast (some of the other versions of the Anna K were quite dark). I really, really love this deck.

Today's card is Five of Cups. When I was shuffling, this card snapped out, fluttered half way across the room, floated to the floor like the feather in Forrest Gump, and landed face up. How can you ignore something like that?

About as easily as the guy in the image on this card is ignoring the blue sky, golden sun, blossoming trees and three full cups behind him, while he sits huddled in the rain of the storm cloud over head and mourns for the two broken cups at his feet. Well, this card isn't about me ignoring the bright side. This card is about me seeing the light. Things that seemed so awful for the longest have started to seem not so terrible lately. I can turn my back on the dismal way of seeing things, I can turn my face toward the light. The funny thing about it is, I'm viewing the same thing, but just seeing it differently. I'm seeing it as if it doesn't really matter, and when something doesn't really matter, suddenly it's okay to be happy even though the thing is happening. It's only when it does 'matter' that you have to mourn and grieve and tear out your hair and beat your breast and all that other Old Testament type stuff.

When I say it doesn't really matter, I mean it in the best possible sense of 'not mattering'. Not a nihilistic sense, but an accepting sense. I can't think of a better way of putting it than Krishnamurti did when he asked his pupils if they wanted to know his secret. Of course they couldn't believe their luck and were all ears:

'This is my secret,' Krishnamurti told them: 'I don't mind what happens.'

So two cups are broken. So what? Mourning doesn't make them whole again. Regret or shame doesn't undo what's been done. Turn your back on it. There's light there to warm yourself in. Stop wasting your time, go sunbathe and sip something nice and cold from those three shiny cups!

She...may be the song that summer sings...

Anna K, US Games 2013

Who's this lovely dark-haired lady harvesting everything there is from one grove? It's the Queen of Pentacles, one of my favourite court cards. I wanna be a Queen of Pents when I grow up.

She is the closest thing to the Empress in the tarot courts. But whereas the Empress has a distinct 'It's-not-nice-to-fool-Mother-Nature' danger about her, the Queen of Pentacles is all soft edges and connection. She does seem to be pregnant in this image, a condition often used in tarot art to denote growth, fruitfulness, abundance, continuity. The vine is also a potent symbol of the riches of the earth, and so we have one curling about our Queen of Pentacles. She is surrounded by baskets, each containing a different type of fruit or vegetable, suggesting that abundance of all types flows through her, boundless bounty. She has just picked a ripe plum and is enjoying its fragrance, probably about to take a bite of it, because the Queen of Pentacles is nothing if not entirely plugged in to the earth, and of all the tarot queens she understands and enjoys the pleasures of the physical plane. She also most deeply understands and empathizes with its pains and sorrows.

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.

Will I? What then?

Anna K Tarot, 1st edition

I'm just embarking on a new opportunity, which would be of 6 month duration. I thought I'd ask the tarot about it.

Sample 1-Card Reading: Anna K Tarot

A practice reading with a specific question, for a hypothetical querent.
'What is the best way for me to be supportive of my child right now?'

Anna K Tarot, Klaffinger 2008

Do some soul-searching, and face up to all the fears you have for your child right now. List them. You could even write them down. What are you afraid might happen?  Remember that most of the things we fear and worry about never happen. Thinking about them won't make them happen. Worrying about them won't make them not happen. 

So...make two lists. On one side, list your fears. Then on the other side, list the ways you can see your child preparing himself  to face that very thing. Because chances are, even though you might not consider his way of preparing for or dealing with the issues you fear to be the 'right' way to handle it, your child is doing something. The Moon asks you to accept both your fears for your child, and your fears of the possible outcomes of what you see as the flawed solutions to his potential problems. 

Once you have faced these murky depths you harbor in your heart, you can realize that worrying about these imagined bad outcomes does no good. And you can let go of those worries and trust that your child is capable.

What is the best way to be supportive of your child? The Moon suggests you should have trust in his capability to deal with whatever life might throw at him, rather than projecting your own fears onto them. Just be there for your child should he actively seek your help, and dismiss worries from your mind as they arise; dismiss them as the things they really are -- scenarios of your imagination.

My go-to decks

Tarot readers can be a capricious crowd when it comes to their decks. There are just so many to choose from, and all so luscious! But even the most fickle of us have our tried and true, and for me, here are my top three...

Number 3: Morgan Greer

Morgan Greer, 1979

This deck was first published in 1979 by Morgan Press, by artist Bill Greer and Lloyd Morgan. It is distinct in being one of the earliest borderless decks, and is noted for both its vivid coloring and its 70s-tastic sensibility. Predominately of  mustardy yellows, oranges, blues and greens, the deck could be made up of paint chips your mother used to decorate the lounge in 1973. Using the deck makes me want to put on a pair of flair-leg trousers and play a Joni Mitchell LP (vinyl of course!) Most of the characters are shown in close-up, with limpid-eyed women and luxuriantly mustachioed men. Flowers and vegetation abound--roses, lilies, oak leaves, acorns, lotus blossoms, grapevines, sunflowers, even the occasional palm tree. The deck is a straight talker, imminently readable and forthright. It is very popular and widely available.

I also have to add, this is my favourite deck to shuffle! The cardstock and size are just perfect for riffle shuffling and I can sit and shuffle this deck over and over and over and over...it's hypnotic!

Number 2: Anna K Tarot

AnnaK Tarot, 2008

 Self-published by Anna Klaffinger in 2008, this deck has developed a loyal fan base and following. The first edition is now out of print, but there are still copies available of the second edition (2010) at Anna's website and a few other online sources. When that sells out, chances are there will be no more copies of this lovely deck printed. Anna has said that the process is very trying, and I cannot imagine how much work and devotion is required to raise the money for and oversee such a project as this.

The deck is simply a joy to behold. Nearly borderless, the cards are remarkable for their complete lack of esoteric symbolism. While based on the Rider-Waite-Smith system, Anna has managed to reflect the meaning of the cards in scenes unlike any other RWS tarot deck. Her homely interpretations of the cards speak directly to daily life experience. The people depicted in the cards have been described as almost hobbit-like--a simple, earthy people going about the business of their daily lives. Anna is from Austria, and I can get a sense of the place, because there are several cards set in a cold climate, with snow abounding, and many of the cards are dark in coloration, reflecting the long winters there. All seasons of the year are well-represented in the deck, and the deck is dominated by yellow and dark blue. I can't really tell you how much I love this deck. It is a very special thing!

Number 1: Druidcraft 

Druidcraft, 2005

I have to say, though, that my number one go-to deck is the Druidcraft Tarot, by Stephanie & Phillip Carr-Gomm with art by Will Worthington. Published in 2005, it has remained a very popular deck amongst many readers.

To begin with, it is a very large deck, and may people trim off the outer and inner borders to create borderless cards. This makes the cards easier to handle. It is a very colorful and beautiful deck, filled with green, gold and blue. Nearly every card is set outdoors, with grass, wildlife, trees and stones. It is a so-called Celtic deck, and takes many of its card interpretations from Celtic lore and familiar setting on the British Isles and Ireland, such as New Grange in Ireland or the Long Man of Wilmington.

As with all my favourite decks, it is RWS based. I find the characters in this deck beautiful and endearing. They are bit more 'noble' than the hobbity characters in AnnaK's deck. One of the curiosities of the deck is the large feet on some characters, but I have noticed that most of the big-footed people are on cards that represent authority or power, such as Justice, Empress, queens and kings. There are many barefooted figures in these cards, suggesting, I suppose, connection to the earth. It is a self-consciously earth-based deck (ie, pagan) rather than an earthy deck, as with the AnnaK, and some people object to this as smacking of distastefully romanticised/sanitized neo-paganism. Well, it isn't nature red in tooth and claw or anything, but I don't care, I love this deck and find it wonderfully insightful.

At the moment I have some 25 or so other decks that I also use, but these are the ones I select when I need a clear answer with no messing about. I love them!