Can you dig it?

Aquarian Tarot

Our final draw from the Aquarian Tarot is The Magician. Wow, isn't it groovy. It's got wind chimes, it's got palm fronds, it's got Doug Henning as the Juggler--all it needs is Beverly Moss from 'Abigail's Party' asking us if we like olives and pressing us to have another gin and tonic and would we back in the 70s or what?

I like this Magician, he looks a bit spaced out. Forget the as above so below business, I think this Magician is comfortably numb. He may have forgotten he's even got hands. Bless him.

I'm off to London tomorrow to the UK Tarot Conference 2013, and very excited I am indeed! I will give a full report upon my return.

Life is luscious - taste it

Aquarian Tarot

What a great card to draw today, because I got up this morning and did some yoga, and my intention for the
morning is to try to be as in my body as possible today. Also, I'm taking care of a health-related thing today, as I travel to the audiologist and otolaryngologist to have my 6-monthly hearing test and review of my ears. When I get home today, I hope to fit in a workout.

Apart from all that, I think this is a beautiful Ace of Pentacles. I love the ace cards in nearly every deck. There's something really magical about them. When I was a little kid, I used to play with my sister's poker decks, sorting and looking at the cards, and I would always take out the aces and the courts. Aces and courts are my favourite cards in the tarot as well. I guess it's a lifelong attraction, me and cards. I've always loved cards, even before I started using tarot. They are just so tactile and delicious.

I'm really into my five senses today. This card seems to be 'spot on', as they say!

A friend of mine said the other day, 'Since all life is futility, then the decision to exist must be the most irrational of all.' That really irritates me. I, too, believe that there is probably no ultimate meaning to life, but so what? Life is an amazing thing. We are all aggregates of the elements of the universe, come together in distinct and unique ways, for a brief time, then for mysterious reasons, those elements dissolve back into the universe again to converge somewhere else. Who cares about 'meaning' in the face of something as awesome as that? Life may not have meaning, but so what? That frees you up, if you ask me. Life has no meaning, so just enjoy it. What a concept! If there's nothing to accomplish, that takes the pressure off, doesn't it? An it harm none, do what ye will.

Contemplating the earthly plane

Aquarian Tarot

This Queen of Pentacles from the Aquarian Tarot does not look particularly earthy to me. The background is filled with sky, and she even has wings on her helmet. she is wearing an ermine cloak, trimmed with that strange cured pork pink, or perhaps it's a very watered down red, that appears in so many of these cards. The shape of the figure suggests she is holding the pentacle, but we see no hint of actual arms. Her cloak appears to be ermine. She gazes down toward the pentacle with an impassive face.

Reading just from the picture, today's card suggests to me someone who is usually quite airy (in their head a lot) focusing more on the body, health, the material and the physical. Also perhaps on their work.

I went to the doctor day before yesterday to get results on an MRI I had (and to talk about my toe) because I've been getting a pain and numbness in the quadricep (just above and to the side of my right knee) for some time, and lately it has progressed to a dull ache, with occasional sharp pains. She had me have an MRI to see if there was any compression in my spine or pinched nerves, which there are not. I asked what is causing it then and she said something vague about nerve damage and gave me a prescription of 10mg ametriptyline. I took the first one last night and can say it really did nothing at all to help. It's at night that I get the most nagging pain, no matter how I lie it seems to aggravate the spot on my leg. I have to get all my weight onto my left hip and crook my right knee in just the right position to ease it. It's not an agonizing pain, just annoying enough to distract me from going to sleep comfortably. It's also started to hurt when I walk for any amount of time. I dread to think what it will do when walking season returns.

Anyway, the card seems to say I'll be thinking a lot about physical stuff today.

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

Aquarian Tarot, 2006

Hey, hey! It's the Six of Rods today! The Aquarian Tarot shows us a close up of the victorious soldier returning from battle.

This is a very auspicious card. It has to do with victory, success, triumph. Today is going to be a victorious day for me.

Victory is my key word for the day. :)

Towering toenails, captain

Aquarian Tarot, 2006

I hope this Tower card from the Aquarian Tarot doesn't mean what I fear it means! I have a doctor's appointment today to have a look at a my left big toe. Sounds funny but it's kinda not! Back in March, I wore a new pair of walking shoes (which I had to buy when I forgot my worn-in shoes, taking an extra pair of my husband's shoes by mistake instead!), and ended up getting a nasty case of black toenail, which occurs when one's toe is bashed around in an ill-fitting toebox. When I got back, the toenails of my left big toe and second toe were in terrible shape, lumped up, and and a top layer came away. This left a lumpy part underneath, but from the cuticle fresh new nail was growing, so I didn't worry. The lumpy bit has made it half way up my toenail now (I was hoping it would grow all the way off) but now it's started hurting and it hurts when pressure is put on it. (For example, when pressing the tops of the feet into the mat during yoga, for say, upward dog). So I am going to the doctor to see what she says, and I have a fear she is going to say we need to remove the whole thing and start again. I have a great fear of this procedure! Ugh!

Like the Wichita Lineman

Aquarian Tarot (US Games 2006)

The little guy in this card from Aquarian Tarot (2006) looks more like he's scaling the wall of the the cathedral than building it in David Palladini's version of the 3 of Pentacles. The long window opening onto nothing but sky gives a great sense of scale and height. I imagine that if we pulled back the perspective we'd see that the carver (or climber as the case may be) is clinging high above the cathedral floor, a vast space of air and potential peril all around him. The ceiling is still high above his head. The intricately tiled floor is many feet below him. If he falls, he falls. No safety net, no climbing belt. Just his own natural agility and dexterity.

That's a bit of a departure from the usual RWS image, which shows the craftsman standing on a ladder of some sort in a low alcove a cathedral, a church official and a patron of some sort looking at plans and observing him at his work. That card often makes me think of how teamwork is such an unacknowledged part of artistry, or how some people are willing to stand back and let someone else do all the work, depending on the question and the card position in the spread. Here though, I just think, Wow, that guy is all on his own, and to be honest, he looks like he could easily slip and slide right down that bit of stone masonry. In fact, he might even be beginning to slip in this picture. Sounds slightly familiar. I'm on my own this weekend, and I do feel a bit like I'm hanging from my fingernails. Well, it's 4.48 AM and obviously I am still up. I don't do well when left to my own devices. I need the remainder of my team to function.

Preparing

Aquarian Tarot, US Games

This week's deck is the Aquarian Tarot by David Palladini, first published in 1970 by US Games, reissued in 1993 and again in 2006. Of course, I have the 2006 edition.

Even though the box describes the deck as 'Art Deco-inspired' this deck strikes me as being quite 70s-tastic, especially the majors. The minors are nearly all close-up variation of RWS images, with lots of white space incorporated.

Today's draw is the 2 of Rods, or 2 of Wands. To me, the 2 of Rods is usually about making plans, creating a vision, feeling in touch with one's power. The Golden Dawn calls the card 'Lord of Dominion' and suggest it means expression of power, authority or influence. Waite himself compared the figure in his RWS image to Alexander the Great, who supposedly wept after he had conquered the known world, because after that he could think of nothing to do with his life. And so some readers interpret the card to mean success tinged with sadness.

I prefer, and tend to use, the interpretation of being in control over a situation, a time of feeling in touch with your power, and knowing your own potential.

Today I hope to work a bit more on something that may affect my daily life. I have something coming up Friday after next that could affect my work and daily routine. I am not sure I actually want this thing to happen, but I am going to step up for it anyway. I have strong ideas of my requirements, though, so things may fall through at the negotiation stage.  Maybe there's a tinge of sadness there because even if I get this opportunity, my heart won't truly be in it.

Sample Super-Quick 3-Card Reading: Aquarian Tarot

A practice reading. Hypothetical querent looking for a general reading. Cold reading.

Aquarian Tarot, US Games 2006 (original 1970)

You seem to have got it in your head that there's no rest for you, that in order to create a decent home life you must constantly be 'doing' for them, sacrificing your time to their needs. You think it's only fair that the family come first and you come last. 

There is another side to 'giving' and a 'happy family' that you aren't seeing. You and your family would likely be more contented if you all spent some time thinking about others and not yourselves. Consider ways that you and your family can act together for the good of someone else. This would prove both relaxing and rewarding to all of you. 

If your first thought is, 'Oh great, here's something I'm going to have to organize and then make my family do,' then you really are mired in backward thinking! Involve them, and see what happens. They might just take the reins and you'll find yourself able to kick back and enjoy. They might even go out and leave you at home to take an actual nap.