Pieta

Our last draw from Grail Tarot gives us another court card, the Lady of Lances, or Queen of Wands. This is Mary after the crucifixion of Jesus, and the meaning given bears little resemblance to the traditional Queen of Wands:

'Sympathy, support, refusal to condemn, restoration, companionship. The Lady of Lances offers support to the Seeker at all times on their journey. When things seem too heavy to bear, she walks beside them, offering her gentle wisdom and loving kindness to restore their spirits. She suggests alternative ways to overcome fear and doubt.'

That sounds more like the Queen of Cups to me, or at a push perhaps the Queen of Pentacles.

Anyway, the only message I received yesterday was that my new timetable is still not ready and that I will probably be on a four-week rotation rather than a two-week one like everyone else. Doesn't seem like it would be rocket science to timetable me in half a week in one work base and half a week in the other, but looks like it is.

I certainly hope nothing happens today that would cause me to need the comfort of the Lady of Lances. It's Friday and I can't be asked to deal with any trouble.

Did you hear something?

Grail Tarot, 2007

I'm glad I've drawn a court card today to show you. The courts in the Grail Tarot are: Lady (all depictions of Mary), Master (all Grand Masters from the Knights Templar), Preceptor (a teacher or mentor on an initiatory path) and  Brother (neophyte). These of course are equivalent to Queen, King, Knight and Page.

The companion book of the Grail Tarot gives a very traditional Page of Wands meaning: a message.  'An extraordinary emissary comes, strengthening and encouraging the Seeker to access their inner resources.' I wonder what sort of message I will receive today.

The image shows the Brother of Lances standing guard or keeping watch in the Templar Commanderie. Over his head, an angel hovers. He is looking upward, as if he senses something. It would appear that the messenger in this card is not the Brother of Lances himself, but the angel, a traditional bringer of messages in the Bible. (In fact, the word 'angel' itself comes from the Greek 'angelos,' which means envoy or messenger, and comes from the verb 'angello' which means to announce something or bring news. 'Angel' is the word used to translate the original Hebrew 'malek elohim' (messenger of God) or 'malek YHWH' (messenger of the Lord).

So perhaps the message I get today will be a little loftier than a simple email. You never know!

Spiritual Sat Nav

Grail Tarot, 2007

Oh, I am very happy to see this card today, the 10 of Cups (or 10 of Vessels, as it's called here) from The Grail Tarot by John Matthews. This card depicts the Seeker as Grand Master of the Order and Guardian of the Grail, having fulfilled his life's mission of achieving the Grail and then gone on to teach others about its mysteries. He has come full circle and thus the card represents wholeness, perfection, contentment. The Grail Tarot companion book says, 'We have come home after a long journey. Esteem and honours await us. We feel a sense of deep contentment and security in the knowledge of a job well done. The Seeker stands at last before the Grail.'

How can I draw a card that shows the beginning of a turning point one day (Seven of Swords) and then a card that shows the end of a journey the next, with nothing in between? Sometimes the same level of contentment associated with finishing something comes just from knowing you've turned in the right direction.

The Guardian of the Grail here is not finished with his journey. If he were, he would be dead, and even then it could be argued by some that his journey would still not be finished. But being on the path you're on now, and knowing why you're on it, can be a sort of homecoming. It can be type of finish line, in some ways. Like when you're lost, then you recognize a landmark and suddenly all the landscape that had been whirling around you while you trotted along on a treadmill in the middle stops spinning and sinks back to the ground, settling in place. You find yourself moving forward again with confidence. That's the kind of homecoming I'm thinking of with this card.

Yesterday I took a big black marker pen and wrote huge numbers in my diaries (2013 and my new 2014 one), starting at 100 on 26th Nov. I numbered each day 100, 99, 98, 97, 96, in huge writing. The point is to remind myself that time passes whether I'm on the right track or not, so it's to my advantage to stay on the right track. It's a countdown. I look forward to seeing where I will be by the time I get to Day 1. The big, bold numbers, taking up most of the page and seeping through to the other side of the page, cannot be ignored. I like clear signposts for the journey. The Guardian of the Grail is providing those to his listeners. He's also providing them to himself.

Knowing where you are and what you are working toward, that's a 10 of Cups feeling.

Band of brothers

Grail Tarot, 2007

Here is the Seven of Swords from The Grail Tarot by John Matthews. In this image, the Seeker-Knight has just escaped from a captor and meets some fellow Templars on the road. He is relieved at the prospect of being in a band of brother; being a lone warrior hasn't worked out to well for him! But of course, there is also a bit of fear there, too. After all, back in the Three of Swords, he had been brutally thrashed by a fellow Templar, so he can't be completely certain that these men can be trusted. Even if they turn out to be genuine Templars, that is no guarantee they won't do him a serious mischief!

I posted about Seven of Swords not long ago. It seems this card is stalking me a tiny bit. Am I being called to act with Seven of Swords energy, or am I being warned of it? Or both?

I have to admit this particular image, and the episode in the story that it represents, does not remind me much of any of the traditional Seven of Swords meanings. The Grail Tarot companion book says, 'Those who have faith in their own abilities, who trust their companions on the quest, will find their strength growing or returning. What seemed an impossible dream may suddenly become real and viable. Help comes from old friends and the long, weary road suddenly seems less frightening.' Hey, did you catch that phrase? Impossible dream? Didn't I just write about that yesterday?

Okay, I see how this applies to today. There is something I was thinking of starting today, which would involve starting over yet again, on a very long road where the daily rewards are few but the ultimate goal is fulfilling on many levels. This card encourages me to turn my back on past failures or mishaps and take up with familiar methods that worked in the past, and carry on with them, facing future challenges with these 'old friends'. It could also even mean enlisting the help of actual old friends.  And I realise as well that if I am to be successful, I will need to use Seven of Swords energy in all its aspects -- studying and preparing, being wary of pitfalls, being wily myself in the way I deal with the world. Yes, yes. I can see this.

A heavenly cause

Grail Tarot, 2007

Well, after yesterday's post, isn't it appropriate that today's draw from The Grail Tarot: A Templar Vision (John Matthews, 2007) is Perceval, major arcanum 17, Star.

In this card, the Seeker stands beside the ethereal Perceval, who is mounted on a horse and holding aloft the Grail. The Seeker holds out his hands tentatively to receive it, while in the background the Shekinah looks on. In the golden sky, a single tiny star glows faintly.

I can't help myself, there's something about this card, and the whole Grail Tarot, that makes me hum 'The Impossible Dream', from the musical Man of La Mancha, to myself while working with it. Look at Perceval's face in this card. He does not look particularly triumphant. He looks like he is practically outside his body. He looks surreal. He looks shell-shocked. (He has a similar shell-shocked look in the Haindl Tarot, where he is depicted as the Prince of Cups). This has cost him everything, which he gave willingly. Having failed to ask the Grail questions on his first visit to the castle of the Wounded King, Perceval has traveled  far and had many strange experiences, ending up at the Grail castle again, and this time achieving the Grail, accompanied by Galahad and Bors. But, not unlike Frodo, it occurs to me, Perceval is so changed by his experiences that he is no longer suited for this world. This happens to all three of them. (Bors though, perhaps because he was always better grounded, being the only married man amongst the Grail knights, does eventually return to earthly matters and to Camelot.) I don't know what the word is for this feeling I associate with the deck. It's a sort of wistfulness. Yearning. Hope where there is no hope. Oh, let's just listen to Peter O'Toole sing it and get it out of my system (I like Peter O'Toole's version. I like the fragility of his delivery):



The Star is a card of hope, and faith, a luminescence distinct from the hazy mysteries of the moon and the fierce brightness of the sun. It is untainted by arrogance, disappointment, or doubt. It is a card of clarity inspiration, salvation and enlightenment. On the other hand, the Star could also be aspirations and standards so high that no one could ever live up to them. However, in true Star fashion, their being impossible is no reason at all to stop believing in and seeking them.

The thing is, I don't think Don Quixote ever actually believed he would achieve his quest. He seems almost certain that he will die trying, the point being to never give up. Perceval has the look of a man who also thought he would die trying, and now that the quest is achieved, nothing seems real. (Not that anything had seemed real for a very, very long time, in the strange world of the Grail quest.)

I myself am not on any particular quest today, unless you count going to the audiology department to pick up more batteries for my hearing aids as a 'heavenly cause'. (Though it may be argued that visiting an NHS hospital is not unlike 'marching into hell', but that may be a bit of an overstatement).

What does the Star card make you think of? And what does this particular card image bring to your mind?

Grail Tarot: A Templar Vision

This week we will examine a deck that might annoy purists -- tarot purists in this case (coincidentally, Chloe at Inner Whispers is looking at an unconventional Lenormand). It's the Grail Tarot: A Templar Vision by John Matthews. Combining Grail and Knights Templar legend, it requires commitment to learn to use. I suppose you could read it based solely on pictures straight out of the box, but then you would miss the point of the deck entirely, and that would be a shame, as quite a bit of thought has gone into it, and using the complete system properly gives considerable insight into Grail lore, Templar history, and a light introduction to the tenets of the Gnostic heresies. (I have read some people say that this deck is a 'very Christian' deck. This could only be said by someone who knows nothing about orthodox Christianity, because the Grail legend and the Gnostic thought behind it are rejected by the orthodox church as complete heresies -- ie, not Christian. So take heart, those of you who say you find 'Christian things' distasteful -- you won't find much Christianity in the Grail Tarot. Lots of Bible imagery, but that in no way makes something Christian. Just look at Mr Crowley's work, if you need examples.)

To follow that star

No matter how hopeless, no matter how far

I don't sleep in on the weekends or days off, and usually I say it's because I just can't sleep more than about 6 hours a night. There's another reason, though, and that's because if I'm anywhere close to consciousness, my mind starts to race until I can't bear it and have to get up. Something haunts me, it's the kind of thing you come to terms with, but that sticks in there. (Most of us have a 'thing' in our lives.) When I have all my faculties, I am able to remind myself I am here in this moment and all is well. But in my vulnerable sleep state, I am at the mercy of the demons of the depths, and they are evil little bastards who will not let me rest. I woke up this morning from doing battle with them in that semi-conscious state between about 4.30 and 6.00 AM, when I'm telling myself no normal person would consider getting up on a Sunday morning, and I should at least try to stay in bed until 7.00. But thoughts and images drove me from under the warm duvet and into the cold morning. Now I'm here with a cup of black coffee and John Matthews' Grail Tarot: A Templar Vision, because a morning like this is no time for bubble-gum fairies.