What are you hanging on to?

Hezicos Tarot 

Today I've got the 4 of Coins, a card that is traditionally associated with being stingy with money. The card can also be seen as worrying too much about and hanging too tightly to anything, particularly as it pertains to the physical/material aspects of life. I've also often read it as pertaining to our time and how we spend it.

How are you worrying over, being too protective of, or being selfish or stingy with your time?

We talk about 'me time' and 'making time for ourselves', but it's also possible to go the other direction and be so protective of our 'time' that we end up not using it for anything at all. Then again, sometimes 'wasting' time comes from paralysis -- what if we spend a lot of time doing something and then we fail? We'll not only have wasted our time, we will have wasted our effort, possibly other resources (like ingredients if it's a new recipe, or doing our knee in if it's a new dance move or type of workout.)

Are you protecting your resources, your body, your time, so zealously that you end up sitting there doing nothing but holding on to what you've got?

Guess what happens to it eventually anyway. Time runs out. The body deteriorates. The milk and eggs spoil. The lotion loses its scent or goes hard in the bottle. The silver tarnishes. The nice clean pages in the blank book go yellow and fall out. All that stuff you were saving up so you wouldn't waste it -- wasted.

What do you need to stop wasting through trying not to waste it? :)

I hear that train a-comin', it's rollin' round the bend

It was lovely to visit Chloe in London yesterday. The train journeys there and back again, though, were less than stellar. I knew that would happen because yesterday morning, as my last Hezicos draw of the week, I asked 'What will my journey be like?' and then turned over:

Hezicos Tarot, Griffin 2010

Oh great, I thought. Delays, missed trains, bad stuff in general. But at least the end result will be happy. Didn't have time to post that draw yesterday morning, though, had to catch the 8.02.

What next?

I've been locked out of my email account for a week or so and I've submitted four forms to try to prove to MSN that it's really my email, but the verdict always come back 'insufficient evidence.' So, my old email accounts are locked, I guess forever. This is worrying to me. I suppose if they're locked up tight and no one can ever open them, they are probably safe enough. But if they're going to lock them up tight, I wish they would just go ahead and delete them. Then I wouldn't have to always wonder what the consequences will be.

So, I thought I'd ask tarot. What will be the consequences of my locked email accounts? Three card draw:

My contacts -- 9 of Coins
My finances -- High Priestess
Unknown consequences -- 10 of Wands

Hezicos, Griffin 2010

My friends have nothing to worry about, they are safe. That's a relief. And my finances are protected by the secretive nature of the few companies I deal with. They will not be fooled. The worry about 'unknown consequences' will plague me if I let it. But there's no reason to worry. If something happens, I will just have to seek out those who can help me bear the burden -- and find the solution. Ten of Rods does suggest something VERY annoying may happen. But it just as easily suggests a feeling of doom looming over me that I decide to shoulder and carry around. That latter one is most likely.

I don't think I have much cause for concern. No doubt there are thousands upon thousands of 'locked' emails floating around in cyberspace.

Never fear, if you are interested in ordering a reading, I have a new email:

rowan_tarot@yahoo.com

Today I am off to visit my friend Chloe, of Inner Whispers, and geek out over tarot cards! Yay!

Livin' the dream?

Hezicos Tarot, Griffin 2010

Today's card from the Hezicos Tarot is 10 of Coins. I seem to draw this card a lot, no matter what deck I'm using. In this version, we see a happy family of little Hezicos people, standing outside their mushroom house. The house is reminiscent of childhood drawings which are said to communicate a stable home--if a child draws a house with a big door and windows, it means they feel there is openness and freedom in the family. If there is smoke rising from the chimney, there is security and warmth in the family. If two parents and children are present, there is a sense of wholeness. A path leading up to the door indicates involvement with others, and so on and so forth. Most of those elements are seen in this card.

Ten of Coins in its positive aspect indicates security, contentedness with one's day-to-day life. It also can indicate conventional thinking, comfortable routines. It does not necessarily show happiness or emotional fulfillment. It rather shows stability in the day-to-day, what might be considered 'routine contentment'. In its negative aspect, it might indicate that this routine contentment trumps the pursuit of 'true happiness'. After all, no one in the picture is really smiling. The children look shy and tentative, the wife looks up at her husband with a sort of proprietary pride, and to be honest he looks back at her with a rather weary expression. 'Domestic tranquility ..to ourselves and our posterity', as set forth in the Preamble to the US Constitution, that's what we see in the 10 of Coins. But who knows what's going on inside these people. (By the way, click that link and watch. It's ace! Huge influence on my childhood, that show...)


The Rider Waite Smith version of the card holds more of these subtle nuances of domestic contentment without much sign of a deeper emotional fulfillment. We seen generations of affluent people, but not much to show a meaningful connection between them, or any indication of the state of their inner lives.

It's good to consider both the usual positive meaning of a card and also its shadow side.

The 10 of Coins coming up for me so often seems quite accurate on both counts. I am, in the main, quite grateful and content with my domestic situation. On the other hand, the 'snug' situation I am in makes it easy to settle back, reminding myself to be grateful for what I have, and not do any reaching or stretching or risk-taking that might lead to a more vibrant inner experience.

Isn't she lovely?

Hezicos Tarot, Griffin 2010

Today the Hezicos Tarot offers me the Star card. I am quite taken with this image. It is one of my favourites in the deck. The colours are beautiful and the scene is so evocative, with its mossy rocks, tumbling blue stream, water lilies and blue pickerel weed. As in the traditional RWS image, from one hand she pours water onto water, from the other hand she pours water onto land (or in this case, rock). However, she does have both feet on the ground rather than one on land and one on water. The liquid pouring on land and water is said to represent the integration of our dual nature of body/spirit, conscious/subconscious, baser/higher. The pitchers flow in an endless supply. The card is always representative of hope and renewal.

I quite appreciate the depiction of the woman in the image. Her body is not oversexualized as you see in some tarots, such as the Druidcraft. (Don't misunderstand, I love the Druidcraft, but why do the nudes have to be 19-year-old Page 3 models?) I like that this small-breasted figure is crouching in a manner to do with the task at hand rather than to emphasize certain parts of her anatomy. Okay, I like that she's got tiny tah-tahs. It makes a change.

In fact, I think they might just count as two of the 8 stars from the original RWS. Five in the sky, one on her headband, where are the other two?

I don't know why, but the more I gaze at this card the more I love it. She has such a demure look on her face. What a feeling of peace and hope you see here. The crystal purity of the stream. The life inherent in the colours. The movement of the water. I can even imagine the cool feel of the moss underfoot. I notice her foot is even casting a shadow. This would be an easy card to fall into for meditation.

I may just have to give that a go. (I hope there's a fleece jumper just outside the frame!)

Funny old deck

Hezicos Tarot, Mary Griffin 2010

The court cards in the Hezicos Tarot are curious things. All of them are close-ups of people wearing headgear and jewelry to indicate their suit. The pages and knights are in profile. The queens and kings face front and look squarely at the viewer. But there's nothing at all in the image to indicate the card meaning. With the courts in Hezicos, you are left to your own devices, your own prior knowledge of the meaning of the card.

Actually, for me this is the case with nearly every card in the Hezicos deck. While I find the images very pleasant and the colours beautiful, to read with this deck, I find I must call upon prior knowledge, and then search out any tidbits within the card that I might use to build upon. The meanings do not jump out at me. There's nothing in that King of Rods card, to me, to indicate the sort of assertive, confident 'show man' that I associate with this court character. The 6 of Rods makes me think more of playing on a rocking horse than making a triumphal entry, and that bald little fairy in 9 of Coins looks more like she's engaged in a personal hygiene moment than relishing her abundant good fortune. Still, enough of the RWS elements are there, instantly apparent in most cases, to prod me along, and the colours are so pretty I just go with it.

Today's draw says to me, as the tarot has been saying to me for some time now: If you follow through on your intentions today, you will feel great about yourself and will enjoy a deep sense of satisfaction.

So, let's do that, then. :) What are my intentions today? I guess the first thing is to identify them (though the King of Rods is not one for making plans--he just does. Right, there's my answer then! Get off here and go do something!)

'Lighten up while you still can -

-- don't even try to understand. Just find a place to make your stand, and take it easy.'  (The Eagles, 'Take It Easy')

[All images from Hezicos Tarot by Mary Griffin]

Do this - The Hermit

I like this Hermit card. He reminds me very much of the Laughing Buddha, or Chinese god Hotei (also Miluo Fo or Miluo Pusa), the god of Contentment and Happiness. He is one of Japan's seven lucky gods, and is associated with magnanimity. So, he is a bit of a stretch from the usual Hermit, who is a tall, thin ascetic treading the path to enlightenment with head slightly bowed. This Hermit balances on a pile of rocks, both his staff and his lantern giving off light, and with a benevolent and welcoming look on his face. 'The way to enlightenment is rocky, the path is not straight,' he seems to say. 'There isn't even a path! There's just a journey that you make up as you go along, a lot of scrambling. But there are so many joys to be had -- and you don't have to give up the "good stuff" to get there!' Notice his lantern does not contain an esoteric six-pointed star. It just has a plain old candle. But the wand does glow with an ethereal light, wrapped about with a purple ribbon that reminds me of the kundalini...I should look for opportunities today to include the senses in my meditation practice, and to remember that life is not all about discipline. Even the Hermit likes his pies. Apparently.

Don't do this - Queen of Coins 

On the other hand, I should not use this as permission to go too far into the senses and the material. The Queen of Coins here wears an exotic headdress which seems to be made of a net of black pearls. Very costly. Her earrings, necklace and little crown are gold coins. The Queen of Coins does not necessarily mean wallowing in material excess, but of all the court cards, she is probably the most likely to! I think this card is reminding me that what I need is not the perfect all-natural incense, or the perfect arrangement of items on the altar, or a new deck of cards, etc, to facilitate my practice. She's turned up, possibly, to curb my recent obsession with ordering stuff online! It has been completely ridiculous lately how much I've ordered. I'm scared to even look at my order history, the brutal truth! Stop this acquisitiveness, this card warns. And how about making it just one biscuit today?



Outcome - 4 of Swords

The outcome of taking a self-forgiving, middle way (which doesn't include going crazy in the other direction) will be peace of mind and restful sleep. The 4 of Swords is often associated with meditation that heals and restores. In other words, I will feel better today all around if I put the brakes on going after the sparkly stuff and try not to beat myself up for not being Mother Teresa. :)

I like this card. Isn't it interesting that the little man asleep in his cot has his own versions of the Hermit's lantern and slippers sitting there on the floor beside him? It's been a long day of scrabbling around on the rocks, but the scenery was beautiful, his packed lunch was tasty, and even though his little room is simple, it keeps him warm and safe and offers him the full spectrum of life experience (as seen in the rainbow of colours in his bedding). He has all he needs.

Looks like somebody's got a case of the Mondays

This week I will be using the Hezicos Tarot, created and illustrated by Mary Griffin. This morning I decided to draw three cards for the day. The first shuffle I wasn't thinking or paying much attention and drew Queen of Rods, 5 of Swords and 4 of Coins. I figured, hmph, I will concentrate and draw again. It's early. So I drew again and got:

Hezicos, 2010

So, there seems to be no escaping the 5s today. The Queen of Swords (me) is caught between the 5 of Cups and 5 of Rods. I believe this is going to be a day in which my moods and events are deeply coloured by the weather. A day of little emotional peaks and troughs and petty irritations, that I just need to get through.

The thing about daily draws, though, is they are never as dramatic as you might think. You pull 'Death' for the day and think, 'Oh good lord! What is going to happen that will be so 'transformational'??' And it might turn out that you learn a new shortcut on MS Word. :)  So this could just be me getting pissed off about slogging to work in the rain.