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. 

A "dumb reading"* -- say what you see

CBD Tarot 

'How can I motivate myself to do a particular thing that I ought to do?'

Your desires and your actions are not cooperating. At some point they seem to have been moving together in the same direction, but both of them are now looking over their shoulder. At what? The direction from which they've come. The crossed wands show that earlier in the journey, they cooperated, worked together. But now, they are at an impasse. (A cross could be an alliance, or it could be an "X" as in "stop"). They're stalled out. If they were to turn their heads and look in the direction of travel, what would they see? 

They would see a man in a chariot. His gaze and the gaze of his two strange blue horses are toward the forward motion of the path. (The way the bodies, though not the faces, of King of Cups and Knight of Wands are facing). The chariot faces us, the viewer, but we see a wheel on the left and the horses' heads and the charioteer's gaze are to the left, so it looks to me like this chariot is being turned to the left, heading down the path, 'back on track'. The charioteer's left hand is coming up, elbow raised. I can just see him complete the motion to point his horses toward his right. The two horses that were pulling in opposite directions will come in line -- it's already beginning to happen, as their heads are both moving in the same direction. The King of Cups and Knight of Wands will hear the commotion, turn their heads, and follow his lead. 

The Chariot will surely be able to mow down obstacles in the way, and progress can be made, as long as the King and Knight follow in the path he clears. 

Will you allow yourself to take agency as the Chariot, or will you stay stalled out as the King of Cups?

(Notice my recent stalker cards of Knight of Wands and Chariot. Not surprising, as I keep reading about the same theme, using different decks on different days. And they say tarot is random. LOL)

*"Dumb reading" is a term of Enrique Enriquez - Eschew symbolism and esoteric knowledge in favour of looking at what's happening in the cards. 

Reading using directionality and reversals

Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Tarot  

This is the reading I've been exploring in my journal for the last few days. I'd drawn cards of the number 5 two days in a row (not pictured). Five being associated with finding balance, I asked 'What is attempting to find balance in my life right now? What is out of balance? and What is maintaining equilibrium?' I drew Magician Rx, Strength, Star.

So, a weakened Magician is attempting to find balance right now. Personal power is not being used to bring my needs into reality. I am not identifying my true needs. Strength has come forward as what is out of balance right now -- again a card of personal power and taking the bull by the horns (or lion by the jaw). The Star has maintained equilibrium -- hope has not been lost. I have felt all along that there is plenty of time to address my issues. I just haven't done anything about them. (The reason why is seen in 9 of Pentacles later).

To rectify the reversed Magician, I drew Hermit and placed it above Magician. I can identify my true needs and establish balance in my personal power within myself, or with the help of a mentor, or in a spiritual tradition or practice. wondering what the Hermit's lamp was lighting, I drew another card to see what was in his line of sight. Queen of Cups. Her posture echoes that of the Hermit -- both facing to the left, both intent upon the item they are holding, for the Hermit, the lamp of enlightenment, for the Queen it's the world's craziest cup, shaped like the Ark of the Covenant with the seraphim on either side (if the Ark of the Covenant were made of spare pipe and hood ornaments nicked from the cars of pimps in Starsky and Hutch.)  Queen of Cups is Water of Water -- and so was the daily card that prompted this draw (not in the photo), 5 of Cups, another Water of Water card. This imbalance or disturbance is in the realm of emotions and relationships and personal power.

 Looking at the Queen of Cups and Hermit makes one long to know what is in their line of sight -- so I drew another card to see what they are looking at and got 8 of Cups reversed. Another Water of Water card! 8 of Cups is recognition of time to move on; reversed suggests confusion or delay in making that move.

How can I overcome this confusion, find some clarity? I drew a card to rectify the 8 of Cups reversed and got -- King of Swords reversed! Fire of Air, reversed. I am Aquarius, and King of Swords is the card associated with Aquarius. He's sort of my default setting. But here, to overcome my confusion about what needs looking at and changing, I can't do it through King of Swords, but through King of Swords reversed. Usually, I tend to be rational about things but now that is not what is needed. To clarify this, I remembered a technique of identifying reversed court cards by identifying their elemental opposite. If King of Swords is Fire of Air, his opposite would be Air of Fire --Knight of Wands!

Knight of Wands, that maker of 'down and dirty' plans, that explorer and adventurer, that risk taker! Knight of Wands? How the heck do I access Knight of Wands energy when I don't even feel that I remotely have it right now?

I took the card out of the pack and looked at it for a while. I noticed the pyramids in the background. The Knight of Wands is not drawing energy from his surroundings, which are dry and barren. His passion is inside him. So it must be somewhere inside of me, even when there is nothing in my environment or situation to feed it. What is the Knight of Wands charging toward? What is he charging away from?

I put the card back in the pack and shuffled to find out which cards he would end up between. I found the Knight of Wands and laid him out with the cards on either side of him: Chariot, Knight of Wands, 9 of Pentacles.

The Knight of Wands is moving away from 9 of Pentacles (Air of Earth), whose energy and line of sight are directed away from him (though her body posture is still open to his direction). Her attention is definitely elsewhere, focused on her bird (Air) of prey (Earth). As Air of Earth, she contemplates the material/physical realm. Her satisfaction with her status quo is evident. She is complacent, self-congratulatory, self-satisfied. These are not bad things, but the way she spends her leisure time may no longer be balanced -- too long standing still. Too long watching others move (her bird of prey, which she will presumably set loose to watch fly).

How does the Knight of Wands move me from too much physical luxury? What does he move me toward? The Chariot, a Water card, associated with Cancer and the Moon. Okay, so the Water of Water cards led me to draw a variety of Water cards that have laid me a path to -- a Water major! The emotional plane is dominant in this issue. Not the material plane or the logical plane, but the emotional plane, and how to take action with balanced emotions.

'Cancer is the gateway to incarnation, as Capricorn (its opposite) is the gateway to ascension. Cancer's energy guides us to learn the distinctions of our emotional and logical reasoning so we can recognise how they don't always agree' - agent64.com/cancer-the-chariot

Like a Cancerian crab, the Chariot has a hard shell and a soft centre -- appearing tough on the outside but deep down quite sensitive and vulnerable.

The Chariot card is full of this tension between opposing forces: black and white sphinxes, male and female, facing in opposite directions, meant to be pulling the chariot but not hitched to it and lying down (they seem ambivalent), the lingam and yoni on the shield (which to me looks like a top that spins in place but doesn't actually get anywhere), the chariot is a conveyance but is built like a cube of concrete, no reins and no motion in the charioteer who is encased in the concrete cube (he seems ambivalent), chariots are often associated with the sun ('chariots of fire') but this one is decorated with moons and starry night skies and is associated with the moon.

In other words, the Knight of Wands is me progressing, through my own inner drive,  toward a state of balance created by acknowledging that there is always a state of perpetual tension, and harnessing that tension to drive my life forward. I have been looking for balance rather than acknowledging constant tension. In fact, I have turned from acknowledgement of tension, turned from the areas that need attention (Water and Fire) and settled into some complacent wallowing in the material realm. And there I've wallowed for quite some time.

'To be useful, either to herself or any higher purpose, she had to use her ambivalence as a driving force in her life, a force that would power the Chariot' (Rachel Pollack, The Forest of Souls, 75).

Much to ponder. The Chariot and the Knight of Wands are going on my altar.

Some of these techniques were shared by Caitlin Matthews in a session at the UK Tarot Conference, October 2015. A webinar and DVD of line of sight and rectifying reversals, etc,  may be available at some point. Visit her website at Hallowquest.

Other techniques seen herein have been shared by Alison Cross in TABI conferences, by Benebell Wen in her book Holistic Tarot, and many others.

Tarot Journal - Knight of Wands and Chariot

Gaining ground, goal line bound!

Knight of Wands - Daniloff Tarot 

Oh look, more broccoli. It's Knight of Wands from Daniloff Tarot. Well, I drew Page of Wands on Monday and mentioned that when the Page of Wands grows up, he becomes the Knight of Wands.

Last night I started a new evening class, the first formal class I've taken since I earned my degree in 1989. I'm preparing for my assessment to become Area Librarian, which would see me in charge of five libraries. And this morning I woke up feeling like it was a good day to finally address all this junk food eating I've been doing for the last couple of years which has led to a weight gain of 30 pounds! (Maybe that's why the Knight of Wands is carrying broccoli and has a skirt of leafy greens...)

I've been a lot more Knight of Wandsy lately than is my usual MO. He has determination and commitment and a lot of passion. He charges forward toward his goal. He has no clear plan how he's going to get there, trusting that he can make it up as he goes along, 'monitoring and adjusting' as we used to say in the teaching game--in other words, trusting that he can deal effectively with any obstacles or challenges that cross his path. He is youthful, confident and outgoing. He's sort of like the high school football hero -- young, popular, confident, with his whole life ahead of him. Possibly arrogant, swaggering and full of hubris, but on the whole a good-natured and pleasant chap. This is the sort of character I think of when I typecast the Knight of Wands, and the character who comes to mind for me personally is from a little-known film from 20 or 30 years ago called 'Everybody's All-American.' The character is the young Gavin Grey:




Over the course of the film, Gavin is taken down a peg or two (or three!) but he's certainly Knight of Wandsy while he's in university and a few years thereafter. 'Golden Boy,' they called him.

I don't know how many touchdowns I'll score today but I feel like I might be able to make it over the goal line a few times before I'm done. :)

He's all sparkly glowy

Sirian Starseet Tarot 

Here's the Knight of Wands from Sirian Starseed, also known as Adept of Flames. He has a piercing gaze, a purple robe, a waxed chest and a glowing solar plexus chakra. All tools to vanquish fate!

The Adept of Flames asks us today to balance our solar plexus chakra by reflecting on these questions:

What lights my fire?
What do I feel in my 'gut' that I want to do?
What are some things I used to be curious about that I've lost the flame for...do I need to rekindle the flames? 
Am I spending time worrying about what other people think of me and my choices? 

The manipura (solar plexus) chakra responds well to scent, so perhaps you could take a nice scented bubble bath, put on some fragrant lotion, or burn some incense today while you think about these things.

I'm in London today, having gone to visit friends. Fingers crossed the weather is nice! May the Knight of Wands lead us on some interesting adventures for the day. :)

Seems a little early for all this fire

Sacred Rose Tarot

This is one freaky Knight of Wands. He looks like he's emerged from the bowels of Hades! He's certainly nothing if not fiery, in fact both he and his horse seem to be made of flame, and the scene they are thundering toward us from is also alight with red, and even appears to be smoking. The knight and his horse are upon us, about to go charging past. The horse has a star on his forehead, in the shape of the symbol of fire. The knight leans toward us, holding out the wand, not poised to strike or to throw it, but with hand open, like passing a baton in a relay race. Why, it's just like a scene out of that dreadful Kevin Costner film, The Postman.

Why is the Knight of Wands passing the baton on to us? Well, just guess. The LWB says, 'There is the need to act quickly, without warning. Alertness and creative thinking are essential.' In other words, we are expected to take this 'wand of creativity' and run with it, just like in a relay race. In fact, we become the Knight of Wands ourselves, charging onward into our lives, active, alert, unpredictable, even impetuous. Sometimes such things are called for.

Now, in a daily draw what could this mean? Perhaps it is the suggestion that I be open to doing something a little different today. Whatever pops into my head to do. The Knight of Wands wouldn't hesitate and neither should I. Right now, I'm more interested in curling up with a cup of coffee than charging off doing fiery things. But the day is young.

Running in circles

West, US Games 2008

Monday with the Halloween Tarot by Kipling West

The Knight of Imps -- Knight of Wands -- is certainly a fiery chap! Even his horse has steam pluming from his nostrils. They're dashing off for adventure, accompanied by an imp flying alongside, and watched in wide-eyed wonder by the ubiquitous cat.

So who is the Knight of Wands? In my mind, he's the teenage version of the King of Wands, who for me is James T Kirk. What would the 'teen Kirk' be like? Overconfident, unprincipled, charismatic, popular with most, envied by all. Everybody knows his name. His reputation precedes him. The girls love him, the boys want to be like him, the teachers are charmed by him. He's  Mr Popularity, Most Likely to Succeed. He'd also be voted Most Likely to Die Young, if high school year books had that category. Risk taker, boundary pusher, adrenaline junky. Sometimes he grows up to be Captain Kirk. Sometimes he just stays the cool-but-crazy-kid with the fast car--annoying and immature. Or worse, the Knight of Wands is  Eddie Haskell of 'Leave it to Beaver'. A well-groomed 'weaselly wise guy', Eddie is the perfect example of the shadow aspect of the Knight of Wands. I can't think of a character to represent the Knight of Wands in his positive aspect at the moment. Any thoughts?

Is Joey in your tarot?

'In your own favourite deck, does the Knight's horse reflect the Knight's personality? Does the horse's livery reflect the suit's qualities?  Not all Knights are on horses - other creatures are used - do the other animals chosen reflect the Knight's suit, or has it been chosen arbitrarily?'

Alison at This Game of Thrones asks this question, so let's listen to the Knights in Courtney Davis's Celtic Tarot:

Knight of Cups