How'm I doin'?

RWS

Prairie Tarot, Robin Ator 2010

A very traditional 3 of Coins we have today from The Prairie Tarot by Robin Ator, 2010. A craftsman working on decorating a structure with three coins (or pentacles), pauses as two onlookers observe his work. As in the RWS version, one of the onlookers seems to be the patron of the project (the older man), while the other might represent a muse, a softer, more emotive point of view (the girl).

In the RWS, the craftsman works on a cathedral detail, the patron appears to be a monk, and the artistic character is a man in a flamboyant robe holding plans. Maybe he is the designer of the building. Or, perhaps the man in the decorated robes is the patron, and the monk represents the spiritual muse of the cathedral (knowing what we know about monks, such as the Cistercians, it seems more likely the monk is the businessman, though).

In a reading, the 3 of Coins often signifies receiving feedback on your work, considered opinions on your job (usually positive). It can also signify working as a team, though it seems to me that the man standing on the bench is doing the actual work while the others are providing their input. Still, without the artistic vision, the financial backing, and the skill of the craftsman, nothing would be built at all. It takes all three. So maybe the card can remind us that every member of the team has an important contribution, even if in the moment it doesn't seem that way. (This message reminds me a lot of yesterday's Justice message!)

Share the load

Prairie Tarot, Robin Ator 2010

That is one po-faced looking woman. What a face. A face like a smacked bum, I've heard it called. Well, maybe she just looks a little serious. Still, she's got a job to do. She's Justice, and Justice on the Prairie is serious business. Her expression says, 'Approach if you dare, but I am taking no sh*t from you. If these scales don't balance, I am fully prepared to run you through. Or worse.'

I like that there is a yoke in the foreground. It isn't really at her feet. It's closer to us. It makes me think of the pioneer spirit which said, if you don't work, you don't eat. Everyone must do his fair share. This is only reasonable, as survival depends on the contribution of everyone. No one can afford to carry an able-bodied person. Everyone who can contribute, must.

What is it that you can contribute, but you're not currently doing? What is that you could do that would take up part of the burden, that would share the load, that would make you feel better about yourself and part of something vital? What is it that you are now leaving out, and you know it isn't fair to others, or to your own self worth?

And what do you intend to do to remedy that situation? Because eventually, without balance, there's the sword.

Wahoo!

I needed a good pick-me-up after yesterday's tough reading, so I'm glad to see today's card from Prairie Tarot by Robin Ator is 6 of Wands. That's a good one to draw. Aleister Crowley wrote that the 6 of Wands shows 'Energy in completely balanced manifestation'. The card's title is 'Victory'. Whenever I see this card, I hear Queen singing 'We are the Champions.' Is that normal? Probably not.

The Six of Wands RWS card shows a warrior returning home triumphant, surrounded by his cronies. Most RWS-based decks continue this tradition. The rider on a horse accompanied by a wreath is practically as ubiquitous as the valentine heart with three swords plunged through it in the 3 of Swords card. Iconic, I guess you could say.

In the Prairie Tarot, our champion is not a warrior but a lad showing off his riding skills, perhaps in a competition such as a rodeo. He leaps his horse over a set of steps, flanked either side by the fenceposts that seem to represent wands in this deck. I like this card very much; it conveys the spirit of the Six of Wands instantaneously. As soon as you see it, you get that Six of Wands 'Wahoo' feeling.

Out of curiosity, I had a peek at the Learn Tarot website to see what she has to say about this card.

'In readings, the Six of Wands appears when you have been working hard toward a goal, and success is finally within reach. The recognition you have sought so long is yours. Now you can receive the acclaim, honor and reward that you deserve. If you do not feel close to victory now, know that it is on its way provided you are doing all you can to make it happen. The victory of this card does not have to involve beating someone else. You can triumph over yourself, the environment, or the odds.'

 The most important message for me to take is: 'If you do not feel close to victory now, know that it is on its way provided you are doing all you can to make it happen.' Let that be a reminder to me to do the right things today to move me one step closer to my goals.

Examining influences

Deck of 1000 Spreads with Prairie Tarot

This morning I decided to take a closer look at something that has been bothering me a lot lately, diet and fitness. I've ended up with a monster of  a spread, which is a side-effect of using the Deck of 1000 Spreads tool--but it was fun putting this thing together.

Top row
1. Problem   2. Health   3. Conscious Desires   4. You

Middle
Negative Influences from
5. Partner (what you can't change)  6. Partner (what you can change)
7. Co-Workers (what you can't change)  8. Co-workers (what you can change)
9. Friends and family (what you can't change)  10. Friends and family (what you can change)

Positive Influences from
11. Partner
12. Co-workers
13. Friends and family

Right side
14. Success
15. Outcome

King o Farr

Prairie Tarot, Ator 2010

Pardon the title of this post. It's redneck for 'King of Fire.' I can use redneck because I was born one. (My mother would be none too pleased to hear that, but what else could you be when you grow up in northeast Arkansas? I'd say I left the world of the redneck, but having resettled in West Midlands, UK, I'm not entirely sure I've come that far. Ha.) This King of Wands reminds me so much of Jeff Bridges in 'True Grit' it is not even funny. I can hear that growly voice just looking at him, and I heard that same voice from just about every old man of my childhood.

Come to think of it, Rooster Cogburn is a good example of the King of Wands. He has supreme self-confidence, takes the straightest route from A to B when it comes to strategy, isn't concerned at all about following any rules that he didn't make himself. He's not a detail man. But he does have his own sense of honour, even if it might not quite match up to everyone else's. That's the King of Wands, for sure.

Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn, True Grit

Just a good old boy

Prairie Tarot, Ator 2010

The Page of Coins here makes me think mostly of the sun, or perhaps the moon, which stands to reason, as today is the full moon, and a super moon at that. The background of the card is a warm yellow, and the only other detail on the card, really, is a lamp, emblazoned with an eagle.

The Page of Coins is generally seen to be someone who is endlessly curious about the natural world, what makes things work, how things fit together, what makes stuff tick. He's a very hands-on person, has great attention to detail, very diligent task commitment. That doesn't mean he isn't playful -- he hasn't progressed into the Knight of Coins yet! But he is the kind of person whose version of play involves finding out the answers to his ceaseless questions. He is the kind of guy who can put up a shelf for you, hook up your DVD player, and ask in return only that you come out to the park and play some softball and maybe go for a beer afterward. A good guy. Clean cut all-American type. ;)

Makes me wanna burst into 'America the Beautiful'

Prairie Tarot, Ator 2010

 This week we'll be looking at The Prairie Tarot: a Tarot of the American West, by Robin Ator. This is a wonderful self-published deck that came out in 2010. I have a great fondness for this deck because I feel that it is one of the few decks out there to try to capture the spirit of the American experience, through our own unique mythology, the American West.

How better to start than with my favourite card of all the minors, 9 of Coins! In the RWS tradition, we have a female figure holding a bird of prey, surrounded by symbols of material security. In the Rider Waite-Smith deck, it's a medieval lady of leisure in her pleasure garden, surrounded by grapevines, and with her sprawling villa in the background. In the Prairie Tarot, we have different symbols of plenty -- the wide open plains, no boundaries in sight, the fertile native grasses, and the plow. I fancy that the bird soaring through the air in the background can only be an American eagle. I see it that way, in any case.

Love it, love it, love it.

Prairie Tarot -- Becoming who you choose to be

I found this court card exercise at Alison's This Game of Thrones blog, and thought I'd give it a try.

1  Think of a single area of your life that you'd like to work on.
2  Choose a Court Card that best reflects where you are right Now.  
3  Choose another Court Card that best reflects your future Goal, how you'd like to be.
4  Set them out with the Now card on the left and the Goal card on the right. Leave two spaces between them.
5  Shuffle your remaining Court Cards* and think about the journey from one to the other.
6  Draw one card whose energies will HELP you make the transition. Set it after the Now card.
7 Draw one card whose energies will HINDER you from making the transition. Set in the remaining gap. 
*If you want to use the rest of your deck for those last two cards, by all means do so.

The area that I'd like to work on right now is my attitude toward my daily life. I would like to be more enthusiastic about tackling challenges, particularly in mundane areas. Maybe they aren't challenges so much as little annoyances. Things like tidying up, or eating well, working out, or even getting the gumption to go out and do something when it's more comfortable and appealing to just stay in. I think the key word is gumption. I'm looking to develop 'gumption'. So in the spirit of the word, I will use the Prairie Tarot.

Prairie Tarot -- 9 of Cups

Prairie Tarot, Glow in the Dark 2011

Today I've drawn the 9 of Cups from Robin Ator's Prairie Tarot -- A Tarot of the American West. It's really good to see this card today, because I've got a long Friday ahead of me. But, happily, it's the Friday before I'm on holiday all week next week. So this card speaks to me of the expansive and relaxed feeling of the Friday evening before a weekend off to be followed by five days of sweet freedom, then still another weekend. Actually...that's nine days. 9 of Cups. Nine days of freedom.

The cowboy in the card relaxes in his local saloon, legs crossed, chair kicked back, lounging with both arms stretched out on the bar. He is at his ease. All the cups around, coupled with the saucy portrait of the nude hanging overhead, speak to me of luxury and leisure. Indulgence in slow days of rest and relaxation and contentment. That's what I need! So yeehaw, hand me down my hat...that cowboy's also got a pocket watch hanging from his shirt, to remind me that the respite doesn't last forever...but I'm going to enjoy it while it does!

Prairie Tarot--7 of Swords

Prairie Tarot, Glow in the Dark, 2011

Today's card is 7 of Swords, from Robin Ator's Prairie Tarot: A Tarot of the American West. A man, likely a white man, judging from his clothes and hair, approaches an Indian camp or reservation. Behind his back he clutches seven swords. From the front, his ramrod straight posture is, I'm sure, accompanied by a look of studied guilelessness. The unwary Indians must all still be in their teepees, probably not even realising that he's walked up with his nice little surprise.

The card speaks to me of duplicity, deceit, betrayal. Why, though, are the colours of the swords arranged into the colours of the chakras?? And do my eyes betray me, or is the man's left hand dripping blood from the blades he clutches with his oversized, greedy hands?

Who is the man most deeply betraying here? The Indians? Or himself? Maybe he doesn't want to be here. Maybe he was sent on this mission to trick the Indians and doesn't want to do it. Maybe there is a crisis of conscience within him. Maybe.

Either way, there is a strong sense that the present moment of quiet depicting in the cards is about to end. There is a tension in the man's posture and the eye is drawn to the flaps of the teepees, as if the Indians are just about to begin emerging from them. Whatever is about to happen, is to going to happen within seconds, and whatever that may be, it's going to be painful for someone. This is not a win-win situation here, no way.