Birthday reading with Tarot de Marseille

Fournier TdM and Dodal TdM

It's my birthday and I've decided to use Angelorum's birthday spread. The card in the middle is my year card, and the other cards clockwise from top are 'area of life most affected by year card', 'aspect that will be most challenged by year card energy', 'avoid this in the year ahead', 'do more of this in the year ahead'.

My year card is Strength, because I use TdM, and Strength is 11, not Justice. I also don't see the point of reducing the number again and having two year cards, so I'm leaving La Papesse out of the equation.

Looking at the spread, there's a good balance of suits here -- one each. That always feels reassuring to me, a balance of elements. We have numbers 5, 9, and 8, and by some reckonings, Knights are 12, which reduces to 3. The Coins and Cups on the left are the 'soft' suits (as described by Yoav Ben-Dov), which can be regarded as feminine, receptive, and favourable. The Swords and Wands or Staves can be regarded as masculine, outgoing, and challenging. The fact that they have taken sides in the spread rather than mixing themselves suggests that there may be a bit of dichotomy or struggle between them. However, the lion is on the 'hard' side of the spread, and the lady is on the soft side, and we know who is winning that struggle! The message of the pips echoes the message of the trump -- gentleness will win out over savageness.  I like the way the Cavalier de Epee is facing in toward the spread; it makes it feel complete of itself. When cards on the edges of spreads face outwards, it makes me feel like the message is incomplete and more cards need to be drawn to see what they're looking at. Strength and Knight facing each other also feels right to me, especially as the position is 'area of life most affected by year card.' So that area is not running away from it, but to me it looks like the two are engaged in conversation about it.

My 'main spiritual lesson' of 2017 comes from Strength. My spiritual teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, wrote a poem called 'Recommendation' in 1965 during the Vietnam War, calling on his fellow protesters to be strong in the face of hate. I've italicised those lines that resonate with the Strength card for me:

Promise me this day,
promise me now,
while the sun is overhead
exactly at the zenith,
promise me:

Even as they strike you down
with a mountain of hatred and violence;
even as they step on you and crush you
like a worm,
even as they dismember and disembowel you,
remember, brother,
remember:
man is not our enemy.

The only thing worthy of you is compassion,
invincible, limitless, unconditional.
Hatred will never let you face
the beast in man.

One day, when you face this beast alone,
with your courage intact, your eyes kind,
untroubled
(even as no one sees them),
out of your smile
will bloom a flower.
And those who love you
will behold you
across ten thousand worlds of birth and dying.

Alone again,
I will go on with bent head,
knowing that love has become eternal.
On the long, rough road,
the sun and the moon
will continue to shine.

The area that will be most affected by Strength energy will be 5 of Coins. As this card often is interpreted is instability in health/finances, I take this to mean that instability will be affected by Strength in order to become more stable. Strength provides the advice for how to deal with challenge: take the lion by the jaws. 

The aspect that will be most challenged in the year ahead is Knight of Swords, or Cavalier d' Epee. This character has a lack of impulse control and enjoys forcing his opinions on others and not listening. If I'm going to be able to take the lion by the jaws and tame it with gentleness, the Knight of Swords is going to feel challenged by this! He's going to have to rein himself back and let other aspects of self take the lead. 

What should I avoid in the year ahead? 9 of Cups. It seems to me to point to getting too comfortable with the status quo. It is entirely possible to be happy and also want to change things. I do love the simple life, but I also must remember that each day being exactly the same is how years can slip by and you can't believe so much time has passed. That's because after a certain age, once most of life's milestones have been achieved, if you don't make your own milestones, it goes by in a blur. Avoid the comfortable blur. 

And finally, do more of this in the year ahead: 9 of Wands. Again, there is advice to rein in the hard suits in my life and personality. And in the Ben-Dov book, this line sticks out at me: 'In a conflict: avoiding a clash with superior forces by letting them have their way.' Which reminds me of an old John Cougar Mellancamp song:

They like to get you in a compromising position
They like to get you there and smile in your face
They think, they're so cute when they got you in that condition
Well I think, it's a total disgrace
I fight authority, authority always wins
I fight authority, authority always wins
I been doing it, since I was a young kid
I've come out grinnin'
I fight authority, authority always wins

Guess which route I usually go? Oh yeah. Fighting authority. But the card here suggests, less offence, more defence. Oh, all right! This also echoes the Strength card in a way. As Michelle Obama said, when they go low, we go high.

Thanks to Lisa at Angelorum for an interesting spread. :)

Big change - what now?

You guys, I've deactivated my Facebook account! It's not the first time I've done it. A hiatus from Facebook for me usually lasts about a year. Then when I go back on, slowly but surely, I spend more and more time on there until I realise it's taking up nearly all my free time, and so I deactivate. I deleted the account once and stayed off for a couple of years. I might do that this time, too.

Thought I'd do a read about it:

What am I leaving behind (or what do I think I've left behind)?
What am I really leaving behind?
What are the three choices ahead of me, my 'points of power'?

(Spread was found here. Sorry, I don't know anything about this site; stumbled upon by googling 'spread for a big change.')

Tarot de St Croix, Lisa de St Croix, Devera 2013

By deactivating my Facebook account I 'think' I've left behind Ace of Wands -- a source of inspiration, a place where I can make a difference. I was all into political stories and memes and petitions and so on, there. In addition to my kitten videos.

But what I'm really leaving behind is the Emperor -- Good lord, could I really have been 'working for the man' by using Facebook? I guess I was, really. I mean, I know Facebook saves everything about me, and alarming connections are made, like if I browse an item on Amazon or elsewhere, ads for it turn up on my FB feed or in the sidebars. There are even scarier ways Facebook (and Google, but one thing at a time, people) control and track us, that I don't even know about. So that's what I'm really leaving behind.

Now, what are my power points? Six of Swords, Four of Wands and Queen of Cups. Just for kicks, I'll string together the interpretation suggested in the Tarot de St Croix LWB:

I'm led 'out of the dark dungeons of my mind' and find my power through 'creating ritual and space' where I 'accept the flow of all emotions.' Once again I have a powerful card about capturing living water. I also like that the LWB describes it as 'flow'. Actually, these are the exact reasons I wanted to free up time by leaving FB.

Another thing I like about these power cards is how they are all facing to the left -- in opposition to the Emperor, who seems to be trying to point them toward the right. F*** you, Emperor! Not only are we going the opposite direction, we're ready to crash right into you in a clash of wills -- or fight for our souls, perhaps! We are gonna do what we want without your input. (Also -- see how the wand is pointing in the same direction the power cards are going? I thought I was going that way but I wasn't!)

That's 'now what'!

'Dream Big, Plan Small' Spread

Let's try out this spread from Chloe at Inner Whispers, 'Dream Big, Plan Small'.  Chloe suggests we think of a 'big goal' and select a card, perhaps a tarot major, and then draw from the small cards to see what teeny tiny steps we can take toward the goal. This way, we don't get overwhelmed, intimidated or resentful.

But first  I have to share this fabulous insight from The Open Reading by Yoav Ben-Dov about the tarot majors:

'In the major suit, there are many mythological and symbolic figures and as the suit develops, these figures gradually lose their social function as well as their clothes.'

This is so true! It's right there in front of your eyes, but you might not notice it. The Magician, the High Priestess, the Empress, etc, are all fully clothed and have occupations and social positions that we understand. But as the major suit progresses, things get, as Ben-Dov says, 'extreme and bizarre,' as the figures 'look up to the sky or down to the abyss'.  The figures 'have no status marks, their actions seem mysterious or supernatural, and some of them are nude. It is now unclear what exactly the figures are doing and why they are doing it.'

I just read that yesterday and thought it was too cool not to share.

Okay, on to the reading.

Jean Noblet Tarot by JC Flornoy 

I want to feel balanced in my life, so I selected Temperance as my Big Dream.

The small cards that I have randomly selected are Chevalier d'espee (Knight of Swords), 6 of Cups, and 2 of Coins. Now, what is the absolute smallest, tiniest change I could make based on these cards? 

Knight of Swords tells me to cut off the past. He stands guard against memories of past events. It doesn't matter any more, don't waste time thinking about it. What is the smallest step I can do toward that? Just popped into my head. If thoughts creep in, drown them out with a mental fart noise. If there's no one around, go ahead and make a nice loud raspberry. That'll show 'em! 

6 of Cups reminds me of the stable relationships in my life. A small step I can take to acknowledge this might be to thank my husband more often when he does little things around the house. I can smile at people at work and in public. :)

2 of Coins reminds me of balance, which reminds me of yoga. A small step I can take toward balance is to do some yoga including plenty of tree poses and balance postures. 

Right, the drawing has suggested I blow raspberries at thoughts of the past, smile at people and say thank you to my husband, and do some tree poses today.

I can do that! 

A Birthday Reading: The Cygnus Spread

Caitlin Matthews offered me this Cygnus Spread as an option for a birthday reading, as yesterday was my birthday. Here's my reading using Caitlin's spread with the Original Rider Waite Tarot:

The cards are laid out from left to right in a line of 7, then card 8 is laid above and card 9 below. The first three cards are the past, fourth card is the 'blessing', last three cards are the future. Card 8 is where you're navigating, and card 9 is how you're steering.

The spread moves in this way: Emperor - 6 of Swords - Ace of Cups - High Priestess - Ace of Swords - 10 of Cups - Strength. I am navigating toward 9 of Cups and steered by 9 of Pentacles.

Something's happened in the recent past to break open my heart, to move me from a place of rulership and dominance to a more vulnerable, open and receptive state. (This process is not finished.) The blessing of this is beginning to learn when to speak, and when to keep still. It is a knowledge that some lucky folk seem to automatically have. Others of us have to acquire the skill through hard practice.

The future holds a decision to create a happy home through this softer approach. On a more mundane level, it denotes the decision to buy a house, and suggests a strong outcome. (Good news!) The Strength card does face in toward the spread, toward the 10 of Cups, suggesting closure and completion of that particular sequence of cards. I hope that means we really will buy a house this year. I am steering toward self-satisfaction, and navigating by my personal definition of 'domestic tranquility'.

I notice that four of the figures in the spread face us, looking square at us, and not at the spread itself. This to me signifies growing self-awareness. I have become aware of my Emperor-like qualities, and more significantly, the vertical line down the middle of the spread consists of forward facing figures: 9 of Cups - High Priestess - 9 of Pentacles. 'Nine heralds change,' as the saying goes, so 'changes in love, family and friends,' and 'changes in money, wealth, means and ends' both stem from the mysterious lady in the centre, who reads from her book of wisdom and plumbs the depth of her insight. I've certainly learned a lot over the last couple of years, and have a lot more to learn, there's no doubt about it. Some things that were secret came to light, and nothing will ever be the same.

If we mirror the cards in the wings of the cygnus, I can see more transitions: from iron rule to interplay, from retreat to joy, from emotionalism to determination.

In summary, my birthday spread confirms where I've come from, the coping strategies I employed that were not very helpful. It suggests I have gained some insight as a result of these experiences, and that the course I now steer is one that may lead to greater happiness and fulfillment. All in all, quite a positive selection of cards.

Summer Solstice Reading

A reading for Summer Solstice. I found this spread at a blog called Indigo Spirit Tarot. It seemed like a nice spread, so I thought I'd try it out here as my Summer Solstice reading. 

1

2 ............... 3

4 ..... SUN..... 5

6 ............... 7

8

1. Live with passion. Embrace the power of the Sun.

2. Upcoming possibilities. The door to success is opened by...

3. Time to play. Enjoy this gift.

4. Time to be serious.

5. Welcome advice.

6. Beware what lies in the shadows.

7. How to improve, now that you're aware. 

8. A burden lifted. Let it go.

I've chosen to read with Tarot Illuminati (Erik C Dunne, 2013) because -- what's more appropriate on Summer Solstice than a little illumination? 

1. Embrace the Sun - Princess of Swords. 'If the Princess of Swords is anything,' writes Kim Huggens in Complete Guide to Tarot Illuminati, 'she is firstly the power of invention and secondly of revolution.' 

2. Upcoming possibilities - Five of Swords. We often look at this card as indicating defeat, but there's no reason not to sometimes see ourselves as the ones having the upper hand. Kim Huggens supports this, writing, 'If the other cards around it are positive and supportive, it suggests the querent has a unique advantage in the situation and they need to make the most of it.' 

3. Enjoy this gift - Eight of Wands. This card suggests that whatever I start in the coming months will progress swiftly. I have the gift of fast movement and swift progress. 'Often this card indicates that the querent will be involved in a number of events that could be described as synchronicity, carrying them forward in a series of coincidences that they could never have expected,' Huggens writes. 

4. Time to be serious - Ace of Pentacles. Time to be serious about good hard graft, and reminds me to cultivate, process and make use of all my resources to be applied in each situation. I'm seeing it as saying don't get ahead of yourself. Be methodical. First things first. 

5. Welcome advice - The Empress. The Empress advises me to nurture myself, my life, my surroundings, my projects, and other people. She advises me to indulge my creative impulses, which, like childbirth, require sometimes painful effort to reap the rewards. 

6. Beware what lies in the shadows - 3 of Swords. Huggens makes an interesting point about this card. It is not the card of personal heartbreak, which is better reflected in 5 of Cups. Rather, this card represents the suffering of existence, 'the profound sadness felt when seeing the state of the world and the suffering of mankind,' as Huggens puts it. It represents existential angst, a feeling with which I am quite familiar. 

7. How to improve, now that you're aware - Death. I suppose few cards confront and dispel existential angst as effectively as the Death card. Acceptance. 

8. Let it go - Five of Pentacles.  'Worry is a self-destructive behaviour that perpetuates the cycle of lack and loss,' writes Huggens. 'It keeps us firmly in the past or in the future, and never in the present: we rarely worry about this moment, right now; we only ever worry about something that has happened in the past or what may or may not happen in the future. As such, worry does not allow us to take proper action in the present.' So clearly I need to let go of worry about lack, loss, deprivation, hardship, instability, etc. 

Interesting.

Tarot de St Croix Diamond Spread

A reading for this week at work

De St Croix Diamond 5-Card Spread

(from Tarot de St Croix LWB)

1. Signifier: What or who am I in this situation? - 6 of Swords
2. Unconscious: What is underneath or hidden? - 8 of Cups
3. Release: What do I need to let go of? - 8 of Wands
4. Conscious: What is on my mind, what do I already know? - Judgement
5. Receive: What do I expect or need to open to? - Hermit

The signifier tells me at least one and possibly all of the following: I am in a position to be a catalyst for change, I am in a position to receive guidance through this change, and this change will happen and will soon be a memory, all behind me. It would seem that it's up to me to determine how smooth the sailing is. The idea of moving on or turning into a new direction is seen in both 6 of Swords and 8 of Cups. Both cards imply that the turning away is caused by some pain (or is causing some pain) but that the transition is both welcome and inevitable. In other words, the situation has reached a turning point and there is no way a corner won't be turned this week.

Tarot de St Croix says this about 8 of Cups: 'Emotional strength is not about overcoming our feelings but instead immersing ourselves in them until we can release them.' There are many ways to read this statement - none of which seem to have much to do with traditional interpretations of this card. It's saying to feel what I feel and not deny it. It could also be saying that there is a time and a place to release emotions and to be aware of that (ie, be on guard against emotive outbursts).  Finally, I also see it as a reminder that I am not the only one with feelings and it might be useful to try immersing myself in someone else's feelings in order to understand them better and be of help to them.

I need to let go of urgency. The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, as good old King Solomon obligingly reminds us. It is probably time to listen more than I talk and by that I don't mean sitting in silence, but actually understand and accept the ideas and opinions of others in a way that may change the way I behave in the future. Listening may not always be expedient, but it is certainly more helpful.

I already know that a sea change is needed in my work place in order for us to survive. My grave concern is that certain others will not take seriously the precarious situation we are in. It is so important, for our very survival, that we make big changes in the way we do things, and this is where my sense of urgency comes from. I lose patience watching others going through the stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance) that go along with big changes. Some of us hear the trumpet call and ready to rise up renewed (RWS imagery), others still slumber in the tomb, as it were. The Tarot de St Croix depicts life changing moments in a cathedral: 'Look at your beliefs and decide if they work for you,' the companion book advises. I already know that I have been doing that, and I know that all members of staff need to do it, too.

I need to expect and be open to the fact that this will take time. The Hermit is Father Time and it is that aspect that I see applying here. I don't see how 'solitude' has much to do with anything, though the implication is there that I may not have many allies during this transitional time. I also must be prepared to receive that it's all going to take much longer than I would have hoped. I just hope it doesn't take so long that it becomes too late.

In summary, this spread is telling me that change happens slowly, it is complicated, it involves a lot of emotions, and being impatient is only going to complicate matters. It tells me to LISTEN and to empathise.

Long week ahead. LOL

How about a draw from The Wicca Deck (Sally Morningstar 2001) for a final word on the issue:

Okay, the companion book says and I quote:

High Note - Change is coming. Are you ready?
Low Note - Release; let go. Prepare.

So, that pretty much confirms all of what I said in the tarot reading. The book goes on to say that it is a time to draw toward you what you need to advance your position in life, and that you need to release something in order for this to happen. What I need is for staff to bring their practices in line with the rest of the service, and what I need to let go of is the desire for them to do it how I want it when I want it. As long as they do it, that's what counts.

Share a Spread Sunday - Full Moon in Aries

Full Moon in Aries
8 October 2014

This week the full moon is in Aries, which is associated with the Emperor. I thought it would be fun to look at a 'wisdom reading' from Rachel Pollack's 'Tarot Wisdom'.

First of all, the Emperor, according to Rachel, can be interpreted four ways:

1. The laws of society
2. Divine law
3. Daddy
4. Zeus and other kings of the gods

These are pretty standard interpretations, nothing earth-shattering there. The Emperor can be rules, authority, hierarchy, power; the abstract principles of universal laws (such as physics) and/or Creator God; the masculine principle or father figures; or a king of the gods from any pantheon.

So are you feeling manly this week or what? In what ways might you need to take command of a situation, take a leadership role, or act with intent and purpose?

In fact, you could use the questions above for your Full Moon Spread, but I'm going to use the questions from Rachel Pollack's book, and they include a 'wisdom reading'. These are questions that go beyond the personal. These are audacious questions that boldly ask for very BIG answers, questions like 'What is love?' 'What is the meaning of Time?' or 'Who is God?'

This is Rachel's 'personal spread' based on the Emperor: 

1. How am I an Emperor?
2. How am I not an Emperor?
3. Where do I need to take charge?
4. What will help me do that?
5. How am I weak?
6. How am I strong?

But then as a last question, she throws in one that is really a 'wisdom reading':

7. What are the rules? 

Do you dare to do a draw on that question? I am going to be looking at both spreads this week.

Share a Spread Sunday - Hello Autumn

That autumn feeling is in the air, so let's greet it with a 3-card spread. What does autumn have in store for you? Why not try this spread. I'd love to hear your results. And if you'd like me to read for you using this spread, just click on Order an Email Reading or Book a Live Reading above and let's get started! 

Share a Spread Sunday - Autumn Equinox Spread

For this week's Share a Spread Sunday, I decided to do a general spread covering the period of Autumn Equinox (23 September) to Samhain (31 October). I thought it would be fun to try an idea from Deck of 1000 Spreads called 'divining a spread'. In this technique, you take the cards in Deck of 1000 Spreads (which are a kind of spreadcrafting marker) and instead of going through the deck and selecting card positions, you shuffle the deck as if it were a tarot deck and draw cards and see what you come up with. I decided to choose 7 cards, then just shuffled while asking myself, 'What do I need to know about, examine, work on in the weeks from Autumn Equinox to Samhain?' I then cut the deck and laid out the following seven cards:  

You'll notice there are 8 cards. That's because while I was shuffling, one card went flying across the room and fluttered to the floor face down. I laid out my seven cards then went over and picked this one up. It was actually perfect for the outcome or final position. So there it is. 

The spread positions are:

1. Problem - The topic or issue to be addressed. 

2. Unconscious desires - Your 'unknown intentions' about the topic. I take this to mean things you haven't fully admitted to yourself or allowed yourself to see. 

3. What you can't change - These are things you are going to have to learn to deal with; they are outside your sphere of influence. 

4. Present - 'What's going on now in regard to your question.' 

5. Hopes and fears - These are most likely things you are aware of. 

6. Future life - Now this position is interesting, because it does not address the immediate future, but rather 'something relevant to a future lifetime, based on what's left unaddressed in this one.' 

7. Mind - Either your current mindset, or how something affects your mental well-being. 

8. Lesson - 'The karmic teaching you're meant to receive from the situation.' 

I rather like the outcome of my first attempt at 'divining a spread.' 

Share a Spread Sunday - Umbrae's Relationship Spread

This is an advanced and tricky spread created by Umbrae, of Aeclectic Tarot. Originally shared by Umbrae in 2002, this is a fascinating piece of spreadcrafting, and it deserves to be studied. I've used it for a client and it proves quite illuminating. (The cards in the illustration are from the Daniloff Tarot.)

The spread examines a relationship from the point of view of the sitter (or client), the other person in the relationship, and the relationship itself. The spread is broken down by row and column, and then looked at as a whole.

Share a Spread Sunday: Harvest Moon in Pisces

The full moon is in Pisces this week (Tuesday, 9 September). It falls in Pisces Decan 2, a decan which makes us easily susceptible to the energies around us. Because this is a watery sign, we're going to be feeling emotional anyway, so it's going to be important in these days leading up to the full moon and then from then to the new moon to protect ourselves from negativity and shield ourselves with positive energy. 

This is also the last Super Moon of 2014 (when the moon comes very close to earth in its elliptical orbit) as well as the Harvest Moon (the full moon nearest to Autumn Equinox -- it beats out the full moon on 8 October by only 16 hours!) 

Here's a spread for the Harvest Moon in Pisces: 

1. How can I protect myself from negativity? 

2. How can I increase my own positivity?

3. How can I increase positivity around me?

4. What am I harvesting in this full moon? 

My reading for myself is on my other blog: Blackbirds and Rowanberries. :) 

Share a Spread Sunday -- Build a Bridge Spread

The Build a Bridge Spread can be used for any sort of situation where you want to connect the dots:

• A love relationship
• A career goal
• School 
• Weight loss goals
• Fears and phobias
• Procrastination issues

 Here's how to use it.

Empowerment Spread

This spread is inspired by journal writing prompts and is meant to help you set your intention to be more empowered and aware of your thoughts, words and actions over the coming week. There's a little predictive element thrown in there as well. 

What do you do if you try this spread and the advice seems all to be negative cards? For example, you're told to have 5 of Swords thoughts or 8 of Swords words? And what if the outcome of following the advice turns out to be The Tower? Before you give up and change your question to what shouldn't I do, try very hard to see the good side of the card. You do the same when coming up with a so-called 'reversed meaning' of the Sun. So why not try it with 5 of Swords, which might mean, for example, constructive criticism that hurts (makes you feel defeated) but is for the best in the long run? 

Give this spread a go today and then follow through with it throughout the week. Try keeping track of the results in your tarot journal. 

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A New Moon Spread for the Leo New Moon

Today is the new moon in Leo, a time of creative beginnings! Here's a spread for you to try today. 

New Moon in Leo Spread, Cosmic Tarot 

The moon is new in Leo (26 July), which corresponds to Strength, and full in Aquarius (10 August), which corresponds to Star.

Instructions

1. Shuffle the deck and search for the Strength card. This is the new moon. Lay it face up on the table. The card immediately after it is card 1. Lay it down directly beneath (or slightly overlapping the bottom if you prefer) the Strength card. 

Card 1 -  This is a powerful time for new beginnings and creative projects. This card suggests what you might focus on for the current lunation. Ask yourself, what am I most passionate about? What have I always wanted to do? 

2. Shuffle the deck again and search for the Star card. This is the full moon. Lay it face up on the table to the right of Strength, leaving a gap. The card immediately after Star in the deck is card 2. Lay it beneath or overlapping the Star card. When the full moon is in Aquarius, you may feel very social, your intuition kicks into high gear, and it is usually a good time for getting together with like-minded people. 

Card 2 - This card shows the energies of the full moon. It is where you may find yourself by 10 August, the full moon, and it is not only a full moon, it is a super moon. And not only is it a super moon, is the superest super moon of 2014. The moon will not come this close to the earth again until September 2015. A lot can happen in a few weeks, and this is the point at which your efforts for this lunation will be at full pitch. What will that look like? 

3. Now shuffle the deck again and draw. Place the card between cards 1 and 2. 

Card 3 - This is the action or change that may lead you to card 2, or may block you. Or both! 

Sample Layout 

I used the Morgan Greer Tarot and drew the cards with no intention other than to show you this spread. It is not a reading for anyone in particular (though of course as soon as I looked at them I could see how they pertain to me!) 

Quickie interpretation

The Swords show it is a time of thinking and making plans, and the energy with which you should enter into this project is with great gusto and determination. The Leo new moon is all about creative energy, so make sure your plans are from the heart and not from the ego. You should choose to work on things that you really want, not things that you think might hold you in good stead in the eyes of others. This may involve some battles of wits conducted with yourself or others. Stand your ground, or better yet, hack your way through arguments and counterarguments with assurance that you are in the right and acting in your best interest. Take no prisoners!

By the full moon, you should feel more fully in control of your plans and ideas. It's true there may be some water under the bridge by then -- meeting resistance head on as you've done since 26 July will always result in consequences. But you will know that you've done the right thing for yourself and are on the right track. By the full moon, you will see more clearly and dispassionately what needs to be done, and you will be less reluctant to do what needs doing and say what needs saying. New habits are being formed. The full moon in Aquarius is a time of being social and intuitive -- this is tempered somewhat by the Queen of Swords, whose energy is certainly intuitive, but rather than social interactions, you may find yourself more in the role of counsellor. Don't be surprised if people look to your for leadership or advice. And don't hesitate to look to yourself for these things.

The bridge that gets you from new moon to full moon is plain good sense. No matter how passionate you are or how lofty your plans, you should remember to look after yourself physically, get plenty of rest, don't spread yourself too thin, and above all, don't be overambitious with your financial planning and budgeting. Be conservative, remember to protect yourself, and listen to voices that caution you to be avoid financial or health risks. Those arguments and counterarguments you'll be slashing and burning should not involve your money, domestic arrangements or physical well being.

In summary, go for it! Plan big -- challenge your old beliefs and the expectations of those around you. But be sensible, too. There's no point building a 5-year plan around a lottery ticket.

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Summer Solstice Reading 2014

This is my summer solstice spread for 2014. I shuffled the cards very well and laughed when I drew the Sun as the first card.

1. Sunrise - What is beginning in my life? - Sun
2. High noon - What is my greatest power right now? What should be my sharpest focus? - Dreamer Two (2 of Swords)
3. What is winding down in my life right now? - Justice
4. What is under the surface, at rest for the moment? - Dancer Three (3 of Cups)

Sunrise
I'm entering a new phase of optimism, success and achievement in my life. The figure in the Sun card beckons directly to the viewer to join hands and dance around the hill, which resembles Glastonbury Tor, topped by a tree framed by the sun, which is also the faery glyph. The little butterfly fluttering between us and the figure is a symbol of rebirth. It is also me, freshly emerged from my chrysalis, seeing everything with new eyes. Can you imagine what it would be like to be fresh born, looking around for the first time, feeling yourself moving for the first time, and the first sight you see is this scene? Nothing but joy and wonder would ever have been your portion. You emerge from your shell to go directly upward toward bliss. My, my.

 The sun in the card shows its great power, as it is the source of all life after all. The sidhe join hands and progress up the hill in a snake-like procession, toward the Source and the Tree of Life. This is kundalini rising, it is enlightenment of a kind. The upward spiral image is used to characterise kundalini and the awakening of bliss. Eion Finn refers to joy as an 'upward spiral.' We know that life itself is an upward spiral, we can see it in the form of the double helix of DNA. We see here in the card, the bottom of the card is somewhat murky in colour, though creatures of flight abound - birds, fluttering bugs and butterflies of various types. There are also some rounded objects in the two lower corners that look like geodes, a word that itself means 'earth-like'. The red-haired sidhe beckons me to join the creatures of the earth in a spiral dance into the greenness of life, upward, to return to source, to return to the True Self.

The card does not point to specific events necessarily, but an overall feeling of happiness and radiance. It is the start of my time to shine. Combined with the other cards, it suggests ways to gain in self-confidence and personal power, and that success and hope are on the rise. I can see many connections to my spiritual practice, my yoga practice, and the direction I hope to move my life.  All this is in the sunrise phase of the 'day'.

High Noon
At its zenith right now in my life is Dreamer Two, 2 of Swords, titled 'Half-Moon Truce'. The card shows a purply-bluey sky dominated by a huge circle, half black and half white, containing the ghostly face of a sidhe. It is ephemeral; there are wisps around the circle suggesting it may have suddenly appeared, and may be going into and out of focus. At the bottom of the card, the yellowing of the sky above two mountain peaks, in swirls of clouds, and hanging between earth and sky is a magpie, its wings outstretched. With its black and white colouring, the magpie represents duality in some ways. In folklore, the magpie can represent risk-taking, as its dual colours suggest both good and bad. Magpies are courageous, daredevil birds, they have amongst the most complicated of bird vocabularies, and they are notoriously attracted to shiny objects. All of these help us to see the sorts of things represented by the black and white moon - decisions, decisions. Do I dare to take a risk? Do I dare to speak my truth? Do I dare to go for the shiny objects?

Called 'Half-Moon Truce,' this card actually represent the pause between decisions. It is the moment of drawing breath between having an idea and speaking it into the world. We know that words make manifest. The moon is the silence of the heart, the mountains the resolution of the spirit, the magpie, then, would be the speaker of the magic. So all the swirling around the moon becomes the breath that gives life to the words.

In Dreamer Two, none of this has happened yet. It is the moment between initial foment and subsequent action. It is the balance that cannot last, it is like a rock that has been pushed up to the pointy top of a precipice, where it pauses, filled with potential energy, before either rolling back or teetering over and down the other side of the hill. It cannot just sit there forever. Natural laws will not allow it. Spiritually and mentally however, we can prolong this moment through hesitance to move either way. This is one reason why the woman in the traditional RWS image wears a blindfold and is seated in the non-land at the edge of water ('between the salt water and the sea strand', as Simon and Garfunkel call it, a non-place). One message of this card is that you cannot sit in this non-place forever. The moon in the card cannot stay half black and half white forever. The magpie cannot hover with outspread wings forever. Even the mountains will not endure forever!

So what is at its greatest power right now, what should be in sharpest focus in my life right now?  I am at the crossroads of possibility, the state between changed states -- and my greatest power is in being able to see with clarity, by looking inward, where I've come from and where I want to go. There are many decisions that must be made, but the card suggests that now I am at my greatest potential for making them.

Sunset 
The time for balance is over. The previous card just talked about how a balance act can't last forever. And then to represent what is on the wane, we see a card which represents a balancing act that lasts forever. In the sky of the card we see a sun and a moon side by side, the clouds around them forming the lemniscat of infinity. The green-haired sidhe, wearing a fetching red leotard, balances on the tips of the fingers of both hands on the handle of a glowing sword, which stands on its tippy-tip in the centre of a spiral, which is of course a faery glyph. The hair of the sidhe spills down from her head, forming the earth and the spiral, which actually looks like it could be the surface of a small pool of water. Here we have day and night, sun and moon, light and darkness, earth and sky, rock and water, and the flashing colours of green and red. The balancing sidhe can clearly maintain this pose forever. She herself is part of the landscape she balances on. It's all connected.

 However, the Justice card isn't about rock solid stability. Even this highly skilled, amazing strong sidhe cannot maintain such a posture like a marble statue. The balance requires continuous tiny adjustments to maintain the equilibrium to allow her to stay there in that position, which may vary in tiny degrees moment to moment, but which, overall, always appears the same. Look very close and you will see all the tiny tremours and miniscule movements of muscle that allow her to maintain the pose. (Just like in yoga.)

My time of 'continuous tiny adjustments' to maintain my status quo is now on the wane. It's on the way out. The time of tiny adjustments to keep everything looking the same is over! In conjunction with the previous Dreamer Two, the message is clear. Change is about to happen, based on decisions that I make. And because 'adjustment' is on the way out, making these decisions is something I can't avoid. Or even if I do avoid them, refuse to make them, change is going to happen. It's going to happen.

Night
Dancer Three or 3 of Cups is the card of celebrations, parties, festivities, community, lightness and joy. And this is dormant right now. Oh yes, I can certainly see that. We can safely say that I haven't felt like these water nymph type sidhe, frolicking together in the warm sea under the radiance of the full moon. I have felt isolated, agitated, and in many ways hopeless and directionless. Perhaps not hopeless, but certainly I have had no joy in community of any kind to speak of for many, many weeks. And in fact, this aspect of life is still dormant for me right now -- but there's one good thing about night. It doesn't last forever. If something is in the darkness of night, there is a clear implication that it will eventually see the light of day. If something is asleep, it will wake up.

And actually, I do have several social engagements lined up in the near future, and of course a big cause celebre is the end of this secondment, which is the main source of my feelings of isolation and unhappiness lately.

Advice
I decided after all this to draw one last card, asking for advice. How do I move more fully into the sun? How do I make the best of the Half-Moon Truce? What is the recommended action?

A reading with Chrysalis Tarot

The Tetraktys Spread

This is one of my favourite 'whole person' spreads and I thought I'd give Chrysalis Tarot a go at it. The positions are:

Stone 

(Unus Mundus, the integrated psyche)

Moon, Sun 

(weakness/strength, to oversimplify the matter)

Salt, Quicksilver, Sulfer 

(ie, past, present, future)

Earth, Air, Fire, Water

(I put the elements in the wrong order but oh well)

This is an involved spread of 10 cards, and is quite in-depth, so I'm not doing a full reading here, just a quickie overview. Traditionally you start reading from the bottom, and I lay them out to be read left to right, though some readers to a mirror image of this and read right to left, which is the older tradition).

It's interesting out of the gate that my element cards match up except for the Fire position, where I have an Air card. So in place of action, I have thinking. Sounds true! I have drawn 3 of Scrolls, or 3 of Swords, and you know what that card usually means. You've probably also gathered that for the last several months I haven't been feeling terribly well within myself and this card does reflect that, and also reflects, I feel, how my mental/emotional sadness has dampened my fire for action. On the other hand, I don't see how much earthier you can get than Gaia, or waterier than Dreamer, or airier than High Priestess. So that is a good sign, and I do feel that I am finding my feet. :) 

The inward orientation of my psychic energy, with roots in my past, is 10 of Stones, the mutable present moment is 6 of Stones, and the volatile future is Merlin. This is plain to me. In the past I have been quite firmly rooted in feeling safe and secure, in avoiding risks where possible. In the present, I am receiving wonderful support from someone very close to me, and it means everything to me, and is helping me have the confidence to grow. I am also seeking support from outside agencies and finding wisdom there. And my future is the Merlin, the Fool. Wow. I like the way he is facing away from the past and even the present, his body turned toward the right side of the spread, which I always associate with the future. My future does look bright...it has magic in it, and faith, the faith that everything works out. 

I'm not surprised to see in my unconscious psyche the Devil, but who is this Bella Rosa? For this, I turned to the LWB, but I couldn't get into the text there, so I just looked at the card. What is my weakness, I asked it. Masks and mirrors in a perpetual cycle, it answered. Always trying to find who you are outside yourself, always judging yourself too harshly. But in the Sun position, the conscious mind, I got 10 of Mirrors (or 10 of Cups). I know without doubt that the most positive thing in my life is my marriage. This card is right on the money. 

Which leads to the ultimate card, the Stone, which is 10 of Scrolls, or 10 of Swords. It's so, so true that I have felt  very low indeed for a while. I have felt physically tired, emotionally drained, mentally stretched, and overall, wrung out. Here the LWB speaks: The 10 of Scrolls is about recognizing undesireable, repeating patterns in your life. The passionate energy of the tiger overcomes unlearned lessons. Tiger energy is strong, confident and resolved.' I've been doing some work recently that is helping me a lot, and so this card is quite accurate. I have been feeling down, but the future is looking brighter. Still a lot of work to do, but brighter. 

In all, this is a truthful and ultimately positive reading. I don't point the finger at any one factor that has caused my recent funk. I think the scroll cards are very apt in pointing out where trouble lies - and they are two of the 'worst' cards in the deck, by some reckoning! But the positive cards far outweigh the negative ones. And I notice I have four majors! Merlin, Sorceress, Gaia and Bella Rosa. A magical and earthy combination with great potential. 

Four Aces Spring Equinox Reading

4 Aces Spread for Spring Equinox, Cosmic Tarot 1998

This is the 4 Aces Method  as I learned it from Jonathan Dee. The aces in the central column represent the priorities in your life right now. The left column is your hopes and fears about the central ace. The right column is the reality or actual outcome of the central ace. I decided to do this spread for my Spring Equinox reading. 

Right now I am most concerned with my emotional, interpersonal life, my reactions to life and my relationship(s). It would seem that I hope to be a strong, enduring, maternal force--or that I hope to find a sense of being mothered, nurtured or cared for. I'm looking for a mother hen, perhaps. But the reality is that I don't really need nurturing because I am strong enough on my own, and I can overcome any obstacle through the forces of kindliness and confidence. 

It looks like in my thought life, I am facing a choice, or rather looking at things as being quite 'either/or', where the truth of the matter is that everything is a shade of grey and a balancing act, and there is no 'either/or' at all. 

As far as actions, I am putting action much lower on my current priorities (I can attest to the truth of this!) and looking upon it as an inevitability that I will slow down, or that perhaps this is a temporary tide that may turn. The truth is that a teacher or mentor might be of great value to me right now to help get the momentum going again. 

And at the very bottom of my priorities, matters of the physical body, finances, and health. It would seem I feel that attention to these matters has had to be sacrificed, as if the ordering of this in importance in my life is something beyond my control. The Star suggests I need to look for entirely fresh perspective on these matters, to look for inspiration in unexpected places. 

In summary, this draw is telling me to stand up for myself, believe in my own strength, but also keep on the lookout for fresh sources of inspiration and role models. 

Be your own Valentine

Several bloggers have done a self love spread, so I thought I'd give it a go, too. I saw it on Greylady's Hearth.

----------2----------

-----4------1-----5------

----------3----------

1. Relationship to Self

2. Admirable qualities - the parts of your self that are easy to love

3. Disowned self - shadow aspects

4. Release - judgments or expectations to let go of in order to be more loving to yourself

5. More love - something you can do to nurture yourself right now

The Love Tarot, Liz Dean 2005

The Love Tarot is a majors only deck that I got in a trade a few months back. Thought this would be a nice spread to try it with. Wham! Big cards here. (The deck adds three extra cards: Faith, Hope and Charity, and one of these turned up in my spread.)

Share a Spread Sunday: Perceval's Questions

Perceval and the Grail Procession

Sometimes it feels like our journey through life is too brutal to be borne. We feel like the pain is too much for us. We want answers. We want someone to solve the mystery. Or at the very least, we want a way to make it hurt less. This spread was born out of those feelings.

In Chretien de Troyes' Perceval: Story of the Grail, Perceval fails to attain the Grail when he refrains from asking questions about it. (Chretien never finished this poem, and so the mystery has fired the imaginations of generations.) Perceval, a simple youth raised away from the world of men, has undertaken to find a mysterious object called 'the graal', and finds himself invited into the very odd castle of the Fisher King, where in the hall, a strange procession marches past him: a young man carrying a bleeding lance, two boys carrying a candelabra, and a beautiful girl carrying a highly decorated 'graal', a flat serving dish. Having been upbraided by other knights for asking too many questions, Perceval keeps silent about these strange sights. The next morning, he is told by a 'loathely lady' that if he had only asked the right questions, the Fisher King would have been healed. He should have asked why the lance bleeds, and whom the grail serves. Chretien's poem ends here, unfinished. 

Share a spread Sunday: The Anxiety Roundabout

I created this spread back when I was taking driving lessons. I cannot overstate the level of driving anxiety that I developed while taking driving lessons. One of my biggest fears was roundabouts -- a foreign concept and a terror. It became a metaphor for me of anxiety itself. And so this spread was born. The card positions are based on the steps my driving teacher taught me (she taught me to pass my test the first time, but she also created a lifelong fear of driving, bless her):

This is a page straight of my spread notebook :)

Card One goes in the centre and is the hub or source of the anxiety. If you are unsure why you are anxious, you could draw a card for this one to see what tarot reveals about the source of your anxiety. If you are aware of the source, you might choose to pre-select a card that represents the anxiety as you understand it. 

For the remaining cards, shuffle and draw as usual and lay out in the above arrangement. If you want to draw a circle on a sheet of paper, or create one out of a piece of string, a string of beads or some small crystals, that would be helpful in visualizing the layout.

1. Recognizing the roundabout - This is the hub of the anxiety.

2. Approaching the roundabout - These are factors creating the anxiety.

3. Hesitation (a thing you're not supposed to do at the roundabout!) - Your fears; the thing that keeps you paralyzed.

4. Moving off - The 'truth': the 'reality' of the situation (as opposed to your fears or illusions about it)

5. MSM ('Mirror-signal-manouevre--the scariest part of the roundabout, where you have to get yourself into the position to leave the roundabout) - The ACTION that will take you from fear to acceptance of reality

6. Leaving the roundabout - How you can overcome the fear for good

If you try this spread out, please let me know how it worked for you! :) 

If you would like a reading from me using the Anxiety Roundabout Spread, please click on the Order a Reading tab at the top of this page, select the appropriate number of cards in the drop-down menu, and write 'Anxiety Roundabout' along with your subject in the topic line. I will have your reading to you within 48 hours. 

Here's some feedback I got for my most recent reading: 

'A big thank you to Carla Tate who did a Lenormand reading for me and I can say that I was absolutely blown away by it. It really resonates with me, which means that it's 100% spot on (my opinion). I'm a psychic but can never read for myself and it's rare I find a person able to read for me. Carla's read brought a lot of things in line and perspective. Thanks!'