Well, look what appeared on my card today

Tarot of the Spirit, P Eakins 

Today I've drawn One of Water, or Ace of Cups, from Tarot of the Spirit by Pamela Eakins. You know the other day when I posted about wanting a 'statement ring'? Well, what I've been envisioning is a huge blue stone, just like this card. So of course when I pulled this today, that's the first thing I thought of. It doesn't have to be a 'real' stone, that's not important, it's just the colour I'm after. And now I have symbolism to explain why this big blue stone may have popped into my consciousness.

'At the One of Water, you are open to all possibility,' Eakins writes in the companion book. 'You feel a sense of anticipation, as if something is about to happen. ...Be advised you are now opening to the possibility of jubilance and joy. But, you are also opening to vulnerability. ...This is because, at the One, through your own newfound receptivity, you are beginning to access the deep understanding of Self within you.'

rubylane.com

It could be that the ring I envision is a symbol of a new era, a reminder, a token. 'The dark hole is a sparkling jewel at the centre of an unfolding lotus. It is also a cup as viewed from above. The dark opening is a hole. It is whole. It is holy. The significance of the hole is that the more holes you punch in your structure, the more holy you become.' Okay, I have to admit that made me laugh -- puns aren't my thing. But the sentiment is there, and I like it.

Today, may I be open to the possibility of jubilance and joy. And may you be, too. x

Emerging from heartbreak

Tarot of the Spirit by P Eakins 

'Saturn in Libra
Meat to Bone to Earth to Meat
Evolution, Understanding, and Science
the infant rises, takes a life of its own
grief in rejecting the cradle
and yet
it must be done
Thy Will be done.'
--Tarot of the Spirit companion book, p169

Three of Swords, or Three of Wind as it is known in Tarot of the Spirit, is called 'Recognition'. It has only a touch of the RWS 'heartbreak' meaning. It is more concerned with breaking out of the cocoon of old thought and habits. The companion book points out that the swords on left and right have wings unfolding, like moth wings, wet and fresh from the cocoon, emerging from the darkness and getting ready to fly. I like the fact that the three swords have only one hilt. When they do take off, they will fly in the same direction. Or maybe the hilt will drop away completely -- who's to say? 

What new knowing or fresh direction could this card, as a daily draw, be pointing to today? Or could it be picking up on the general feeling lately -- of chucking out the old (I've culled a lot of old clothes and gone and bought new ones, which may not sound like much, but I never bother with clothes, I just wear whatever.) A sentence jumped out at me from the companion book: 'Old shells must be abandoned. There is no use for that which is too small. Concentrate on the new. Concentrate on the positive.' So yeah, all the clothes I've thrown out are too small. Very literal! :) I've also done something truly uncharacteristic and in the space of a week reorganised my routine a bit in order to travel by myself to Witchfest 2015. I've never been. So this is a new experience, a big adventure for me. I'm looking forward to it. 

I wore one of my new smocks and a pair of boots that I -- can you believe this -- impulsively stopped in Clark's and bought on the walk home -- yesterday. Hubby took a few snaps because someone asked to see the new clothes I've been buying. I'm also letting my hair grow out, thus the clippy. 

I've been in a year-long slump because of some not-at-all-good things that happened  last year, and I have pretty much worn the same 2 pairs of trousers and three shirts all year. Just did not care at all. In the last week, I've been digging out old jewelry, cleaning it up. Buying things with colour and pattern. It's a good sign. 

Have a great Monday! 

Magic carpet ride

"The battering rods [of the 5 of Wands] have united and become a fruit-bearing tree, a yielding tree, which grows from the battle-scarred landscape. The yield is a bloody fruit with light emitting from the centre. This fruit is offered up, via the white path of the magic carpet (the wings of ascension) to a higher force. The higher force symbolized by the appearance of the four-coloured diamond or octahedron (a pyramidal structure) in the sky. This higher force is four-coloured for the four planes of existence, and geometrical for balance. Looking at the diamond, you are looking into the pyramid of the 4 [of Wands], once again filled with the light of your own higher consciousness." - Tarot of the Spirit, p 91

And I thought that was a flying carpet.

To me, it looks like a decorative rug with a tree or something growing out of it, flying through the night sky toward this white light that has opened up, and that 'octahedron' has appeared there in the doorway, guiding us in.

'Cause it's Friday. And the 'bloody battlefield' of the week is behind me. And even though I have to work Sunday (boo!) I've got tomorrow off. And I finish today at 3.30. So I'm coming into the home stretch of the week. The weekend beckons.

Glory!

I'll grow up some day but today was apparently not the day

Tarot of the Spirit by Pamela Eakins

I finally received a copy of the companion book for this deck yesterday. I didn't realise I'd ordered a used copy, and this one is not only grubby, whoever owned it before me felt compelled to underline every line of the text for the first two chapters, in shaky pencil lines, and draw big Xs next to a few things that must have been extra impressive (they probably said it 'resonated'), and then abruptly stopped reading. I of course have been busily scrubbing the pencil lines out and writing my own snarky responses to the text in the margins, in pen. This has proven irresistible. I must talk back to it. I have no doubts Eakins is a spiritual and lovely person and she is clearly knowledgeable and sincere (what with her PhD and all), but I do chuckle a bit at sentences like:

'There is an infinitude I want to convey, and so I will try to bundle it into the next few pages in much the same way a forest of oak trees can be bundled into an acorn. As in a mystery, though much will be concealed, much will be revealed also. ...Even as I write to you, I am excited as a summer seed slipping out of its winter coat to enter into the miracle of its burgeoning.' Well, a healthy self esteem is a good thing, I guess. Chasing metaphors beyond two lines means you should probably back up and start again. (At least that's what my old uni professor said. He used to wear a fish tie. I wonder whatever happened to him.) And she says 'querists' for 'querants' which also amuses me greatly. It just sounds funny. (Seriously, though, while both words are archaic, a querant 'seeks', whereas a querist merely 'asks'. Which would you rather do in a reading? ... On a side note, it's been said that I talk about writers as if they have no feelings, but, if you put something out there for public consumption, you need to be ready for some people not to be as in love with your baby as you are.) After a few pages of this, you begin to settle into the prose style. I mean, I've waded through Regardie, Fortune and Waite, a little tortured flowery language isn't going to stand between me and a few good tarot/occult insights. I won't judge the ideas by the words they're wrapped in, but I might laugh at the words.

Anyway, I've made it to page 32, and there is much I agree with. Also much I disagree with. I agree that tarot is '78 different angles on any given subject'. But the significator is NOT the 'first card you draw in a spread,' and I don't know many readers who read by turning the cards all face down and turning them over one at a time 'fully interpreting each card before moving on to the next.' Yet Eakins says you must do it this way. She also advocates drawing lots of so-called 'clarifiers' for when you are 'confused or dissatisfied' with what you've drawn,  and most distressing of all, she says, 'I will not end the reading until I feel the story has a happy ending.' Really? Because there are some situations that you are going to need four or five decks for before you get to a 'happy ending' -- if you ever do! Some situations don't have a 'happy ending', sorry! Not everything is going to be tied up in a nice fat bow just because you've paid someone to turn over some cards for you. You have to be prepared to hear what you hear. And no, I am not talking about predicting the future. I'm talking about just plain old facing the truth.

So anyway, I'm finding it entertaining and engaging (though maybe not for all the right reasons), I can't really say yet whether this is a book I will refer to regularly. Or even if this is a deck I will use regularly, for that matter. If I want a blurry, Thoth-ish deck, I think I would probably reach for the Intuitive Tarot (Cilla Conway).

On to today's draw, The High Priestess. Feet planted wide apart, substantial legs framing the unfurling scroll (so much for hidden secrets), sturdy arms braced elbow on thigh, and an eyeball for a head. Not exactly the prom queen. And do I see stigmata? What are those blurry red bits? She's got gimel and the moon lurking just behind her on either side...but I don't know. Something about the set-up here makes me think she's sitting at the end of a bowling lane. Maybe it's those blue gutters on either side of the black and white floor.

I'm feeling way too candid to continue. The moon is definitely in Sagittarius. :)

The climb's more important than the mountain

Tarot of the Spirit, US Games 2011

Today's card is Eight of Earth, or 8 of Pentacles, from Tarot of the Spirit by Pamela Eakins. This card is called 'The Mountain'.

This card brings to mind an eagle on a mountaintop, with the rays of the sun streaming down on the lower hills. (It also makes me think of a circus Big Top -- I think it's the pointy bits with the stars in them.)

The pointy bits at the bottom and the rather triumphant sphere at the top bring to mind a concerted effort to overcome obstacles or blockages, determination to meet the challenge, and success at the end of it.

As it happens, the LWB says, 'Perseverance, commitment and discipline are the real keys to success. Talent is important, but not the most important factor.'

The card, then, has a traditional meaning of plugging away at something, and the journey being as important as the finish, and maybe even more important. It's the experience of doing and learning that is more fulfilling than the feeling of having it all done.

Remember that today as you go about your slogging, 'routine Tuesday' tasks -- enjoy the journey. This is the only 'this Tuesday' you're ever going to see.

7 of Cups - it's not 'pipe dreams'

Tarot of the Spirit by Pamela Eakins 

Today's card is from Tarot of the Spirit by Pamela Eakins (US Games 1992, 2011). This deck is highly Thoth influenced, but that's all I really know about it at the moment as it just arrived on Saturday. :)

My card of the day drawn from Tarot of the Spirit is Seven of Water, aka 7 of Cups. Crowley calls this card 'Debauch'. If you look in the lower corners, you can see symbols, Venus on left, Scorpio on right. This card is Venus in Scorpio. As it happens, this card is also ruled by -- guess who? Knight of Wands. Yes, he's back.

Let's start from scratch. DuQuette offers this formula for dealing with minors:

ns + pz = sc

This stands for 'number of suit plus planet in zodiac equals small cards'. So in this card we have: 

7 of Cups + Venus in Scorpio

7 is associated with Netzach on the Tree of Life (Victory). Its elemental affinity is Fire, thus this card is Fire of Water.  It is considered an unstable number (as are most of the odd numbers). Venus in Scorpio seems key to the Thoth interpretation, so I've gathered some thoughts about it from various sources:

"Common types with Venus in Scorpio dissipate relentlessly and are frequently degenerates or drunks." -- Astrologer Joan Quigley, qtd in DuQuette, Understanding Crowley's Thoth Tarot

"Venus in detriment in Scorpio betrays its weakest qualities. Scorpionic passions plus the goddess of love equals 'I can resist everything but temptation' Oscar Wilde" -- www.mindfire.ca

"Venus in Scorpio worries about finding some much-needed stability in the emotional turmoil, so it pursues the deepest, most primal emotional connections it can find. It wants to cut through illusions and connect at a soul level, because when we connect at this deep level, we find peace and stability.' -- therealastrology.com

This understanding of Venus in Scorpio helps to explain why many tarot readers interpret 7 of Cups as being overindulgence, addiction, substance abuse, or as Crowley calls it 'Debauchery'. 

So while the 7 of Cups sits on Netzach (Victory), its planetary zodiac attribution makes it very unstable and the type of Victory seen is not that enjoyable. 

I have a sneaking suspicion what behaviour this card points to for me. My waist size and the topography of my thighs can attest to it. Whether I care about appearance or not, health is a factor that must be considered. What is the way out of 7 of Cups debauchery? Well, this card sits on Netzach on the Tree of Life. The way out of 7 Netzach toward 6 Tiphareth, the sphere of Perfect Equilibrium, is tarot major (or Key) 13 Death. It's printed right there on the Tree of Life Diagram: 

The route from Victory to Beauty is 13. Death. That's a pretty clear message, too. I can press my luck and further ask, What needs to die in order for me to move from debauchery to balance? Funnily enough, I drew Brother of Fire, Knight of Wands. I think it's telling me, stop with the questions get on with the action. 

The LWB says: 'Be careful, do not be too impulsive at this time of great revelation and change. Attune to the eternal nature of things, and your actions will endure.' 

Which being translated could be: 'Be careful, don't stuff your face with cookies and cake all day when you're just starting to get your head around the fact that you're lumpy and it's all your fault. Remember that calories in must be less than calories out, that's the eternal nature of things. If you remember that, you will hesitate long enough to keep your hand from going straight to your face with that biscuit.' 

Or something like that.