Create and harvest at once

What a lovely Empress card from the Touchstone Tarot by Kat Black. Today is the last day of the week for Touchstone Tarot. I'm sorry to see it go. I forget what a lovely deck this is until I work with it. It's just so beautiful. I hope someday it can be re-released so that it becomes affordable for people to buy. A thinner cardstock would be welcome -- and perhaps an edition without those 'wooden' borders. They really are kind of odd.

I like that even though the Empress here is obviously pregnant (an image I do find a little tediously ubiquitous in modern tarot decks), there are other symbols of fertility -- grapes, grain, the scythe, and a rabbit! I also like that she has symbols of maidenhood in the flower wreath on her head and the bouquet she carries. Nice image all around.

I guess I will have to show creativity today in getting ready for tomorrow's big children's event. We have no idea how many could turn up, but it could be as many as 135 or more! I will have to do simultaneous creating and harvesting, just as the Empress in this card. By 5.00 today, all preparations must be ready!

The other shore

Touchstone Tarot, Kunati 2009

'Let the water wash over you
Wash it all over you
Swim to the ocean floor

So that we can begin again
Wash away all our sins
Crash to the other shore'

~ Madonna 'Swim' 
____________________
Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi swaha
(Gone, gone, all the way gone, gone all the way to the other side, hooray!) 
~'Prajnaparamita hridaya sutra' mantra 
____________________

There's something about the idea of crossing over water. It appeals to the human spirit. The image pops up in pretty much every type of spirituality and faith. Christian Protestants sing about the far side banks of Jordan. And of course there is the beautiful ritual of baptism. Buddhists chant about going all way to the other side. Even Madonna had a song about a spiritual cleansing and fresh start, the words of which sprang instantly to my mind when I turned this card over this morning, even though I haven't thought about that song in 20 years. We like the idea of being cleansed by water, by leaving behind the old and pressing on to the new. 

We see this beloved motif represented in the tarot 6 of Swords. Most RWS-based tarot decks feature a boat of some sort, a ferryman, and usually a woman and child being ushered across water. The image speaks more deeply to us than words. We see the image of a crossing, and we just know what it means. 

I feel like I've been making a crossing lately, a crossing into a new phase of my life, a new way of living in the day to day, and it doesn't have as much to do with my daily activities as it does in the way I see the light, the way I breathe the air, and the way I think my thoughts.  I can feel it happening, like feeling the waves underneath the boat. 

Oh no! Romeo!

If there's one card I don't see myself as, it's Knight of Cups! But this is my card of the day from Kat Black's Touchstone Tarot (Kunati, 2009).  He's certainly an interesting character. Easy to mock. My very favourite movie character to associate with him is a lesser known character, but you may remember him: the kid Ricky from the film 'American Beauty'. He's the kid who liked to go around videotaping things. He shows the girl next door a video he made of a plastic bag caught in a little whirlwind, and says, 'Sometimes I think there's so much...beauty...in the world...that I can't take it.' I am by nature a Queen of Swords, and as you may know a Queen of Swords would have two kids like that guy for breakfast and still have room for a mid-morning snack. So perhaps the card is telling me to try to allow myself to be a bit sappy today about something.

On the other hand, it could be a warning of a capricious mood today. The Knight of Cups falls hopelessly and crushingly in love with something one minute, then can just as passionately hate it the next. It's the Romeo syndrome. Romeo was theatrically in love with Rosaline the morning he met Juliet, by the next morning he was desperately in love with Juliet. Had circumstances been different, no doubt in a day or two he would have fallen in love with someone else. That's the Knight of Cups. Or at least one aspect of him.

The thing is, I have to work hard not to focus on the shadow aspect of all Cups courts. So let's look at his positive side. At least he feels free enough to throw himself fully into the emotion of the moment. He doesn't hold back. Though he does seem to be more attracted to lost causes, and doesn't REALLY seem to want to be happy, as being in throes of a passionate torment is so much more romantic. Oops, there I go delving into the shadow again. Pardon my Queen of Swords' cynicism. ;)

Right back to it again

Back to work today after a luxurious three days in a row off. Looks like it will be a busy day of catch-up, lots of emails. The 8 of Wands from Touchstone Tarot (Kat Black, Kunati 2009) shows a layd on her balcony, opening a scroll, with eight wands descending at an angle, as in the traditional RWS image. The 8 of Wands signifies messages, a sense of urgency, and rushing. In more recent times, it has come to mean faster means of communication, so text messaging and emails are often associated with this card.

I hope it will be a busy day, to make the time go by faster. Tuesdays are my longest work day of the week, 8.30-6.15. Here's to a work day that goes by fast and during which I feel productive but not stressed out.

Being mean to yourself

When you've take a day of annual leave to enjoy a nice three day weekend, you don't expect to pull the 10 of Swords for your day off, but that's just what I've done this morning from Kat Black's Touchstone Tarot (Kunati 2009).

Of course my first reaction was what?? Oh no! What could this mean? The 10 of Swords card is something I usually interpret as feeling 'stabbed to the ground' by life. This could either come from real circumstances in your life, something that actually happened in other words, or it could just be a feeling you've got, the result of overreacting to events, circumstances or your own imaginings.

I didn't wake up this morning feeling 'stabbed to the ground by life', but I did wake up from a strange dream in which I was going around wearing no clothes (not an uncommon dream motif) but in my dream I was much, much fatter than I am in real life, and all over my skin, especially on my calves and the backs of my knees and the backs of my hamstrings just above the knee, I had very large skin tags and the skin had a knobbly texture. It was frightening and embarrassing to find myself in such a condition and I thought in the dream that it was shameful that I had let myself get to this state. I should be ashamed of myself, I thought, for not taking better care of myself and paying more attention to the condition of my body. I wasn't quite awake yet but stirring around and feeling troubled, when I realised somewhere in my awakening mind that it had been a dream and my legs were still smooth and blemish free (with the exception of some gooshiness in the upper thigh, which I was fixated on yesterday and which is no doubt the source of the exaggerated condition of my legs in the dream).

I'm not sure what that has to do with the 10 of Swords; I usually link 9 of Swords to nightmares. Out of curiosity, I drew the next card in the deck and guesss what it was--yep, 9 of Swords. That made me snort. So I thought what the heck, might as well draw an outcome card, and the next card in the deck was...10 of Cups. Oh, good then. At least I know I'll pull out of this funk before the day is through. :)

I did a 30-minute kickbox workout yesterday which, in the old days, would have been a light workout for me. This morning I feel sore all over. That's how out of shape I am. My arms are actually sore just from air boxing. Now, I've never interpreted 10 of Swords as being 'sore after a workout' -- but maybe it has to do with self-condemnation, for allowing myself to get this out of shape after all the years of hard work I'd put into it. There's another thought for 10 of Swords. Self-condemnation.

Still, there are two elements of this card that give hope and encouragement. The man in the card is not alone; his faithful dog has not left his side. I take the dog to represent both my life companion(s), and also my own faithfulness to myself. And the butterfly (which Kat Black includes on most sword cards in both her decks) reminds subtly of the transformative potential of any kind of pain or stress. You can rise again, and rise up better. If you want to.

Easy does it

It's Sunday and I've drawn the 'now you must wait' card, Seven of Coins. This is the Touchstone Tarot by Kat Black, and a lovely thing it is. I quite like this demure maid in her brown and green garb, pouring a bit of water from a blue and white delftware pitcher into her terra cotta pot of flowers. All you can do with a plant, really, is water it occasionally and wait to see what happens. So today must be a day for me to think hard about my life. Where am I rushing things? Where do I need to show more patience? What aspects of my life need pruning? What might need repotting? Where am I rootbound? And where am I getting not enough (or too much) light? You could chase this gardening metaphor forever with this card, but it all comes down to seeing how the minor adjustments you make today pan out tomorrow. Pinch it back today, it may be weeks before you can see the consequences. On the other hand, overwater today and the plant will probably be droopy tomorrow, dead by next week! So -- once again -- moderation is a key. Moderation and patience. And we all know how popular that pair is. :)

I just thought of that song from 'West Side Story' that they sing after the big rumble where Tony kills Bernardo --

'Boy, boy, crazy boy! 
Stay loose, boy! 
Breeze it, buzz it, easy does it. 
Turn off the juice, boy! 
Go man, go, 
But not like a yo-yo schoolboy. 
Just play it cool, boy, 
Real cool!'

Well, it takes some serious monkey mind to make the leap from a placid 16th century garden to the mean streets of 1950s New York City, but I seem to have managed it. :) That's part of the joy of tarot reading. It calls into play the most unexpected connections in the mind. Bits of song, flashes of poetry, scenes from films, memories from your own life, bits and bobs randomly present themselves, to shed light in the unlikeliest ways. 

I'll take my time, and take it easy today. And not get IMPATIENT about things I've been working on lately.

If you don't mind my saying, you can see I'm full of aces!

(apologies to Kenny Rogers for the title. :) )

I decided to continue with Kat Black this week, using the beloved Touchstone Tarot. Can you believe I drew another Ace?!

I really love the Touchstone Tarot (Kunati, 2009). It's Kat Black's second deck. Originally the cards had very wide borders designed to look like wooden frames, and heavily gilded edges. I hated the gilded edges because they hurt my hands, and so I cut the top and side borders off the cards. I was very pleased with the result,  though I have to warn that if anyone is thinking of doing this, be very careful. Unlike some cards where there is a clear line to cut along, the Touchstone deck has dark borders right next to dark backgrounds, making it really hard to see where to cut, so on a couple of my cards, the edge is crooked. I don't mind it, but it would devastate some people. I even bought a second copy of the deck so I would have one 'whole' one, but I have extremely limited storage space and always feel it's a waste to have a spare deck around, so I sold it. It's going for stupid money now in some circles, but I can't be worried about that. When it comes to decks, I don't look back. Lots of decks have come and gone in my collection, and I have never re-bought one (though I know some people do that) and I've never wasted any time regretting or pining for what I gave, traded or sold away. Plus, I think it is unconscionable to sell a product that originally retailed for £20 for £100, £200, £800 or whatever. It's greedy of the sellers and just plain stupid of the buyers. There will always be more decks. And after all, they're only cards.

Hmm, I guess from that ramble it would seem the Ace of Coins may be pointing toward money thoughts today! Among other earthy, material, physical plane concerns.

Ah, a 3-day weekend

I've got a 3-day weekend coming up. Nothing booked, no real plans. Today I've drawn the Knight of Cups, 3 of Wands and Fool from the Touchstone Tarot by Kat Black (Kunati, 2009). The figure in the Knight of Cups stares straight out at us, and his body is turned toward the other two cards, receiving their energy. The figures in 3 of Wands and Fool both face in the direction of the Knight of Cups, but with their eyes cast into the distance (and in different directions from one another). To me this suggests hubby and I are going to enjoy a loved-up weekend, during which we don't bother with elaborate planning (see how the 3 of Wands figure has turned his vision away from the distance? If he were scanning the horizon, he'd mean planning the future to me, but as he's turned away, in this reading at least, I see it as not bothering so much with planning but instead focusing on what is closer, right next to him.). And then of course the Fool suggests all sorts of potential for unplanned adventure. So who knows what could happen. Maybe we'll impulsively take off to the hills for some walking, or fall in love with a car (we intend to do some more test driving) and buy it on the spot. No knowing! Looks like it will be a fun weekend, though.

Now to make it through today's work day...because the card I drew for today was Page of Swords! Oh no! Not Billy the Kid again! 

Who are you trying to impress? What are you trying to prove?

Today's draw from Touchstone Tarot is 6 of Wands. This card shows a triumphant return from battle. It is often interpreted to mean recognition for success. Coming as it does after the 5 of Wands, which depicts minor squabbles, it could also mean being victorious in a small way, as well. Or it could even mean being victorious over something so minor and petty that it doesn't even really matter. In that case, it would be an irony, that the figure in the card looking so lordly and puffing himself up is doing it over something that is of no importance or real benefit.

Every tarot card has its shadow meaning, its darker side. We sometimes forget them when reading. Some readers like to mix their decks up so that some cards turn up reversed, and will use that as a cue to read a shadow meaning of a tarot card. I personally believe that all cards are meant to be viewed right side up, and one should use one's intuition (or perhaps the designated positional meaning in a spread) to determine whether to read a card's shadow meaning. Whoever meant for a picture to be viewed upside down? No one. To me, reversals are a silly tradition--I can't stand to see an upside down image, it really annoys me!

This card is making me think of the rioting going on in the streets of England now. Mobs of youth have been burning and looting city centres in London, Birmingham, Nottingham, and elsewhere. They may feel like some sort of victors, but victors of what? Their actions are meaningless. Their efforts have earned them the loathing of a nation, and served only to reinforce negative stereotypes held about this country's youth. Are these perpetrators puffing themselves up with pride? Do they think they've got something over on someone? Over on who? What victory have they won? What point have they proved? Nothing. It's all empty. The guy in the back of this card is looking at Mr Pride in the foreground, and he looks embarrassed. A servant from outside the card is leading away a riderless grey horse. No point. No victory.

What will it take to end this episode? I drew Strength. I'm not seeing the usual message of the fair maiden overcoming the lion through her gentleness. This is old-fashioned strength. That lion is being completely subdued, his head twisted right round. He doesn't look submissive, or reconciled to what's happening to him. He is being forced into submission, by someone, judging by the look on her face, who can actually do it quite easily. She's had enough and quietly reaches over and twists the lion's head half off. She looks down into his mouth with an investigative air. Sure, she looks as if once she's got the lion on his back, she can be compassionate. She will take the trouble to find out why the lion was misbehaving. But for the moment, the objective is to get the lion down. It's going to take force, strength, confident authority to put an end to this thing, and eventually the compassion to look into the deeper sources of this episode. The point is knowing which comes first.

On the other hand, there are the legions of folk taking to the streets with their brooms to clean up the mess. Maybe they're the Strength that will take the lion down, the true strength of the majority, in their pure motives and essential goodness. 

May all this mess end today, whatever it takes.

Life...is just a bowl of cherries...

Do this. Don't do this. Outcome. (Touchstone, 2009)

I've been stressed lately, for various reasons, but when you add them all up, it's a lot to take in! I've got redundancy worries, joined a new union, switched my gas and electric supplier, taken on a tarot project with Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI), I've stepped up my exercise regime, and I'm reading a book about meditation practice that is, as it says in the title, 'Unusally Hardcore'. So I asked the Touchstone Tarot, how should I deal with all this? And I drew 3 cards: Do this. Don't do this. Outcome.

So I'm supposed to 'do' 9 of Cups. Strangely enough, the first thing I notice about this card, other than the fact the chap in it looks like he's had a good sip from each of those nine cups, is that there is a bowl of cherries on the table. Which instantly brings to mind the song: 'Life is just a bowl of cherries. Don't take it serious...

Life's too mysterious

You work,

You save,

You worry so

But you can't take your dough

When you go, go, go

So keep repeating "It's the berries."

The strongest oak must fall

The sweet things in life

To you were just loaned

So how can you lose

What you've never owned

Life is just a bowl of cherries

So live and laugh, aha!

Laugh and love

Live and laugh,

Laugh and love,

Live and laugh at it all!'

~by Ray Henderson, 1931 

Message received! Lighten up, the tarot's telling me. Take it easy. Find something about the situation to enjoy. Or just find something, somewhere, anywhere,  to enjoy. At the end of the day, what will most of it even matter?

Billy the Kid

Then ... what should I NOT do? Page of Swords. Just look at that guy. He reminds me so much of the famous photo of Billy the Kid. He's just so cocky! He's got his head tilted to the side with that 'Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough' expression on his face. Don't mess with me, he's saying. But bring it on!, he's also saying. I can take you. I think the message here is, don't fight it. Don't defy the universe. Don't be belligerent. Don't have an attitude. Don't think you can outsmart the situation you're in. No mental fisticuffs or even full-on gun fights of the mind will help you in the situation you're in. Nope, surrender is best.

And what will be the outcome if I stop fighting it and learn to enjoy the journey? Seven of Coins. What a lovely maiden, like something out of a Vermeer painting. (Actually, she's by Raffaello, from a painting called 'Portrait of a Woman', 1507. I looked it up in the handy Touchstone Tarot companion book. ) Doesn't she look placid, though. She's patient. She's waiting for the plants to grow, and come to fruition, and that's all I can do, as well. That's all any of us can do, really, in any situation. Be patient. 

So okay! I get it. Chill out, don't fight it, be patient. 

I can do that. (She says.)

The Prestige

Today's draw from Kat Black's Touchstone Tarot (Kunati, 2009) is The Magician. This Magician appears to be an occult scholar, most likely an alchemist. His turban is quite elaborately decorated and suggests both riches and an otherworldliness, even a sort of holiness. His inner robe appears to be golden silk, intricately embroidered. His outer robe is decorated with large stars and moons, as one would expect of a wizard. Multiple rings on his fingers, he is grasping in two fingers a chain that ends in a golden orb. (The forefinger touching the thumb is a mudra symbolizing knowledge. What sort of knowledge might that golden orb represent?) On the table before him, the suits of the tarot deck, also representing the four elements: cup, wand, knife, coin. Clearly he is seated in a library, just next the stairs that lead up to more books above. An owl perches nearby. On his face, a very enigmatic expression, as if he knows all sorts of things he's not quite willing to share. Or wants you to think that.
The Magician represents the ability to turn thoughts into reality.  He takes the knowledge he has gathered over the years of study or contemplation, and through concentration and will, makes them happen in the real world. The ultimate expression of this ability was alchemy, 'a process by which paradoxical results are achieved or incompatible elements combined with no obvious rational explanation'. The primary objective of the alchemist was to turn base metals into gold, or finding the 'universal elixir'.

What could this have to do with daily life in a reading?  The Magician reminds us that we can make things happen. We can use all available tools, combine them in unusual, even unique, ways in order to make our dreams reality. There's a shadow side to the Magician, though, and his earlier manifestation in tarot was as The Juggler, ie, a sideshow trickster. So we are also warned to watch out for too-good-to-be-true schemes, sleight of hand or out and out illusions. Thus that enigmatic smile!

May I use all resources at my disposal wisely today, and keep my wits about me so as not to be misled.

So much potential!

Touchstone Tarot, Kat Black (Kunati 2009)

My draw today from Touchstone Tarot is so encouraging! I drew three cards with no positional meanings (most of my 3-card draws are done without positional meanings, and read either from left to right, or using Robert Place's 3-card method. I'll do a post on that soon!)

The 6 of Cups suggests approaching life with childlike wonder and openness, while the two aces speak to me of potential energy in the two areas that have been of major concern to me lately, the material and spiritual realms. I love that both figures in the ace cards have wings, but are not using them. Again, the potential is there, but just waiting for the first flappings to soar away!

In the Ace of Coins, there is a dog, which always symbolises faithfulness and humility to me, loyalty and even a kind of nobility. The lily behind the winged figure reminds me of purity. I believe this to be purity of intention. The Ace of Coins figure faces the 6 of Cups, even is pointing one finger at it! So surely the message here is that in order to move forward in the material realm, I must access my childlike openness and wonder. For my exercise, to rediscover the joy of movement. For my nutrition, to be willing to learn new things and even to be retaught things I once knew. For my livelihood, to trust that I will be provided for by a loving universe. Now, that's truly childlike trust!

The Ace of Wands figure also inclines her head toward the 6 of Cupse, but the shoulders and torso point away. This suggests to me that in the spiritual realm, I must keep an openness, but may need more emotional maturity to move in the direction that I wish to go in. This makes perfect sense, as I want to grow and mature in my spiritual practice. The figure holds a wand and seems to be nurturing a bowl of hot coals. These represent to me smouldering potential, and also call to mind the practice of burning ground herbs and resins on coals in a cauldron or other vessel. The castle in the background on the hill reminds me of the attainment that awaits with diligent practice, and the humble cottage below reminds me that the day-to-day living of the spiritual path involves very little glory. And of course, between the figure and the castle, there's a very tangled wood to be negotiated. What are her fingers pointing toward? They both point away from the Ace of Coins. Maybe a reminder that the answer doesn't lie in materialism--like buying new decks and books every other day? (Ouch!)

May I remember the messages of this draw as I move through the coming week: retain my wonder, enjoy my physical existence, and begin the trek through those tangled woods of the spiritual realm. Hello, meditation cushion!

Who is that guy?

Touchstone Tarot, 2009

Today's draw comes from Kat Black's beautiful Touchstone Tarot, published by Kunati, 2009. The deck comes with wide borders designed to look like wooden picture frames, because all (or most) of the cards in this deck are composed of Renaissance portraits. I trimmed the top and sides of my deck to make them easier to handle. To me, the overall look of the cards is greatly enhanced by this change.

Waite Smith 1909

The card I pulled from the deck today is The World. Our usual image of the World card includes a female nude at the centre of the card, with the four figures around the edges (human face, eagle, lion, bull) said to  represent the four elements (air, water, fire, earth).  But older decks contain a male figure, as does this deck. Both Paul Huson in his 'Mystical Origins of the Tarot' and Robert Place in 'Tarot: History, Symbolism and Divination' agree (as do many other writers) that the central figure originally represented Christ in glory, with the four figures surrounded him simultaneously representing the four evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), the four beasts surrounding the throne of God in Revelation 4:7 ("And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle"), and the Holy Living creatures described in the book of Ezekiel, each having the face of an ox, eagle, lion and man. ("As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle." -- Ezekiel 1:10). The World card, then shows the ascended Christ after the Judgement of the world at the end of days, reigning supreme and being worshipped by all creatures. This card does fall in sequence directly after the Judgement card, and there is no doubt in my mind it originated to represent the second coming. So some tarot cards depict Christ in glory, while others, the ones with female figures, refer to the Anima Mundi, the Soul of the World, which is the bride of Christ, or the New Jerusalem. When you get into historical decks, or even decks based on historical decks, there's no getting around the Christian imagery. It is totally and completely there, and you can glaze over it with all the pagan stuff you like, but you can't get around that truth.

Anyway,in a reading, the World card represents achieved goals, complete fruition, absolute success, enlightenment, and so on. Well, I mean, can you get much higher than the glorified Christ, when it comes to symbols of success? I ask you!