I've got mail - Temperance Stalker Letter

A letter from my recent stalker, Temperance. Two cards from yesterday's draw returned: Queen of Wands and Strength!

LoScarabeo TdM mini

Dear Carla, 

When I show up in your readings, I'm giving you a message about regulation. You need to regulate yourself, but not in the way you seem to believe. You need to get your thoughts and actions in order. You're being controlled by them. 

I'm showing you that you are wearing thin under the strain. What I want you to do is to dream. And by that I don't mean listing goals you'd like to achieve, or creating a life 'mission statement', I mean literally dream. The kind you do when you're asleep. How long has it been since you paid attention to your dreams? Since you recorded them in your dream journal? How long has it been since you truly valued the landscape of your dreams? You worry about sleep, but do you value what happens there? 

When I appear, I am asking you to release 'taking control' of yourself. You don't need more discipline. You need the opposite. I want you to embrace pure flow from source. You're an Aquarius, the Water Bearer, and Aquarius is ruled by the Star. Why does the Star never turn up in your readings? I want you to embrace the Star. She's my sister, people say we look alike. She's a bit more laid back than me... Maybe I'm as close as you can get to her for now, but she's the real you. Camelia Elias says of her:  'No measuring is necessary here. Just sheer flow. She needs no rules or constraints dictating her actions. She prefers to navigate through life trusting nature and the universe. Such faith she must have!' I want you to release your attempts to seize control in overt ways. I want you to embrace the dreamscape and trust the flow. 

When you see me, it's time to drink from the cup of your rich, inner world, of which you are Queen Carla, the First of Her Name.

Now go get a literal drink of water and take an actual nap. I mean it! When you wake up, how about a little meditation? See below. 

Sincerely

Temperance 

6 of Wands - You again??

Morgan Greer Tarot 

Look who's back. 6 of Wands is stalking me, so I'm using Pearl Annie's stalker technique this morning.

I've shuffled 6 of Wands back into the deck and divided the pack into five piles: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Spirit. I found the 6 of Wands the 5th card down in the Earth pile. So the area of my life where the 6 of Wands has concern is Earth, the material, physical plane.

But what is his message in the material, physical plane? Could he be telling me there's nothing victorious about blogging at 5.30 AM on four hour's sleep and the best thing I could do is go back to bed? Maybe...

I'll ask him to write me a letter, which I learned at Over the Moon Oracle Cards:



Dear Seeker,

When I show up in your readings, I'm giving you a message about THIS (Card 1). I'm showing you THIS (Card 2) is what's happening and I want you to be/feel THIS (Card 3) about it. When I appear, I'm asking you to release THIS (Card 4) and embrace THIS (Card 5). When you see me, it's time to take THIS (Card 6) action.

Sincerely,

Tarot Card Stalker

Dear Carla

When I show up in your readings, I'm giving you a message about how your thought life traps you. I'm showing you that are focusing on the negative. You're so gloomy about stuff! I want you to be more grounded and optimistic -- explore aspects of your physical existence and world. Approach your life with the spirit of an explorer. Get back to basics. Make some new discovery. Make some mud pies, or whatever the grown up equivalent of that is. Whatever happened to those colouring books for grown-ups you bought?

When I appear, I'm asking you to release the need to be the one holding the reins and making things happen, and embrace taking a break from your whirling thoughts. Get some rest! When you see me, it's time to take quick action--move yourself from your thought life to quiet self-care, and don't waste any time about it! If you follow my advice, you'll feel more triumphant in your life. 

Sincerely

The 6 of Wands

So on that note, I'm going back to bed. 

See ya. 

Confronting the stalker cards

'Stalker' cards are those that keep turning up over and over, no matter what deck you're using, what question you're asking, or sometimes even what person you're reading for! The lovely and wise Pearl Annie shared a technique for looking at stalker cards (she calls them 'cards that haunt me') in a group on Facebook called The Tarot Readers Development and Study Group. She shuffles her deck thoroughly and then divides it into five piles to determine what plane of existence the stalker card is attempting to deal with: Fire, Water, Earth, Air or Spirit.

I thought I'd just try that with my two recent stalkers, Knight of Wands and Chariot.

Three cards into the Fire pack, I found the Knight of Wands. I placed the two cards before him face down above the Fire pack, and placed him on top of them facing up. Then after two more cards, I found the Chariot! So I placed it and its previous cards below the Fire pack. 

(It doesn't matter what order you put them, that's just the order I said out loud as I laid them out so I stuck with that, even though normally I would have done Fire - Water -Air - Earth - Spirit. It's early, and I am a witch of dismal memory.) 

Both cards have fallen in the Fire pack, which comes as no surprise at all, but you never know until you ask. Knight of Wands is a Fire card of course, being Wands, and its elemental affinity is Air, so he is Air of Fire. The Chariot is a Water card, associated with the moon and Cancer. It's action that they're calling for, both in thoughts and feelings. I should act on thoughts and feelings, and not just think or feel them. 

I thought it would interesting to take this technique a bit further. What would happen if I looked to see what cards fell in the same spot in the other packs? Would that give me insight into how to support the Knight of Wands and Chariot across all planes? How can my other aspects aid this one that wants so much to come out?

I counted down into each pack and repeated the laying out of the cards as I did for the Fire pack:

Aiding the Knight of Wands

Fire - Knight of Wands, Water - 9 of Wands, Earth - Queen of Wands, Air - 2 of Cups, Spirit - 8 of Wands (confession, the 9 of Wands and Queen of Wands came out reversed, but I turned them over for the photo, so I'm going to read them reversed). 

I can aid the Knight of Wands' manifestation by watching out for feelings of being judged by others, being more sympathetic and forgiving of my physical body and habits, sharing ideas with others, and engaging in a daily spiritual practice. 

Aiding the Chariot

Fire - Chariot, Water - 7 of Wands, Earth - World, Air - 9 of Cups, Spirit - 2 of Pents Rx (confession, 7 of Wands was reversed so I will read it that way.) 

I can aid the Chariot's manifestation, again by avoiding defensive reactions, glorying in my physical self (note the glorified naked form in the card), thinking about where I am satisfied and successful, and accepting that being alive means not always (or even usually) feeling anything like being on an 'even keel'.

In summary 

My stalker cards want very much for me to make progress. The other cards show the blockages to these cards -- possibly they are the real reasons the stalkers keep stalking. They're not waving but drowning, as the poem says. They're stymied by attitudes in the other planes. The cards are telling me to stop seeking balance and get on with things. Lighten up. Stop looking for perfection in myself or my methods. Just DO something. Knight of Wands and Chariot will be satisfied if they see me do something, anything. So stop telling myself it won't be good enough.

Good insights.