Diamond Tarot

I recently trimmed my copy of the Diamond Tarot (AGMuller 1997) to get rid of its white borders and make it smaller. Then I trimmed off the titles of the cards, because they were in French anyway and I couldn't read them. Now the deck is a small size and I think it looks great. Very psychedelic and trippy, don't you think?

Diamond Tarot AGMuller 1997

The deck is by Marie-Louise Bergoint and Klaus Holitzka. The LWB that came with the deck was pretty fat, but as it was all in French, I tossed it. It leaves more room in the box and it was no use to me. Collectors may be shocked, but 1) it's my deck and 2) one of the first lessons many tarot readers will teach is 'throw away the LWB'. So, I've just taken them a bit literally, is all.

The Diamond Tarot is a straightforward RWS deck, with very large, ornate borders. Every single card has its own unique border design. The only constant elements seem to be the diagonal lines extending to the corners and the 4 rectangles with circles or orbs on all 4 sides of the card image. They seem to me to be like 'astral doorways', and this deck just begs to be used for meditation or trance. I'm really glad I got this deck; I think it's glorious!

I also trimmed my Arthurian Tarot, having been inspired by a photo of the trimmed deck laid out on a black cloth. I'm happy to say, mine turned out great and I will post a photo ASAP.

I've had a great December so far, and I'd like to say thanks to the folks who have ordered readings from me this month. I really enjoyed reading for you!

Herb of the Week: Rosemary

Funnily enough, my own windowsill pot of rosemary chose this week to kick the bucket. Poor thing. I finally gave in and dumped the thing in the bin this morning.
Never mind, I'll buy another in the spring.


Rosemary has been associated with the fire element or warmth of the body, and has been recommended by various herbalists for maladies as diverse as indigestion, cardiac edema and insomnia. It is one of a family of herbs considered a sort of 'cure-all'. For magical or folk uses, rosemary is considered to be an overall herb of protection and useful in creating charms and incense. Its essential oil is lovely when mixed with a carrier oil and burned in an oil burner, and of course it also tastes great in soups and sauces!

Oh, and can't forget to add, have a very happy and peaceful Winter Solstice.  Many blessings to you on the darkest night of the year.

Ior

 

'Ior' Rune Cards, Linsell

Ior is a river fish and yet it always

Feeds on land; it has a fair abode

Encompassed by water

Where it lives in happiness. 

(Iar byþ eafix and ðeah a bruceþ

 fodres on foldan, hafaþ fægerne eard 

wætre beworpen, 

ðær he wynnum leofaþ.)

~Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem

You'll get no touchy-feely from the Anglo-Saxons!

There are so many things I want to accomplish, and I just can't seem to find time in a day to do them all. Seriously, a full time job takes up most of my waking hours, and by the time I get home, I usually have only 3 or 4 hours to accomplish everything that I want to do for myself before it's time to go to bed and start all over again the next day.

I pulled some cards from the Rune Cards Oracle asking, What can I do to find balance and do what I want to do each day? What is preventing me from doing this? What will be the outcome if I take the advice of the first card?

 

So, what I need to do is Ash. There's a long house there, with weapons and shields, and in the foreground, a sort of bare ash tree type thing with its arms outstretched, covering the whole picture. This speaks to me of protection. 

I bought some herbs today, oh boy

I just bought these herbs and pots today. From left to right: peppermint, lemon thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage.

I'm a little worried because when I took the plants from their plastic containers to pot them, they had massive root systems that filled the entire container. I wasn't expecting that, but I'm no expert on plants by any means. So when I put them in the new clay pots, I had to add hardly any soil at all around them. Perhaps I should have bought bigger pots, but it's too late now. I can't very well unpot them all and exchange the pots. It's just like me to take something that was meant to be fun and relaxing and find ways to stress and fret over it. I don't want the plants to die because the pots are too small, they're not getting enough light, the window's too drafty. Etc.

The fact is, I've been way more stressed lately than I ought to be. I don't know if it's hormones, my work situation, worry about things back home in America, or general malaise caused by the upcoming equinox. I don't know what it is.

So I drew from the Haindl Tarot. What is going on today? What is the underlying cause? And what is a possible solution?

Nobody said transformation was pretty

Roots of Asia (AG Muller 2001)

 'Beloved, gaze in thine own heart,

The tree of life is blooming there.'

                                       ~WB Yeats

Today's draw from the Roots of Asia Tarot by Amnart Klanprachar and Thaworn Boonyawan is major arcanum number 13--Death. This is one of the most striking Death cards I have seen. We have two curious rock formations such as sometimes seen in images of Asia, but as the eye moves down the card, you realise that the landscape looks like a woman lying on her back, arms outstretched, knees up. The knees become the mountain formations. Growing from her heart centre is a tree. Her hair streams into the water. Her body is slowly being changed from its human form and becoming a natural landscape. You get the feeling that in time, she'll have disappeared completely into the land. At the top of the card, the sky is dark and there's a glowing orb, could be either sun or moon, encircled by three rings, then the curious wispy orange sky that features in nearly every card in the Roots of Asia pack. The woman's 'body' lies in an abundance of water in rivers, pools and streams, and on the twin peaks of the mountains, there are spectacularly high and dramatic waterfalls. A mist rises over the entire scene from the water. It is a card that is both earthy and ethereal.