Waning Moon Tarot Spread

To keep rhythm with the moon today I am doing the Waning Moon Tarot Spread, courtesy of Ethony on Tumblr.  I am using the Archeon Tarot by Timothy Lantz.  I have trimmed the large borders and titles from my working deck to free the dreamy landscape to flow over and through the images.

Waning Moon Tarot Spread: Archeon Tarot- Death, The Chariot, Ace of Cups, Five of Cups

Card One: Waning- What do I need to release?  Death.
 I tend to have a scorched earth attitude towards things I leave behind.  I am often all or nothing, and I don't need to be that way.  I can exercise a little moderation, and I don't have to turn away from a thing altogether in order to move forward.  In regards to my back injury, I keep hoping for the day I wake up and I am remade, a whole new person, and that simply is not going to happen.

Card Two: Reverse- What can I reverse to help me or my situation?  The Chariot.
 I tend to have a rather bullish attitude about things, believing I can power through the unsavory parts of life, or see hard things through with sheer tenacity.  Although this has served me well in many cases, some situations need a little more finesse.  Sometimes I can (and should) hold on loosely.  I cannot force my healing through my usual means of getting things done.

Card Three: Hecate- What path is in line with my highest self?  Ace of Cups.
Love.  Love is always the appropriate response.  This was the clear message in the single card reading I did for my October project, being documented on Instagram, #ShadowWorkOctober.  Let love flow, let it fill me, let it spill over, stop putting restrictions on what it looks like, what it feels like, besides good, and what it can accomplish.  I need to focus on the love in my life.

Card Four: Guidance- What guidance can the waning moon show me? Five of Cups.
I am not a great multitasker, which means when I focus on what I don't have, I do not have the attention span to really feel, enjoy, and appreciate all the things I do have.  I think it's a normal and natural response to remember the things and the people that are no longer in our lives as better, or smoother, than they really were.  There's no use crying over spilled perfume, and since I am lucky, I have the memory of the scent to see me through, but my focus needs to be here and now in this place.  I can feel sorry for myself forever, I really could, but there is nothing to be accomplished with that attitude.

Do you like to do spreads based on the cycles of the Moon?  Please share if you do!

These cards are from the Archeon Tarot by Timothy Lantz, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Daily Draw- The Chariot,The Lovers, Ten of Cups

One thing I think most people would do really well to let go of is the idea of one soul mate for each person.  I don't believe in it, and I would hate to believe that any of you had only one chance for deep and abiding happiness, and if you missed it, too bad for you.  I believe we each have several soul mates, and some of them are not even romantic.  Some are meant to be lifetime partners,and some only pass through for a time.  It depends so much what we are ready to learn, what they are too, where we are in our evolution, what kind of love we are ready to give and receive, and where our soul mates are on their journey, too.

Still, these cards offer me a very clear picture of my marriage, of our soul mate connection.

Silver Era Tarot- The Chariot, The Lovers, Ten of Cups

The Chariot is my birth card, and has been offering me my biggest challenges and my hardest lessons.  For much of our adult lives,my husband and I were aware of each other, but not ready to turn to each other.  I had a lot of lessons to learn to be the kind of wife he needed, and I daresay he was not going to be the kind of husband I needed without making some changes.  When the time was right, though, and I have come to understand so much abut relationships is timing them right, we had a very happy ending.  Home, love, family, a soft place to fall, our kids, all of our dreams, springing to life before our very eyes.  He has been my destiny, and I his.  But destiny is more than just falling into place.  It is preparation and getting ready and becoming ever more who you are meant to be.

Silver Era Tarot- The Sun

Inspirations for Survivors

Today my NicNoodle has a cheer competition to compete in, several hours from home.  The Shadow Card is The Sun, which I rarely even find any shadow meanings for.  The Inspirations for Survivors card goes so well with The Sun, "In our darkest times we are never alone."  I think it may be a tougher competition than she is prepared for it to be, and since she has a practice first thin in the morning, then we are on the road all day, for her to perform late in the afternoon, it may be a long day for all of us. I have not been terribly mobile, so that may prove a challenge for me, but in the end, we are all together, we support each other, and that is what matters the most.

Good luck, NicNoodle and the Spartan Cheerleaders!

These cards are from Silver Era Tarot and Inspirations for Survivors by Aunia Kahn and Russell J. Moon, published by Schiffer Books.

Daily Draw- The Hierophant, The Hermit, The Chariot

This strange conglomeration of cards features all Major Arcana, and being confined to bed, not too much all that major is happening for me right now.  The Hierophant is the card of my Sun sign, Taurus, and The Chariot is my birth card.  They sandwich The Hermit, who stands still between them.

Silver Era Tarot- The Hierophant, The Hermit, The Chariot

The accompanying book with the deck reads so for The Hierophant, "The Hierophant sits calm and stable as she blesses those who realize one's existence does not necessarily reside in material wealth, but more by what values are held inside."

Silver Era Tarot- Knight of Sword

Inspirations for Survivors

I am deeply irritated with not being able to be productive, not amassing money, not being able to clean and run errands.  Bed bound DOES NOT suit me well at all,something easily seen in the Shadow Card, the Knight of Swords.  I would prefer to charge forward, right into the fray.  I am better off taking action, but The Hermit shows I can spend this time learning, resting, going deep into myself.  This is reflected in the Inspirations for Survivors card I pulled, "Go with the flow and a benefit may follow."  Going with the flow is not my forte, it actually goes against my nature, but in this case I don't have much choice, and that is the advice of the cards.

These cards are from Silver Era Tarot and Inspirations for Survivors by Aunia Kahn and Russell J. Moon, published by Schiffer Books.

The Wild Hunt

Ghosts & Spirits Tarot- The Chariot

Despite having received the Ghosts & Spirits Tarot by Lisa Hunt months ago, and despite the fact I was anxiously awaiting it, I have been reluctant to work with it, and not because it isn't hauntingly lovely.  It is so beautiful!  I have all of Lisa Hunt's decks, and the art is undeniably lovely, to my eyes at least, but I have to admit none of them are decks that come easily to me for reading.  I have to study them, approach them reverently, and I usually start with one card draws, to get to know the decks better.

This morning I asked how the deck and I would work together if I used my one card draw method of getting to know the deck better, and the answer was The Chariot, here represented by The Wild Hunt.

My instinctual thought when I see The Chariot in answer to this question is that I am going to expand my tarot knowledge, but I am going to have to make a conscious decision to do so, and to chase it down.

In my personal iconography, The Chariot is often a card of good luck and sure success, but The Wild Hunt brings a different flavor to the card.  This lore is nearly universal to Europe, and often involves Odin as the leader of a fey army who are on the hunt for souls who are beyond redemption.  It is considered exceedingly bad luck to bear witness to The Wild Hunt, and it is often a portend of catastrophic events to come.

In the Little White Book, Lisa explains, "This signifies the polarities between life and death, light and shadow, the conscious and unconscious."  With her help, I begin to piece the image together with my understanding of The Chariot, and thus my knowledge grows.  See, chasing it down...

As for me, I do not fear The Wild Hunt because I know I am utterly redeemable, and I hold no fear of judgment, in this life or beyond.

This card is from Ghosts & Spirits Tarot by Lisa Hunt, published by U.S. Games Tarot.

Daily Draw - Chariot, Star, Ace of Cups

Crystal Visions Tarot- Chariot, Star, Ace of Cups

"This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill

Fifteen percent concentrated power of will

Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain

And a hundred percent reason to remember the name!"

~Lyrics from "Remember the Name" by Fort Minor

Today these cards make me think about the love we have to have for what we do, and the fact that as much as we love, that is still never enough.

The Chariot, my birth card (for more information about birth cards check out Bonnie Cehovet's Tarot, Birth Cards, and You, Keys to Empowering Yourself.  It's a great book with practical ways to actually use tarot in your every day life!) is a card that shows victory, and charging forward, but it is does not just happen.  "Victory through mastery" is a common set of keywords for The Chariot, and mastery comes from doing, every single day.  I have heard the number 10,000 hours bandied about, and that seems pretty close to me the amount of time it takes to master something.

And what do you do to a Chariot?  You drive it, right?  Drive is both a quality and a verb, and both aspects are required.  Without the drive, those horses are gonna go any which way they choose, and Rush reminds us, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."  The Chariot is a card that is so promising, so positive, but is a card that requires action.  We will win, but we have to go after it, with every ounce of our being.  Victory is assured, as long as we show up and play our A game.  It won't just be handed to us.

The Star is a beautiful card, of hope and healing, beauty and poetry, but it is a far away card.  It's a light at the end of the tunnel, but it is a far off light.  It does not illuminate, only promises that you are not forgotten.  To me, this card speaks today about the optimism and deep faith it takes to follow our dreams.  We have to really believe that it is possible, and we need that ten percent luck Fort Minor rapped about at times.

The Ace of Cups is all about love, and we have to love what we do.  Aces are potential, and as the culminating card of this reading I see that Drive + Unflagging Faith = Unlimited Potential for Love, which surely is an equation I can get behind.

Crystal Visions Tarot- Two of Cups

The shadow card for this reading is the Two of Cups, which is all about sacred contracts to me.  It's also pleasure and adoration, so while the work we are sent here to do is sacred, and there is nothing more important than being the best possible version of ourselves, it doesn't have to always be so serious.  We can approach life, and our own purpose, with a sense of love and fun.  I see the teeny little fairy in the background as the figure from The Star, having left her vessels representing hope and trust with the couple, and as they drink deeply and slake their thirst they become ever more what they were always meant to be.





These cards are from Crystal Visions Tarot by Jennifer Galasso for U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Hello, Hezicos Tarot!

I was at a loss as to which deck to choose for the week, because they all seemed to be clamoring for my attention.  I have ended up with the Hezicos Tarot in my hand, so I asked - 

What will come of me working with you?  Ace of Rods (Wands).  Well, one could hardly ask for a more promising card, but is it just me or does that little dude not look so enthused?

No matter, I am a bull in a china shop, and I will use this deck, because it is so beautiful for spring, and it is lovely to feel and hold, and the creator, Mary Griffin, has been a real doll to let me use her images and in all my dealings with her.

This card is just beginning to bud.  There is a lot of fresh, new energy, and using this deck for the first time will bring some of that to my reading.  This is also the second Monday in a row that I have been given the Ace of Wands.  It fits, because I do have the idea that diets, and exercise regimens, and new habits, all begin on Monday!

What do I need to know about this deck?  The Chariot.

When I was a young girl, I was horse crazy in the way that young girls can be.  I read about them, dreamed about them, went to sleep with the warm scent of hay and horse in my nostrils, and woke up with an eagerness to muck out stalls that I would never be able to duplicate today.

What I am saying is, I love horses.

What I need to know about this deck is that it is a very strong deck, wild and beautiful, and that it can help move me from one place to another through working with it, so I am very glad for a bit of that energy in my life right now.





These cards are from the Hezicos Tarot by Mary Griffin.

PDR - Soul Card

Tonight, I attended my first Tarot Geeks Meet Up, which was terribly fun. We did the exercises from Tarot For Yourself by Mary K. Greer to figure out personal cards. To figure out the Soul Card, you simply add the days of your birth date together, then reduce them by re adding them until the number is between one and nine. Mine becomes seven, which, as we all know, corresponds to The Chariot.

Some time ago, when I first worked through Tarot For Yourself, I had a very detailed meditation and conversation with the Charioteer in the RWS deck. He told me things like how he could teach me both how to control myself, and how to relinquish control when necessary, because they are two sides of the same coin. It was all very exciting and new for me, and that experience remains a favorite memory because I did not know before then that I had that power. It was heady!

This Chariot is a little difference. He has no steeds to control, no unruly vehicle to force down the path of his choosing. This Chariot is literally his own master, and has to control himself to get to where he wants and needs to go. His confidence and motivation are the driving and determining factors about where he will end up. Not surprisingly, my confidence and determination, and the mastery of the separate parts of myself, are the keys to my success, and I know that. The Chariot is such an interesting card, because it is so often shown as being at rest, but the card should really be all about motion, moving forward, careening even, through time and space, on a collision course with destiny.

"Victory through mastery" is an oft repeated affirmation for this card, and that makes perfect sense to me.





This card is from the Deviant Moon Tarot by Patrick Valenza for US Games.