Daily Draw - Seven of Wands, Knight of Swords, Ace of Cups

 Home- Seven of Wands:  This deck seems to speak in literal interpretations of the pictures at times.  This card reminds me of my moppets, and how much they love picnics.  It wouldn't take much to pack them up a picnic dinner and sit outside under a tree to eat it.  Sevens are often challenges, and this card is addressing the challenge I feel, to balance quality time with my kids, with the work I have to do, the work I want to do, and the chores and what have you that need to get done to keep our lives running smoothly.

Work- Knight of Swords:  This Knight is focused and driven, which are good qualities to have.  She should be careful, though, where she sticks that sword.  In this context, I feel like today is a good day to be sharp and focused, but to also be aware of the way I speak to others, and how I treat them, too.


Myself- Ace of Cups:  From the LWB, written by Barbara Moore, "A spot in your heart that was once empty is now filled.  When viewed through overflowing joy, nothing ever looks the same."  Beautiful.  It's a good day, well every one probably is, but especially today, to be aware of how blessed I am, because through being grateful we leave room for more blessings to come into our lives.  I've made no secret of the fact I would like to be in a good relationship, so of course these kinds of cards always cause a little hope surge.

The combination of these cards give me the feeling that when I am faced with choices today, I should choose the most loving and compassionate one, at each fork in the road.





These cards are from the Tarot of the Dream Enchantress by Marcco Nizzoli for lo Scarabeo.

Daily Draw - Queen of Cups, Ten of Pentacles, Four of Wands

I think it is going to be a good day!

Home- Queen of Cups.  It's a good day for me to be extra gentle and sweet with my family.  I should probably also watch out for mood swings, both mine, and those of others at home.

Work- Ten of Pentacles.  This is one of those cards that it is usually great to get when we're talking about money, and I am glad to see it at work.  This card reminds me today that I am blessed, because although it is only barely, the day job pays the bills, and leaves me with ample time to pursue my other interests and allows me to spend the maximum amount of time possible with my kidlettes, which is always my first priority.  Abundance is not only about money.

Myself- Four of Wands.  This is almost always a favorite card of mine!  My fire grand trine lends me an affinity for the Wands suit as a whole, and makes passion an important part of my life. ALL the rest of my chart makes stability important to me, and I often think of the Four of Wands as stabilized passion.  This card looks like pure joy to me, and in a literal translation of picture, reminds me how much I enjoy strumming on my guitar, singing, loudly, with gusto, and usually mangled lyrics.

The Shadow card again is the Nine of Swords.  A professional organization I am a member of has had a bit of controversy and shake up, and I dreamt about it all night.  I worried about it, because I care for the people involved and for the organization itself.  The card also probably speaks of my general anxiety.  I have a new homeopathic treatment I am working with this week, as my anxiety does seem to be running much higher than I feel is healthy for me and my usual routine is not helping as much as I would like.


 


These cards are from the Tarot of the Dream Enchantress by Marco Nizzoli for lo Scarabeo.

Worst Fear, Best Hope Spread

This is a simple spread I made up, if you can even call it that for such an easy spread, and I use it often.  It works with specific questions and for general readings.  I have a lot of anxiety issues, which I write about a lot, so I am not giving away any secrets here.  I manage them with diet and exercise, yoga, and little rituals and affirmations to help me get through my day.  I operate on the belief that most of the time, the worst fears we have will not manifest, and living in expectation of hope is the best way.  I often draw two cards, labeling the first one, "Worst Fear" and the second "Best Hope".  Often, those two cards give me a lot of comfort and I am soothed.  Sometimes, I will shuffle and draw two more cards, one to show me how to avoid my worst fear, and one to show me how to manifest my best hope.  Other times, I will cut randomly in the deck, a trick I picked up from Dax Carlisle of the Tarot Guild, to see what the Heart of the Matter Card is.  That is what I did today.

My Worst Fear card is the Eight of Wands, which appeared yesterday as well.  As a quintessential Taurus, and with those anxiety issues, movement and change is really hard for me, even good movement and change.  This is a paradoxical card for me, especially in this imagery, with the fast energy of the Eight of Wands and the slow moving snail.  I both crave the movement and things changing, I know in my heart and the very core of my being, that things have to change, but I am terrified by it, too.  I like to plan and plot and know my next move, at all times, yet in that same type of paradox, at times I can be extremely impulsive, going with a gut instinct with only intuition's nudge.  This generally serves me well, and I am learning to trust those nudges.

My Best Hope card is the Hanged Man, represented by a woman in this feminine deck.  This is one of the ironies of tarot which are so delicious!  I'm afraid of being forced into action before I'm ready, but the Hanged Man has been stalking me lately, much as she looks immobile, and I am not going to have to make a move until I am completely, thoroughly, totally ready.  I am getting ready by learning to see things differently, by using this time as a learning experience.  There is a spiritual aspect to this card as well, one that suggests trading comfort for knowledge, of sacrifice and feeling joy in it.

The Heart of the Matter Card is the Queen of Wands, a dynamic and fiery character.  When I am ready to sit and oversee my domain as easily, with as much confidence as she has, I will be ready to leave my Hanged One cocoon, to take on that Eight of Wands movement.  There is a season for everything, and while the advice seems to be that I should be embracing the qualities of the Queen of Wands, cultivating passion, charisma, confidence, inspiration, and charm, I have time to do so.  I don't have to wake up tomorrow transformed, which is a good thing, because I doubt I could.

This seems to be a chatty little deck that wants me to read a lot with it.  I generally don't do a lot of readings for myself, as my life is usually pretty boring.  It has not gotten suddenly more interesting, or anything, but I just can't keep my hands off this deck!





These cards are from the Tarot of the Dream Enchantress by Marco Nizzoli for lo Scarabeo.

Daily Draw - Nine of Wands, Two of Pentacles, Queen of Pentacles

New week, new deck.  This week it is the Tarot of the Dream Enchantress by Marco Nizzoli for lo Scarabeo.  The same artist created the very popular Secret Tarot, and like all lo Scarabeo decks, it feels like silk to shuffle.  I was feeling like I needed the feminine energy of a deck, and the color palette is soothing.  I had initially picked out a deck for this week that, while, beautiful, is a riot of colors, and it was jarring for me to use it.  Maybe next week.  This deck has some female nudity, so if that bothers you, it may not be a good week to hang out here.

The spread, if you can even call it that, is a daily spread that I just made up, though it is by no mean original, so that the cards can tell me what I need to know about Home, Work, and Myself.  I use the card from the bottom of the deck as a card to tell me about something I should be looking out for.

Home- Nine of Wands.  This is the eye of the storm.  It's quiet, but it's not peaceful.  There is a tension in the still air, a current riding just under the surface, not visible, but palpable.  Floppy Hair is the biggest tumult in the house, and he is not here for now.  Some of it is his fault, the choices he is making, and some of it is my fault, who we are as a family and the ways it both works and doesn't, and some of it is just the fault of being 15.  While he is away, I am going to rest, regroup, catch my breath, because when he is back, it is all in, once again.  It's okay, though.  Nine is almost ten, and ten is the end.  Just one final push, although it is going to have to be a big one.  We love him, I love him, he loves us.  Love isn't the problem or question here.  Will is.

Work- Two of Pentacles.  Twos are about duality, and balance, and Pentacles have to do with the material plane.  Many tarot images of this card feature a juggler, the careful, calculated, and skillful balance of the things of this earth, love and money, work and home, parenthood and self.  The fey in this card seems to be letting fate decide for her, casting her coins to the wind to see which way they land.  My day job almost pays the bills, and that is important, and something to be grateful for, something I in fact enjoy doing, but there is more for me out there, and I know it.  I am just having a terrible time striking the right balance between following my bliss and keeping sneakers on little feet, food on the table in a regular manner.  This card reflects both my desire to have that balance, and the need for me to go ahead and create it for myself, not just expecting it to be blown in by a passing wind.

Myself- Queen of Pentacles.  Tarot makes me giggle.  This is the card I most often associate with myself.

She gazes into her hand mirror, but does she like what she sees?  If she doesn't, is she capable of changing it?  In a very literal way, this reflects my evaluation of myself, my physical self, which I think is uncomfortable for most women.  I will feel better if I look better, and I will look better if I step up my physical activity, and not diet, exactly, but eat with intention.  I have been doing a lot of stress eating and couch sitting, which has taken its' toll.  I have already gone on a run this morning, in addition to the usual yoga, and I plan on hitting the gym this morning, too.


For what I know, these cards seem a very accurate portrayal of life as I know it today, and the spread has proven its' worth again, in my eyes.

Oh, the bottom card.  I'll bet you could guess.  My old friend, the Nine of Swords.  Fear, anxiety, mental torment, anguish.  Interesting thought, from the Little White Book, written insightfully by Barbara Moore- "Nightmares torturing sleep are usually considered a bad thing.  But for some, the pain of remembering is more comforting than the ache of forgetting."  In this card, the angel seems almost benevolent, a companion and witness to the mans' pain.  He has drunken enough to pass out, hopefully oblivious, which is a reminder that so many of the ways we, I, try to numb ourselves, are ways to try to not face pain.





These images are from the Dream Enchantress Tarot by Marco Nizzoli for lo Scarabeo.

Daily Spread - July 11, 2010

I am a big fan of Thorhammer's Daily Spread - The first card represents what I did well today, the second what I need to leave behind, and the third is what to carry forward.  I like this spread because while I do not dismiss predictive tarot reading, I find it even more valuable to explore the past and present through tarot.

What I did well today- Ten of Cups.  Today I did a really good job of caring for myself, isolating myself from the cares of the world.  This rendition of the card shows a lone figure, as opposed to the happy family image.  This was accurate for me as my chuckleheads are all gone for the week, so it was just me, by myself for the day, and it was a good day.  Church, yoga, beignets, laughter, got a tarot reading, and an afternoon of reading and watching Glee.  It was a very pleasant, very refreshing way to spend Sunday, and I feel revitalized and ready for the week ahead now.

What I need to leave behind from today- Eight of Wands.  I really, really love this card!  It reminds me of the Neverending Story, and the racing snail, which adds an interesting twist to the swift, dynamic movement of the Eight of Wands.  In this card, we can see that sometimes a slow pace suits, and is just what is needed, and sometimes it's time to put that snail into racing mode.  There is no chiding in this card, but tomorrow I need to leave the slow and easy pace of the day and dive into action.  This is probably accurate as I have appointments to attend in the morning, and I fully intend to take some necessary steps toward the new business venture this week.

What to carry forward from to today into tomorrow - The Hierophant.  So, this dude (-ette; the denizens of this deck are mostly female) is kinda creepy.  The Hierophant is a card I often have trouble with, and this one does not look like the comforting God I seek.  The Hierophant corresponds to Taurus, my sun sign, and is often representative of conformity and tradition.  With the energies swirling around me and my moppets, it seems like this is a good time to focus on creating more of what can be seen as traditional family life.  We spend a lot of time together, all four of us, and there is no doubt we are close knit and love each other deeply.  Not all my parenting choices would be other peoples' though, and I think that is just fine, because it works for us, but I am aware that the ex may be gearing up to attempt to change our current custody agreement.  The only change I would consent to is one that offers me more money and more time (time being the more important factor to me) with them.  I have them almost all the time, and I would not have it another way, if I could help it, especially since I have the definite feeling that he is more interested in the money aspect.

I suppose the way the Hierophant relates to this is that when a mediator or officer of the court looks at a parenting situation, they do still look for traditional roles.  In our last custody bout, I was told point blank that his home, where he lives with the woman he cheated with, has two "parents" and the court appreciates that, completely disregarding the fact that my home is stable and loving with just me.

It also reminds me that I do not have to trust him to do the right thing, because he never does, and I do not have to trust the judge on the case, because she is just a human, but I do need to trust in the God(dess) who loves me and my children, and their father, who cares for us all and wants what is best for all of us.





These cards are from the Dream Enchantress Tarot by Marco Nizzoli for lo Scarabeo.