Deck Review - Twilight Realm: A Tarot of Faery

I can't promise you that I know why I did not finish the review of Twilight Realm: A Tarot of Faery by Beth Wilder, published by Schiffer Books, when I was using it, but it certainly does deserve a review and you can see these great cards in action on the blog by clicking here.

The artist, who also wrote the accompanying book, feels that fae energies are real entities, and has created this deck to access these beings through the structure and magic of tarot.  My feeling is that she was quite successful at this.  These card fairly thrum with energy, and read quite easily.  I feel that people who connect to faery would enjoy this deck, and with very little violence and no nudity, as well as the fantastical theme of the deck, most children and adults could use the deck.  People who like the art style, which very much reminds me of black velvet paintings, should be easily to connect to the meanings of the cards, which while in the tradition of Waite Smith, have their own spin on the meanings.  The Court Cards are possibly the least evocative in the deck, and people who need a lot of visual cues to read these cards may be somewhat disappointed with them.

The deck is divided into 22 Major Arcana, that feature Strength as Trump VIII and Justice as Trump XI, and four suits of the Minor Arcana:  Wands, Cups, Swords, and Rings replacing Pentacles.  The Court Cards are Page, Prince or Princess according to the polarity of the suit, Queen, and King.  The cards measure in at 3.5 inches by 5 inches, quite a handful, and on glossy stock that could prove trying to shuffle.  The backs are fully reversible, and the author includes meanings for the upside down cards, should you choose to read that way.  The deck comes in a rectangular box with a space to snugly hold the deck, and a book featuring the artists' take on the meanings, which is beautifully imagined, and some basic tarot instructions, with a magnetic closure to keep the whole enterprise secure.

This has been a popular deck among tarot card enthusiasts, and you can check out some other reviews:   Koneta Bailey's at New Paths Tarot, Janet Boyer's, Cheryl Lynne Bradley's at Tarot Canada, Bonnie Cehovet's at Aeclectic.

These cards are from Twilight Realm: A Tarot of Faery by Beth Wilder, published by Schiffer Books.

Daily Draw - King of Wands, Hierophant, Three of Rings

Twilight Realm: A tarot of Faery- King of Wands, Hierophant, Three of Rings

These cards eloquently tell a story about success and how we achieve it- passion and creativity, from the King of Wands, being in alignment with the Divine, as we see in the Hierophant, and willingness to do the work, as the industrious fellow in the Three of Rings.

This is my last draw with these cards for the week, and it is a telling one, so I think they will stay on my altar for a while as I ponder the beauty and simplicity of their message.

Short post today, because the cards have said it better than I could have.





These cards are from Twilight Realm: A Tarot of Faery by Beth Wilder for Schiffer Books.

My Turn Tarot- September 2, 2011

One of my main tenets of tarot reading is that laying cards is an excellent way to sift through the past, assess the present, offer choices, and a sometimes good way to see possible outcomes (as well as ways to change those outcomes if they are not pleasing).  I also believe the cards are a two way conversation between myself and the Universe.  Sometimes I am told things, and sometimes I get to tell some things myself.  Tonight I am using these cards to express a wish, an intention, even a prayer, about what I would like to see happen.

We leave today for a long weekend with The Man's group of friends, and my most fervent desire is that he enjoy himself and that the blessed bright energy of the Sun infuse everyone's time together.  He is my central concern in this spread, so I have chosen the King of Rings to represent him and laid it in the middle.  I have placed the Magician on his left, to help him manifest everything he needs in order to enjoy this time with his friends, and the Sun to his right to symbolize the deep contentment of soaking up the last rays of the summer Sun.

I ask for the weekend to be good, to be calm, to be energizing, for restoration of broken relationships and forging of new ones.  I ask to celebrate the past, enjoy fully  the present, and make new memories to see us through the future.





These cards are from Twilight Realm: A Tarot of Faery by Beth Wilder for Schiffer Books.

Daily Draw - Five of Rings, Princess of Rings, Strength

I was hoping the Strength card from this deck would show up sometime this week and say hello, in all its' 80s velvet painting glory.  I can just hear the musical strains in the background, "Just a small town girl..."  I am going to love unicorns forever and ever, I think.

Rings in this deck correspond to Pentacles, and as you can see there are two of them in this reading, the Five and the Princess, who would be a Knight, or at least the second youngest member of the court.  Except she is not a Knight, she is a Princess, and completely herself.

The blue skinned faery in the Five of rings has foolishly lingered too long at a Samhain celebration, and the doors to the Otherworld have closed, leaving her lonely in the first snow flurries.  She does not know how to care for herself, she is naked, and she has no resources, or so she thinks.  This card expresses all my deepest anxieties- being foolish, losing my home, being cut off from the people I love, feeling unable to care for myself.  The Princess of Rings is almost the complete opposite- she has used her resources so wisely she even has excess time to make beautiful things, like her wreath of posies.  This is the potential outcome for the first fae; she can pull herself up by her bootstraps and get by, even thrive, or she can lay down and die in the cold.

Strength isn't a card we get to promise some knight in shining armor arriving imminently, whether on just a white horse or a unicorn, but a card we get to remind ourselves that it is all up to us.  There is a rescue possible, but when we see Strength we are going to be the architect of it.  The promise of this set of cards is that we can travel, from even the most fearful place, to one of glory and beauty.  All Knights are hard working fellows, but the Princess of Rings does her work on the spiritual plane, so I know her advice is very practical, it is in all things that I can actually do, and not just in the way I think or feel.  So much of my inner work is emotional and spiritual, but she is pointing the way to actual actions I can take, and the message is coming through loud and clear.





These cards are from Twilight Realm: A Tarot of Faery by Beth Wilder for Schiffer Books.

Daily Draw - Eight of Wands, Six of Swords, Queen of Cups

Today, these cards make me think of how we sometimes need a little (or gigantic) push to get to where we are supposed to be.  The couple in the Eight of Wands are probably getting on just fine, but Cupid is going to let his arrows fly and help them along.  To me, the Six of Swords is  journey, but often a reluctant one, one we didn't really want to take, but look- when we arrive the Queen of Cups greets us with open arms and a beatific smile.

When I think about the way these cards relate to my life, and in light of the shadow card of the draw, I can't help but think about a failed love affair.  Or maybe it wasn't failed, but did exactly what is was supposed to, which for me was put me firmly in the path and mindset to be open and ready for the amazing marriage I am experiencing today.  There was love between us, an immense amount of it, and friendship, too, which I am discovering more and more is the more important ingredient in a successful relationship, but nothing we did seemed to be able to make us able to be together.  This was an exercise in extreme frustration for both of us, and took a nasty toll on both of us, but one of my best and worst attributes is that I hang on tenaciously, and I refused to let go of this relationship.  Love should have been enough, right?  It wasn't though, and it took the Universe breaking both of our hearts over and over to finally make me understand that it just wasn't meant to be.

And I grieved.  I grieved so hard I made myself sick with it.  I cried so long and hard I didn't think there was any way out and I would never be happy again.  And I hated him.  As much as I loved him, I hated him too.  And I hated myself for letting myself go that far down that road.

Then one day I ran into an old friend, and one thing led to another, and then he had his hand on my knee, and it just felt  right, and then he had his lips pressed against mine, and that felt even righter, and all the feelings that had smoldered below the surface of our friendship for years lit on fire, and we have been inseparable since that night.  Now I am married to the absolutely right person for me, as I hope and pray and every indication seems to be that I am the right person for him.  The point I am making, though, is that I did not choose to be there, that way.  Things could have gone an altogether different way and I would have missed out on the very best thing that has ever been mine, if I had not been pushed and forced out of the thing that was very good, but just not quite right.  I did not choose that path.  I was forced down it.  And I am lucky for having had my heart broken so thoroughly.

The Lovers card in this deck really highlights the choice aspect, with the man being drawn to the siren of the watery depths, even though following her will surely mean his death, to the great grief of his other love.  I have tried to explain to my former love, though I am not sure he believes me, that there is room in the human heart for more than one person.  There is not room in my definition of marriage and fidelity for more than one lover, but what I feel for my husband does not diminish nor eradicate what I felt and feel for him.  I would not have been able to pick, so Love chose for me, and that hurt like a bitch, but I can't be sorry now, except for the pain we both felt in the meantime.  For me, that pain forced me to grow into the kind of person that is the kind of wife my husband needs, compassionate and gentle, like the Queen of Cups, and I am not sure I would have become that without the catalyst of the immense pain I went through.





These cards are from Twilight Realm: A Tarot of Faery by Beth Wilder for Schiffer Books.

Daily Draw - Queen of Rings, Two of Wands, The Fool

My first thought upon seeing these cards was that was me, the Queen of Rings, dancing in the shower like I do, which makes me feel light hearted and happy, like the Fool card.  It also reminded me of the Zumba classes I have started, and how I feel kinda foolish as I learn the steps and moves, but how good it feels to move the body in joy.

Then I thought about how the Queen of Rings looks like she might be a little reticent, holding some of herself back, but the faery in the Two of Wands, she is all in.  She is acting like a focal point to draw all of that energy from the stars and into the plant she is nurturing, and the Fool is jubilant.  He is always an "all in" kinda card, for better or for worse.   I feel the Two of Wands is the fulcrum of this reading, because the position of her hands beckons to the practical Queen of Rings to let go, to experience freedom, while the hand nearest the haphazard Fool is grasping tightly.  I feel she is counseling balance, a blending of the two energies for the perfect mix that will allow the potential of the flower to burst into full bloom.

The shadow card for this reading is the Wheel of Fortune, more dancing!  It is a gentle reminder that while sometimes we just grasp the Wheel, hold on tight, and wind up wherever it takes us, more often we make our own luck, with our everyday choices, the things we tell ourselves, and preparing ourselves to ever become more fully the person we are meant to be.

If I view this reading through the lens of my Major for the week, the Devil, I realize that being a total slave to my obligations is another way of tying myself down, but that when I let go of all those things and just cut loose, still I am responsible for what may come of that.  It's a sobering, comforting, terrifying, thrilling thought, that I am the creatrix of my life, and my destiny, that I have the power to nurture and grow those things I desire, as well as the power to prune and pare away those that I do not, and when I have done it right, for at least one moment there is nothing but peace and joy and contentment where I am.  Then we start all over again, because this moment is all we really have, or are guaranteed.





These cards are from Twilight Realm: A Tarot of Faery by Beth Wilder and published by Schiffer Books.

Daily Draw - Six of Wands, Page of Swords, Ten of Swords (Reversed)

I do not read reversals, because I look for the placement of the card, the relationship between the cards, and the elemental dignity, as well as my own intuition to tell me what part of the spectrum to read the card.  I shuffle in a way to specifically not have reversed cards, and this Ten of Swords did not in fact come out reversed.  I am sure of it, because I am getting familiar with the image this week, and I would have noticed an flipped it over.  But the fact is when I got up and left the reading for a bit, and then came back, the card was upside down.  Very curious, because I was the only one here at the time, and I seriously doubt the cats managed to flip it over so perfectly.  That to me is a pretty clear sign this card is wanting to be read reversed.

Okay.

My oldest son tends to be the Page of Swords in my personal readings, and these cards show the precarious balance of the current path he is on.  He is smart, and quick, and witty, and he certainly can become the fire bird and rebirth himself into glory, as we see in the Six of Wands.  He could also fall into the despair and ruin of the Ten of Swords.  It is reversed because it is not a done deal, and even if he goes against everything everyone is hoping and planning and striving for, he can still pick himself up and try again.  It is never easy, but every moment is another chance to turn it all around, for him, for me, for you, for everyone.

I suspect something about him feels he has to keep going, keep pushing, as hard as he can, whetting the sword over and over, until he hits that plain of destruction.  If I did read reversals, though, I would read the Ten of Swords reversed as infinitely less impactful than its' upright counterpart.  He thinks he is destroying his world, whether that is what he truly wants or whether he just wants to show us all how badass he is, but really he is just mucking it up, and muck is like fake blood- it's messy, and it stains, but no permanent injuries are caused by it.

The shadow card, which I usually look at but do not always include in my posts, is the Tower.  There is a lot of fire and air, feeding each other, stoking each other, surrounding this kid right now, and if he does not make the changes the other cards point to, they are going to be made for him, with no choice of his own about how that looks.  That too will cleanse and refresh, like a good old fashioned thunderstorm, but it won't  be easy or painless.

(I apologize to my son, who would not be caught dead reading his mama's hoodoo blog, for airing some of his dirty laundry, but much like his actual laundry, I have to deal with it, too, and I think we all remember how smart we were at 16, how much we knew everything, how dumb our parents were, how sweet that stolen moonlight could feel on our sneaky faces, how profound we were, how untouchable.  I adore him, I love him to pieces, and I know who he is, who he was, and who I hope he will be.)





These cards are from Twilight Realm: A Tarot of Faery by Beth Wilder for Schiffer Books.

Daily Draw - Three of Wands, Nine of Wands, Ace of Cups

Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

The antlered figure in the Nine of Wands seems to be protectively watching over the girlish faery in the Three of Wands.  The Ace of Cups is a pure white lotus, a symbol of sacredness, and one I particularly enjoy, as I am told it grows out of the darkest, dankest mud to explode on top of the water in gorgeous color and unstoppable hope.

The Three of Wands is a card that to me looks like an aspect of myself that needs to be protected from harsh words and critical eyes, although in all honesty most of those come from me.  I do not get the feeling from the intense looking deer fae that she particularly cares who it is trying to harm her ward, just that she is there to prevent that.

Today these cards are a good reminder to care diligently for my gifts, for the things that are important to me, to pick my battles wisely but to stand and deliver once I have.  The lens of my Major Arcana for the week, the Devil, tells me to own my actions and make sure they are always serving my highest good, and to go ahead and exalt when I have reason.





These cards are from Twilight Realm: A Tarot of Faery by Beth Wilder for Schiffer Books.

Monday Majors- Theme for the Week: The Devil

When I look at this rendition of the Devil, it seems to have an optical illusion effect, much like those pictures where you are supposed to tell if it is an old lady with a hooked nose and pointy chin or a young lady sporting an elegant coif.  It is all about perspective.  So is the Devil.  When I first picked up the card I believed the young lady had her back arched and her face turned skyward as she exalted in the lightning storm, one hand raised in triumph, the other flung behind her head as she cries out.  Now it looks more like she is crouched between the rocks, shame keeping her from facing her own reflection and preferring that her hair hide her face from knowing, as if it were that easy to turn away from the things we have done.

There is no horned figure in this image, no chains and no coercion.  For good, as in my first impression, or for bad, the Devil is in the choices we each make every day.  The artist seems to be stressing the idea of personal responsibility and accountability, and not looking to a Devil that causes us to do things, but to look inside our own souls to figure out why we do the things we do.  I don't know about you, but sometimes I have the distinct impression that looking at my true self can be a scarier prospect than looking at any horrific Devil figure.

There is no judgment in this Devil card, because sometimes Devil energy is needed.  When you want to spice things up in the ol' bedroom, for example, or a healthy dose of hedonism is the only cure for what ails you.  In that case, you should throw yourself into whatever it is you are doing with all abandon, no regrets, but with eyes wide open.

But when we have willfully made mistakes, hurt others, said cruel things, drank too much, had one too many cupcakes, when we have done something we know to be wrong, then it is just as important to have our eyes wide open as we take a good look at ourselves and full accountability for our lives.  The Devil is not a card we get when we are being done wrong, but a card that denotes being the wrong doer.

I leave you with the words of Maya Angelou:

"It is very important for every human being to forgive herself or himself because if you live, you will make mistakes- it is inevitable. But once you do and you see the mistake, then you forgive yourself and say, 'Well, if I'd known better I'd have done better,' that's all. So you say to people who you think you may have injured, 'I'm sorry,' and then you say to yourself, 'I'm sorry.' If we all hold on to the mistake, we can't see our own glory in the mirror because we have the mistake between our faces and the mirror; we can't see what we're capable of being. You can ask forgiveness of others, but in the end the real forgiveness is in one's own self."




This card is from Twilight Realm: A Tarot of Faery by Beth Wilder for Schiffer Books.

Daily Draw - Four of Swords, Ten of Swords, Two of Rings

New week, new deck!  Today I will begin using the Twilight Realm: A Tarot of Faery by Beth Wilder, published by Schiffer Books.

The Four of Swords and the Two of Rings, which equates to Pentacles, seem to look on the battlefield of the Ten of Swords.  At least one person chose not to enter the battle, as we see in the Four of Swords his weapon waiting.  The elf in the Two of Rings presumably has some powers, and is waiting on the sidelines before exercising them.  Would the Ten of Swords outcome have been changed by either of them taking action?

Without a doubt, it is important to choose our battles carefully, but also without a doubt some of them have to be fought.  For me, these cards are addressing a situation in which I have left my sword at the wayside far too long, and it is time to bring it forth, for better or for worse.  The Two of Rings symbolizes to me a secret weapon I have, that while small, could be the turning point of the figurative battle.  Because of the mushrooms, which are kept in the dark and fed manure, I feel this is going to go on and on until I actually do something about it.

If I view this reading through the lens of my Majors card for the week,  The Star, I see that there is plenty of hope for the situation, but some action needs to be taken as well.





These cards are from Twilight Realm: A Tarot of Faery by Beth Wilder for Schiffer Books.