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My Ko-Fi Page !

More blog posts to come - I'll be posting again later today to show a Thanksgiving layout I'm going to try.

Tarot and a Little bit of Voodoo

Welcome back yet again to Ouroboros Tarot: The Blog!

Today’s offering is a transcript (edited for spelling, grammar, formatting, and changing the client’s name to Querent, and another person they mention to simply ‘K’) of an online reading I did recently.

The client is an old friend of mine, but we live in different states. Sometime in the last year we realized that we both have something to offer the other in regards to our respective spiritualities, and she has become a regular -ish client of mine.

Both of us study, explore and practice (to different degrees) Voodoo. You’ll see in our conversation some references to that. When she mentions a 'they' in the conversation, she is referring to the orisha - or iwa, of voodoo, which are sort of like a pantheon of gods. One god sits over all the others, and they vary widely in attitude, ability, and rank. Legba, or Papa Legba, is one I have worked with for quite some time now, but with whom she is just building a relationship with. Obatala I have yet to deal with, but he sits high in her house. There are others, but i felt perhaps to understand our conversation it would be best to mention all of this now, for context's sake.

Please follow along as we walk through the reading pictured below. I used my ‘standard’ 8 card spread, because it lends itself well to ‘blind’ readings such as these, when the client isn’t present to shuffle the deck, and I have to shuffle for them.
Note: I am having formatting issues and the text color keeps going weird. my apologies.

Me: Ok, so let's get to it.

Querent: Interesting layout by the way.

Me: Oh, it's the usual 8 card, I just had to smoosh it onto my teeny table.
Querent: Oh ok.

Me: So: your Past card is the Seven of Cups, reversed. { Yes, dear readers, I know that is wrong, but I do catch it later, so bear with me!} That means determination and realization...we know that about you. In the Present position you have Strength. Which of course means, well, strength, but also passion, creativity, risk-taking, regeneration, overcoming fears, lustiness (hahaha!,) trust in own abilities, confidence, intuition; again, kinda knew that already. In the Future position, we have The Sun, reversed, which represents a time of depletion, draining, and retrogression. Okay, so that's our top three - a general Past, Present, Future. Let's go deeper. So for the Issue card, you got The Moon. The "Girl, you crazy" card. No, for real though, she means: intuition, femininity, receptivity, reflection, mystery, enigma, revelation of the true nature. Sometimes she can indicate lunacy and romance, but I dunno about that here. The Reason Behind the Issue is the Ten of Cups, reversed. It means wanting, need, and/or lack. The card representing you right now, in this moment, is The Emperor. He’s all about the right and wrong of LAW. So, not the right and wrong dictated by faith. He represents government, leadership, power, decisions, action.

Querent: A rare me.

Me: Yup. Same. So then the people around you and the environment you're in regarding this issue are represented by the Nine of Wands, the 'be prepared' card. So it would indicate that your support system is prepared to circle the wagons around you if need be. That's good. Your final card is The World. The final card is the Solution or Most Likely Outcome, and she's reversed. She means sloth, incompletion, limitation, restriction, negation; that lines up with your Future card well - drained, etc. - so now we need to connect the dots.

Querent: Ok.

Me: In the past, you had...shit. I  read a card wrong earlier! Your past card is the Three of Cups, not the Seven. Ugh. Sorry. The Three of Cups reversed means pleasure and liberality, paired with the Reason Behind the Issue, the Ten of Cups: wanting, need, lack, leading to the Issue, The Moon.

Querent: Ok.

Me: So like, your past paired with your desire for something you miss or need, led you to the The Moon state, maybe seeking to reveal your true nature, etc.

Querent: That definitely.

Me: Your Present cards both line up really well, with your Strength (confidence, etc.) paired with your Emperor aspects.

Querent: I broke off with the stagnation of ‘K’ for that.

Me: Yup. Your present support system is also super good, so your present is awesome.

Querent: But we are still friends. She doesn’t see us really changing. Whatever that means.

Me: That’s good. But the future seems a bit deflated. I’m gonna say that maybe you need to avoid falling into old habits that enable you to go off track, and end up in a rut. I mean, the Sun and the World are GREAT cards, usually, and I would have expected them to be upright for you. It would make more sense, but I think there's something we're not seeing that could trip you up. To be honest, I think your Achilles’ heel is your love life.

Querent: Always. I’m trying to stop that. I’ve decided to not date for six months. Furthering the celibacy I’ve been forced into.

Me: So I drew another card, to see if I could see the unseen thing. Got the Tower, upright. The Tower means purification, ambition, restoration, renovation, change, restructuring, awakening, healing, expansion, authenticity, building, designing, alignment - it often is an indicator of a big change to come. As always, focus focus focus.

Querent: Yeah. I need to.

Me: So do the thing

Querent: I’ve just got connection with Legba.

Me: Just remember - he doesn't steer you in any direction but to the crossroads. You choose the path from there.

Querent: True. I find this all frustrating. I’m tired now!

Me: Hehehe!

Querent: I’m trying to figure out what to do.

Me: Yep. He’s exhausting. I should make you a necklace; crossroads keys are my specialty.

Querent: That’ll be good. Make it red. Charge it if you can. I’ll pay for it.

Me: Ok. I always charge ‘em. You'll just have to do a personal dedication once you get it so it's a deal between you and Papa.

Querent: Cool thank you.

Me: Lord knows he knows I don't need as many as I make. But I still take my lumps. He brings me to every decision now with a slap in the face! "You asked for it!"

Querent: I want to be the best I can be at this.

Me: You will be.

Querent: They are taking over the house!

Me: Take it back! They will walk all over you, but it’s YOUR house.

Querent: At the same time I care for ‘K’ and I’ll be her friend. Yeah this is true - I’m going to take charge again.

Me: Do it. That's the ‘rare you’ the Emperor is talking about; the ‘take charge, my house, my law’ you.

Querent: Obatala can run it. The rest are less and they know it. Obatala is law. I wonder what is about to happen.

Me: Well if it had been reversed, it might be bad. But it was upright so it just  means whatever it is, it's coming FAST.

Querent: So something is fast approaching and I’ll have the support team to assist me. I’m thinking death.

Me: Well, it's always possible. But if I keep drawing cards the deck just lies - we are cherry picking.

Querent: Ok. I wish I could scry.

Me: Whatever it is, it's either the excuse to allow yourself to slip into bad habits, or something bad enough to leave you drained.

Querent: ‘K’. I did do a purification bath which left me feeling better.

Me: Good.

Querent: We did agree to revisit being together at a later time. A root-working friend said she sees us getting back together in six months. I’m not holding my breath.

Me: Well, I'm no seer or sage, so I can't predict that sort of thing - plus humans are weird creatures.

Querent: Starting and staying on course would have been easier in my youth in hindsight.

Me: Oh yeah. But that's why it's hindsight.

Querent: Ok: to overcome my Venus nature and sit on it. I’m really good at the love game but I actually want to be loved back in the way I need. Also I don’t want to blow this.

Me: Yeah.

Querent: Student loans. I need to call them tomorrow. Maybe them.

Me: Yeesh. I hope not.

Querent: Me too, shit.

Me: Ok. I need to be up early, I gotta go to bed. Do the thing, be positive, you can do it.

Querent: Alright. Thank you!

...And there ends our session. It is a short read, but it took much longer to actually have it, as I was working with the cards, and typing everything out to her. I hope that you, my readers, will perhaps come away form this transcript with some knowledge of how I attempt to connect the dots between the cards in a layout to help tell a client their story. This particular client needs little leading to get to the connections on her own, so it may seem a little bare bones. With other clients I might spend much more time spelling out how the cards relate to one another in regard to their situation.

Well, until next time, folks! I hope to make next time very soon.