I have a Ko-Fi Page

I did a thing, so now I have a ko-fi page, where if you like what I am doing, you can donate a cup of coffee to me! It's sort of a 'tip jar' for people like me, who need support to keep doing what they do best.

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.

Messages From the Lost Spread Part 2

So, a long while back, I mentioned that I'd be doing a Messages From the Lost Spread with my older brother in mind. The spread is a simple 5 card spread, with a card for Spirit, then one each for the elements. I got the spread from an online friend, and this is the spread she used to ask for a message from her recently deceased niece. After pulling the cards, I'm not so certain its a message coming form my older brother, but it could be someone else I've lost, and to me, Lost doesn't necessarily mean dead.

I think I'd like to try an experiment here. I will not do any interpretation of this spread right now. I would like instead for any of you who are reading this blog to take the time to post YOUR interpretations of the spread, and then I'll come back with mine. Let's compare!

The Draw:
Spirit: 5 of Primordialism (Cups,) Reversed
Earth: 7 of Questing (Wands)
Air: The Hierophant, Reversed
Fire: King of Questing (Wands,) Reversed
Water: The Hanged Man, Reversed

The Associations/Keywords:
Spirit: Hope, Return, Inheritance. Water/Emotion
Earth: Valor, Development, Purpose, Courage, Energy, Perfection, Vision, Value. Fire/Ideas
Air: Gullibility, Unorthodoxy, Unconventionality.
Fire: Severity, Honesty, Subordination. Fire/Ideas
Water: Preoccupation, Arrogance, Absorption, Indecision

A Functional Return

Back in May, I posted about being back, then went silent again. My life has been pretty upside-down for a while, and I am not very good at dealing with it at times. This blog went by the wayside.

I am back at college, full time, and have a little job on the side, plus my little Etsy shop is actually generating sales every week or so, so I think I should climb back in to the blogging saddle and see if I can do you, if there are any of you left, right.

Today, I got to class early and so I picked a spread from the many I have pinned on Pinterest.com, and did a quick layout. I did not take a photo, so you'll have to use your imaginations.

Here's the layout I used, which is to be credited to Labyrinthos Academy, which is an online tarot school, apparently. They have some great spreads, and I pin their stuff all of the time, so you'll probably see them again.

So let's get to the breakdown:

The card position meanings:
1) your role in the relationship
2) your partner's role in the relationship
3) past foundation
4) current state
5) looming future

I dealt for myself:
1) The Queen of Questing (Wands,) Reversed. Fire/Idea
2) The Ace of Dynamism (Swords) Air/Action
3) The Page of Primordialism (Cups,) Reversed. Water/Emotion
4) The Five of Questing (Wands) Fire/Idea
5) The Queen of Primordialism (Cups) Water/Emotion

The keyword associations for each card:
1) Opposition, Jealousy, Chastity, Enterprise
2) Knowledge, Conquest, Victory, Clarity, Inventiveness, Originality
3) Deception, Obstacle, Inaction
4) Strife, Competition, Obstacles, Anxiety, Frustration, Freneticism, Hyperactivity
5) Imagination, Emotional Integrity, Self-Reflection, Unconscious, New Form, New Identity, New Life, Expressing Oneself Without Blame or Judgement

So now let's try to tell a story with what I was dealt. You might notice I've started to put the element and anther descriptor alongside the cards - I often point these out as I perform readings, so I thought I'd note them here.

So, for the the first position, 'your role in the relationship,' I drew the Queen of Wands in Reverse, whose keywords are Opposition, Jealousy, Chastity, and Enterprise. Remember, not every keyword association relates to every reading, so I'll discard the ones that either make no sense or are obviously contradictory to my actual current role in my relationship. I remove Chastity and Enterprise (although Enterprise may hold some bearing here, its slim, and is more of a descriptor than anything else, and I know the reading is about me, so out it goes!) and that leaves me with Opposition and Jealousy. These words are very appropriate for my current role and situation. Wands are the house of Ideas and Fire, and these also really apply here, for personal reasons I don't need to lay out in this blog.

In the second position, 'your partner's role in the relationship,' i drew the Ace of Swords, whose keywords are Knowledge, Conquest, Victory, Clarity, Inventiveness, and Originality. I'm going to toss out Knowledge, Inventiveness, and Originality, leaving me with Conquest, Victory, and Clarity. I'm biased, but due to recent events and upheavals in our life, I feel that my partner certainly feels as if he has won, (Conquest, Victory,) and he has Clarity of thought (although I see it more as tunnel vision atm.) Swords are the House of Air and Action, and I have been feeling lately that he is in the power position, and that he has the next move.

In the third position, 'past foundation,' I drew the Page of Cups, in Reverse, whose keywords are Deception, Obstacle, and Inaction. Looking at our past together, which spans nearly 13 years, I see how these keywords apply. Cups is the house of Water and Emotion, and we certainly have a long, emotion filled history, and there's been a fair share of Deception, whether it be intentional or us deceiving ourselves at times, we have had many Obstacles, more than sometimes I thought we could bear, and as for Inaction, well, we both are procrastinators and are usually reluctant to make important decisions or act upon them.

In the fourth position, 'current state,' I drew the Five of Wands, whose keywords are Strife, Competition, Obstacles, Anxiety, Frustration, Freneticism, and Hyperactivity. This card really describes things a lot, for me at least, and my view of the current state of my relationship. There is absolutely Competition, more Obstacles than I 'd like to face, I have major Anxiety about it, I'm Frustrated, he's frustrated....I'll kick out the Freneticism and Hyperactivity, as they don't really apply here so much, unless they refer to my thinking about stuff too much, paired with the Anxiety. The Wands again are the house of Fire and Ideas, and our current state is Firey and full of us and our opposing Ideas about our situation.

In the fifth and final position, 'looming future,' I drew the Queen of Cups. It is a relief to draw a card from the house of love, passion, and emotion for my 'looming future,' but let's analyse: Imagination, Emotional Integrity, Self-Reflection, Unconscious, New Form, New Identity, New Life, and Expressing Oneself Without Blame or Judgement. Each of these keyword associations can be taken in a really positive way, and even cumulatively they can be as well. It would be nice to assume the best and see only sunshine and roses, but lets look a little harder. Three of the keywords can be taken a couple of different ways: New Form, New Identity, New Life. On one hand, we can read this as renewal and rebirth of the relationship itself, but o the other hand it could be implying that each person may be seeking those things alone. If I wanted to , I could say that the keywords say that with Imagination, Emotional Integrity and Self Reflection, WE will find a New Form and Identity for our relationship, build a New, better Life, and find ways to Express Ourselves without Blame or Judgement from the other. OR, I could read it in a way that tells me I will be setting out on my own journey to find a new form, identity, and life.

Scary stuff. I am choosing to let the cards tell me to move forward with Imagination and Emotional Integrity, do some Self-Reflection, and create a New Form for my relationship along with a new Identity and Life (something I'm already trying to do by taking the reins of my life, instead of letting them dangle by the cartwheels of the chariot.)

I am choosing that because I am terrified of the alternative. This is a perfect example of using personal bias to drive our readings in one direction or another. This is why I typically don't so readings for myself, as well.

Normally, when I break down a reading here, it's a 'blind reading,' which means I just threw down cards with no intent, just to get something to work with to show you guys a layout. Unless I say so, these breakdowns will always be blind.

Back

On March 28th, I posted that I had lost my older brother and that I would be taking some time to grieve. you can read that post here, if you like.

It been nearly two months, and I haven't posted since.

Yesterday was my brother's birthday. It hit me hard - really hard. I spent the day crying and cleaning, and to be honest, worrying my two youngest children, who responded by making me some lovely cards in an attempt to cheer me up. They have yet to experience loss and grief yet - they hadn't seen their uncle, my brother since they were very, very small, and don't remember him. I wish they had known him better. He was a wonderful person.

At any rate, I intend to resume posting here shortly. I don't know that I will resume daily posts, but certainly will attempt some sort of regularity.

I am still in pain, still very sad, but I think his birthday passing has marked a grief milestone for me.
I don't know how much more I will talk about it, but I will at least do the reading I mentioned in my last post, to start off the new round of posts.

Not tonight, because it's nearly 2AM. I just wanted to let everyone know I'm back.

Messages From the Lost Spread

On Thursday the 23rd of March, I was woken up by a Facebook messenger call from my Auntie Liz in England. She couldn't find my mother, her sister's phone number and needed to relay some very bad news. My older brother, who had been missing for several days in England, had been found dead on Saturday the 18th in his hostel room. Later, we learned it had been of natural causes.

Of course, I am devastated and hurt, and miss my big brother very much. Today I realized I'd been neglecting my blog, and my art, and when I sat down to rite, the only spread I could think of was the one pictured below. A friend I met online shared this photo with a group I am in  and asked for help interpreting it. She posted it saying, "Hey ladies, what is your take on this card draw? Question asked is, "What message do you have from my niece Aliana?" When I asked her if the placement of the cards had any meaning, she replied:

"Sounds weird, but I pull for the quarters, 4 on bottom. And spirit card up top by itself. But nothing really fancy."

So I did my best and it turned out the cards were a message alright - her niece Aliana, who had been murdered, was trying to warn her Aunt that her father, my friend's brother, was allowing his grief to steer him down the path of addiction. My friend was able to reach out to him and he agreed to go into rehab.

So, with this in mind, I thought I would also do this spread. But not right now. I need to grieve differently still.

The Feather and Stone Spread - Weighing Your Options

Sometimes, I can't sleep, no matter how hard I try. Last night was one of those nights. (Well, by the time this post goes live, it will have been several nights ago...) I finally grabbed my phone and opened a drawing app  (Autodesk SketchBook) and ended up designing three new layouts. Ill give them each a post, and we will see how they work out. They could be useless, they may need tweaking, but please understand it was 4am and my brain and body were desperate for sleep. My muse, however? Not so much.

Here's the third and final 4 am spread:

1: The Feather

2: The Stone

3: The Risk

4: The Benefit

5: The Consequence

So, this layout is for when you're trying to make a decision, and need to get your ducks in a row. On one side of the scale, you have The Feather - this is the thing that looks easy but maybe isn't as simple a decision as you think. On the other side of the scale you have The Stone. This is the heavy decision, the thing that perhaps you are stressing out about more than you need to. Between them are The Risk, The Benefit, and The Consequence. They speak for themselves, I think. Note: I did not include an outcome card, because I have never felt that one should make decisions based on what a card draw tells you. I'd rather use a spread that helps you see your options, and weigh them against one another before deciding on your own what your future holds.

I drew the cards for this layout, and this is what I got (no photo  because I did this while my cellphone was dead):

The Feather: 2 of Swords - precariousness, treachery, blindness, decision, peace, integrative mind
The Stone: 7 of Cups - temptation, selfishness, illusion, debauchery, addiction, over-everything, promiscuity
The Risk: 9 of Pentacles - gain, prudence, benefit, balance, order, organization, unification
The Benefit: King of Wands - authority, leadership, fatherhood, inspired direction, vision, intuition, evolution, spiritual growth, energy, arrogance
The Consequence: 5 of pentacles - impoverishment, destitution, loss, loneliness, worry, concern, preoccupation

Before I start, I have had the chance to play with this layout a bit more since I created it, as well as have a few people test it out, like The Nerdy Witch, and what I think I have discovered is that the Feather and Stone are relative. The Feather could be a big issue, that maybe you don't consider to be as big as you thought, and The Stone could be an issue much less important than you thought. The layout is really just about weighing your options, and I included no conclusion/solution/answer card here because I want the querent to come to their own decisions, rather than depending on the cards to decide for them. That is not to say that the cards drawn wont change the querent's mind or at least influence the decision in the end.

So this is where the explication goes, but I have had a crazy week full of really big changes and this draw is not fully relevant anymore. It is, but it isn't.

So for The Feather, I drew a somewhat two-faced card. The 2 of Swords not only indicates treachery and negative things, but also making decisions and the peace that comes with the integrative mind (integrative is an adjective that means 'serving or intending to unify separate things'.) It seems somewhat contradictory, but I think it also can express the feelings one has when they are of two minds about something, and make a decision. You may feel guilty or badly about the decision, but once it is made, a sort of peace arrives that allows you to reap the benefits of that decision.

The Stone card I drew talks about temptation - specifically the temptations of the flesh, and the illusions we cast on ourselves when we follow those temptations blindly, and the addictions that come along with getting in too deep too quickly.

So, before I talk about the other cards, lets talk about The Feather and The Stone together. Each of them represents one side of the scale. The Feather is the thing we thing may not be  big deal and that carries less weight, while The Stone is the thing we are perhaps putting too much weight upon. So here, this is saying that my Feather is my need to make a decision about something im feeling at odds with, and that my Stone is the guilt and fear itself I have regarding that decision.

Moving on to The Risk: This card seems to indicate to me that the decision I'm facing puts things I value at risk, like balance and order, prudence and unification. However, any change in life puts these things at risk.

The Benefit card speaks about authority, leadership, inspired direction, vision, intuition, evolution, spiritual growth, energy, and arrogance. Considering the decision I was facing at the time of the draw, this makes a lot of sense to me. The person it is clearly speaking of does mean many of these things to me, and the decision I needed to make would affect my relationship with that person.

The final card, the Consequence card, talks about some fairly negative things. At the time I did the reading, I was worried that it meant that making the decision was a bad idea, but now I think it may have been a warning to not allow my Feather and my Stone (the guilt, and fear) - to overwhelm me.

**Sorry for the delay in posts. I should be getting back on track over the next few days!**

Dangnabbit

Scheduled posts have not been posting when they should, and I have had a very busy few days with some major changes going on in my personal life, so posts haven't been showing up at 3pm CST every day as they should. I am working to resolve this.

More posts as soon as figure this out!

The See It All Spread

Sometimes, I can't sleep, no matter how hard I try. Last night was one of those nights. (Well, by the time this post goes live, it will have been several nights ago...) I finally grabbed my phone and opened a drawing app  (Autodesk SketchBook) and ended up designing three new layouts. Ill give them each a post, and we will see how they work out. They could be useless, they may need tweaking, but please understand it was 4am and my brain and body were desperate for sleep. My muse, however? Not so much.

This is the second:

It was 4 am. Don't judge.

1 - 3: The Seen ( this is stuff you know about )

4 - 6: The Unseen ( this is stuff you don't know about )

7 - 8: The Choice ( this is what you have left after seeing it all )

I deliberately chose not to put an outcome card in this layout. I think just seeing what is there, the stuff that was in the open and the stuff hidden from your view, and then seeing what you need to choose between now that you've seen it all is enough. This isn't about prediction, its about laying it all out on the table and seeing what you have to deal with.

So lets try laying some cards out and see what we get.

1 - 3: The Hermit, Reversed, The 3 of Pentacles, and The Page of Pentacles.
4 - 6: The 8 of Wands, The Ace of Cups, and the 6 of Wands.
7 - 8: 9 of Swords, Reversed, and 5 of Wands, Reversed.

So, the Seen begins with the Hermit card in reverse, and this indicates immaturity and foolishness. The 3 of Pentacles indicates effort, persistence, tenacity, priorities, commitments, focus, intention, and direction. The Page of Wands then indicates brilliance, learning, courage, beauty, self liberation, release of fear, spontaneous expression, freedom, new direction, and adventure.

To me, these three cards may be about the querent's point of view. What they can see because it is their perspective.

The Unseen begins with the 8 of Wands, indicating motion, journey, ideas, actions, swiftness, progress, communication, transformation, and problem solving. Then the Ace of Cups indicates a breakthrough, the open heart, the trusting heart, and expression. The Unseen ends with the 6 of Wands, which indicates victory, success, advancement, revitalization, energy, and expansion.

These Unseen cards could mean a lot of different things - I think it will have a lot to do with context for the querent - but it could be the perspective from another involved party's point of view, or the querent's subconscious mind's perspective, what they may be hiding from themselves.

Finally, for The Choice, we have the 9 of Swords, reversed, meaning suspicion, doubt, shame, imprisonment, desolation, misery and death, and the 5 of Wands, reversed, indicating the other option in The Choice is contradiction, complication, competition, restriction, restraint.

Honestly, for this querent, the Choice seems to be that making either choice is leading somewhere negative. But, as I always say, negative can simply mean a warning of the possible.

This layout may need some tweaks to be a properly functioning layout. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Next Blog: The Feather and Stone Spread - Weighing Your Options

The Follow Your Heart Spread

Sometimes, I can't sleep, no matter how hard I try. Last night was one of those nights. (Well, by the time this post goes live, it will have been several nights ago...) I finally grabbed my phone and opened a drawing app  (Autodesk SketchBook) and ended up designing three new layouts. Ill give them each a post, and we will see how they work out. They could be useless, they may need tweaking, but please understand it was 4am and my brain and body were desperate for sleep. My muse, however? Not so much.

Here's the first:

The Follow Your Heart Spread

It was 4 am. Don't judge.

A five card spread arranged in a sort of a heart shape, this is how is breaks down:

1: You, or the Querent, right now, in this moment. Your/Their state of mind
2: Choice A
3: Possible outcome of making choice A
4:Choice B
5: Possible outcome of making choice B

So for the test draw, I drew:

1: The Hierophant - morality, challenge, commitment, intention, society, orthodoxy
2: 2 of Cups - reflection, carnality, passion, love
3: 3 of Cups, Reversed - pleasure, liberality
4: The Lovers, Reversed - repulsion
5: 8 of Swords, Reversed - triviality, censure, freedom, relaxation

So, the breakdown:

1: The querent is represented by the Hierophant, who I personally have always considered a card that represents the religious and 'moral' right; those who believe they are right because their faith says they are, or their interpretation of their faith does. The Hierophant used to be known as the Pope card, so this just reinforces that. So lets say the card here is saying that the person feels that the choice they have to make is a moral one, that they feel morally obligated to make the 'right' choice, even if their heart may be leaning toward something less socially or morally acceptable.

2: One side of this choice is represented by the 2 of Cups, which is about reflection - and this card's definition of reflection I have always understood to be the reflection of introspection, of looking at yourself in the mirror and seeing yourself truly, honestly, and objectively. It is a Cups card, so also is about passion and love, and carnality - carnality being about the physical needs and wants of the body, the passion of the physical relationship. Perhaps this card is represents choosing something that has to do with physical attraction, being attracted to something or someone who induces the carnal desires - but not without love as well. Or maybe its the love of the lust here that is the choice the querent is faced with possibly making.

3: The possible outcome from choosing the carnality is pleasure and liberality - the freedom to be physical and lustful. This card has the appearance of being a positive outcome, but without the context of what situation and environment the querent is in while making this choice, we can't say for sure.

4: The other side of the choice is the Lovers in reverse; repulsion. Where the upright meaning of this card is about attraction and being in a 'perfect' relationship, the reverse is the opposite. It is about pushing someone away. So now with both sides of the choice unveiled, it looks like the querent needs to choose between accepting the carnal desires and passion and love from another, or pushing them away.

5: The possible outcome from pushing away is the 8 of Swords, reversed. This card speaks about trivial  freedom, relaxation, but not without censure. Seems like if the choice is made to push this away, then the querent still may end up walking on eggshells .


Next blog: The See It All Spread

Wheel of the Year/Twelve Months Spread

Now, it's a tiny bit late in the year already to be doing this, but luckily, we did this spread in the Tarot Practicum group I lead just after the new year, so I have my draws ready to share.

The Wheel of the Year , or Twelve Months Spread, is a twelve card draw that you do at the beginning of the year, as a sort of forecast for your year. Obviously, things change and the cards may not hold true throughout the year, but its a fun exercise to try. I wrote the cards I pulled in my planner, so I can refer back to them every month and compare their keywords to my reality.

There's no right or wrong way to do it - arrange the cards however you like. We did a grid of two rows of six cards, and read them left to right, January through June on top, July through December on the bottom.

I drew:

January: 4 of Wands, Reversed
February: 8 of Wands
March: 6 of Pentacles
April: Judgement
May: Queen of Pentacles, Reversed
June: 3 of Swords, Reversed
July: The Sun
August: The High Priestess, Reversed
September: 2 of Wands
October: Page of Wands
November: Ace of Wands, Reversed
December: Strength

So let's break that down:

January's draw indicated prosperity and harmony of the lesser things in life.

February's draw is all about motion: the journey, ideas, actions, swiftness, progress, communication, transformation, and problem-solving.

March's draw talks about philanthropy and charity, but also about attainment, accomplishment, productivity and tangibility. (It should be noted that this card's reference to charity is about giving in a wise way - being mindful of what you have so that when you give you aren't giving more than you can afford to give.)

April's draw is judgement, perception, insight, assessment, discernment - the analytical mind at work - and also reunion, awakening, and consciousness.

May's draw is about neglect, dependence, lack, and misuse.

June's draw is about compromise, confusion, delay and disorder.

July's draw is about cooperation, success, liberation, collaboration, teamwork, partnership, and unlimited energy.

August's draw is about false knowledge, shallowness, and conceit.

September's draw is about dominance, rulership, enterprise, power, and unification.

October's draw is about brilliance, learning, courage, beauty, self liberation, the release of fear, spontaneous expression, freedom, new directions, adventure, spring, and having nothing to fear.

November's draw indicates a false start, setbacks.

And, finally, December's draw is about strength, passion, creativity, risk-taking, charisma, radiance, regeneration, expression, gifts, taming, overcoming fears, lustiness, strong faith, trust in one's own abilities, confidence, unconditionality, intuition, domination, and harmony.

Now, although I have said it before, there is no reason to take any of the negative cards to heart. Our future is not set in stone, and the cards are merely warnings of what is most likely to come, given the current path you are on, at the time of the drawing. I choose to see the negative cards, May, June, August, and November, as opportunities to change things. I will enter those months with a positive outlook despite what they warn of, and will do what I can to not allow those negative things into my life. Now, this isn't to say that we don't need to have negatives in our lives - bad things are bound to happen, and they are how we learn from one moment to the next. If nothing ever happened in our lives that was bad, we'd never grow into better people. But if a negative thing is avoidable, then I should try to avoid it. I wouldn't stand in the way of an oncoming car if I could simply step out of its path.

Now, lets break this down a bit further. Keywords are wonderful, but its very easy to be overwhelmed by a bunch of vocabulary when it is out of context.

To be honest, January is a blur to me. The month passed far too quickly to remember whether it was prosperous and harmonious - but it wasn't bad, either, or I'd remember that. We do remember the bad times far more easily than the good.

February was absolutely spot on, for me. I had some really good ideas and have set some plans in motion that I hope to play out over the coming months. My creativity levels were high, and I feel that I was quite productive as an artist. I even earned money in February that I wasn't expecting.

March is underway, and the draw had a twofold prediction: philanthropy in the form of wise giving, and accomplishment and productivity.  So far, the first half of the month has been an accomplishment, as I have sold more in passive sales of my art than ever before, and I was able to go buy myself something I needed without dipping into household funds for once, which was very nice. Earlier today, I signed myself up for a giveaway round robin, which is wise giving, in that I can afford to not sell the item I'm giving away, and that because it is a round robin style giveaway, it will also garner me some advertising as the people signing up for the giveaway will visit my page as they work through the round robin. Wise. There's still half of March yet to go, so perhaps I will find myself able to say I've accomplished more - oh, I can! I started this blog, and I'm keeping it up! I have always had a hard time maintaining blogs like this, but this time I'm writing articles ahead of time, scheduling them for posting, and even making time to work on it a bit every day. So far, so good.

April ( my birthmonth! ) has keywords that have double meaning for me:  judgement, perception, insight, assessment, discernment - the analytical mind at work, which makes me think of two aspects of this group of terms. First, the need for personal growth through the judgement of self. I think its important to continue to analyze my actions and thought processes in order to enact self change and grow into a better, more emotionally mature person. Second, they refer (to me) to psychology, which is my personal field of study when I am at school. I'm not currently in school, but intend to get back to it. Perhaps in April I will find myself setting that in motion again for the Fall semester. With luck, as I'm turning 40 this year, I'll also have a really great birthday party to remember.

May's draw warns me of neglect, dependence, lack, and misuse. But the question here is: Whose neglect? Will I be neglected, or will I be the one neglecting others? Or will it be a duty I neglect doing? Will I experience dependence on something or someone and feel the loss of it, or will someone become dependent on me and then find themselves without me?  Will I be misused, or will I be the abuser? Until May comes, there's no telling, but I can be aware, notice the signs, and perhaps change my path enough to lessen any blows that come my way or that I might deal out.

June continues the negativity with compromise, confusion, delay and disorder. This honestly made me chuckle because June is the month before a big convention I usually attend, and my best friend and collaborator and I have plans to try to accomplish a massive cosplay project. As with most projects begun with high ambitions, I expect that June will find us scrambling to complete the five costumes we've planned, which require a fair amount of mechanical knowhow and skill to pull off.

July still has me thinking about the cosplay project, because it will require a massive amount of teamwork and cooperation to pull off. It's also usually a very busy month for me, as vending, festival, and convention season are in full swing by July, and this year I am also coordinating (with others) two festivals while trying to maintain my own vending schedule, one in August, one in September. I'll be very busy and it pleases me to think that I will have the teamwork and cooperation, partnership, energy, and success needed.

August warns of false knowledge, shallowness, and conceit. Again, these things can come in many forms, so will I be the one perpetrating these things on someone else, or will someone be lying to me? Only time will tell, but I can set out to make sure that I am an honest person in August (as I should every day) and that I keep my eye open for others being deceptive around me.

September is a month of dominion - the keyword speak to my being in control of something, or taking control of something. I do have a festival I'm a part of the planning committee for and that I will be a vendor at that month, so perhaps something is going to happen that will leave me in a position of control or having to take the reins. It also speak about enterprise and unification, which could also refer to the festival s well. Or it could all be about something completely different. We shall see!

October (one of my favorite months, despite the terrible cold) indicates lot of good, positive things are coming my way. It talks about releasing fear, brilliance and beauty, courage and learning, self expression and freedom (specifically self liberation, suggesting that I have something I will free myself from, most likely the fears I will release.) Maybe I will end up taking some big step toward something I have considered big and scary. Again, as we get closer in time, things will become more obvious.

November bring the negativity back with false starts and setbacks. November is the month I held a huge and successful dance show back in 2012, and I have performers from that show still hoping and waiting for me to put it on again. Maybe I'll try and end up failing. Maybe, with this reading in mind, I'll prepare better and not fail. Maybe its something else entirely.

December will be a month of strength for me. It's a nice idea, to close out the year, one that is mostly positive, but with its fair share of negativity, with such a good thing. The laundry list of keywords for the month basically just indicate a month of awesome. I look forward to it. It gives me hope that that some of the things I'm planning and starting now are going to end well, or be well underway and going well when the year ends.

Having gone through all of this with me, do you want to try your own Wheel of the Year/Twelve Months Spread? I'd love to hear about it if you do!

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Next Blog: The Follow Your Heart Spread

The Psychic Reader, The Intuitive Reader, and The By-The-Book Readers and Readings

As I often find myself compelled to say when teaching or simply discussing the tarot to or with others, there are no rules in the tarot. There is a structure, a history, there are many, many books defining the tarot, but when it comes down to the individual and their relationship to the cards, and the way that they personally read the cards, there really are no rules.

Having said that, I’m now going to do a simple breakdown of my personal ideas of the three types of tarot readers. I know that there are types of readers out there that I am not including, but the three I am addressing make up the majority of the tarot readers one might encounter today.

The Psychic Reader: this is a person who believes that they are gifted with a supernatural gift that allows them certain insight into the person they are doing a reading for. The cards merely guide them through the reading.

The Intuitive Reader: like the psychic reader, the intuitive reader depends on their own intuitive capabilities to perform a reading. They take cues from the imagery of the tarot deck to work through a reading, often ending up making connections that have very little to do with the intended meaning of the cards before them.

The By-The-Book Reader: The by  the book reader uses the definitions of the cards provided to them by the creators of the deck they are using to perform their readings. They supplement that with study of the Tarot and its many readings, and typically do not stray from the ‘gold standard’ as defined in the Rider-Waite structure that the majority of 78-card Tarot decks are based upon. They use common sense, and contextual clues to perform a reading and connect the dots between the cards before them to tell a story about their client.

Next blog: Wheel of the Year/Twelve Months Spread

Messages From the Cards, or, Why is this card FOLLOWING me?

The more readings you do, the more you will start to notice that certain cards seem to be following you. For instance, every reading I have done for myself in the last week or so has had the 6 of Wands in it in one way or another, but mostly reversed.

So what does this mean? Is it just a coincidence? Am I really bad at shuffling my cards? Or is it a message from the beyond?

Well, by now you guys know that I'm not one for all the hoopajoop, but if the same message keeps coming at me over and over, I think I should probably pay attention it.

So the card that is stalking me at the moment is the 10 of Wands, Reversed. It keeps coming up! Now, my trusty Mage: The Ascension deck says that it indicates duplicity, separation, and loss, but I think that maybe I need more information. So let's troll the interwebs for more data!

Psychic-Revelation.com says:
"When the 10 of Wands reversed appears, it's important that you are completely honest with yourself and everyone around you now. No one is served by being deceptive. If you feel that someone who is important to you is being dishonest, you may well be correct. However, be certain before confronting anyone; and sometimes a confrontation is not necessary at all. Take it slow. You may be "stressed out." "

Biddy Tarot says:
"Upright, the Ten of Wands reflects that you have taken on a heavy burden. Reversed, the Ten of Wands indicates that you are unnecessarily holding on to this burden when you do not need to."

and

"If you are going through a challenging time, then the Ten of Wands reversed indicates that this time will soon pass and you will feel less of a burden weighing on your shoulders.
You may be actively identifying those activities that do not bring you any value in your life and you are starting to release yourself from these unnecessary responsibilities. You may even be going through a purging process, clearing out old clothes and selling old furniture, in order to de-clutter and simplify your life. You will benefit from better organization and prioritization at this time.
Sometimes, the reversed Ten of Wands indicates that you are avoiding responsibility and making it even more difficult for others who must take on your share. Thus, the saying, “You have made your bed, now lie in it,” is very appropriate for this card."

crystal-reflections.com says:
"Take a look at your original goal and see if you are still on course. When you fulfill personal obligations and agreements, you develop the maturity essential to all social relationships. You develop faith in yourself and your ability to accomplish your goals.
Your burdens have increased in weight and number to the point where you may collapse from them - physically and emotionally. You are holding yourself back, limiting your vision by giving your power to others. It is vitally important that you release yourself - stop restricting your activities and remove yourself from the oppressive situations in your life where you feel you are holding yourself back and unable to fully express all of who you are. Throw down the burdens, attempt a new direction and use your energy for a better, more constructive purpose. Continue to grow - don't give up now...be willing to take the risk and reach for your goals.
There may be an overly long pause at this level, a hesitation to go on with the next task. Spiritual egotism. Presumption of a high order. Spiritual abuse, negligence. Spiritual vertigo. The symbol of Fascist Italy was a bundle of rods tightly tied together, suggesting that the Italian State had combined and coordinated the force of all its elements. Here is power without the commensurate level of responsibility."

auntyflo.com says:
"When you have received the Ten of Wands in the reversed position, this means that you are ending a phase in which you were overburdened, thankfully and are finding your way out. You learning what freedom is and you are beginning to delve into a life of self reflection and joy. The card is still showing up in your reading, because there are still elements from this phase that you are purging. This card is telling you to check in with yourself to make sure that goals you have set for yourself are being accomplished. If so, great, if not, fine-tune the process so that you do not add more then you can handle and will get in the way."

Now, I have a wider perspective on the meaning of the card. But let us not forget that each card's meaning depends entirely upon the context we encounter it in: what is the meaning of the position it is in? What cards came up in relation to it? Each of those questions alter the meaning of the card in one way or the other.

Next Blog: The Psychic Reader, The Intuitive Reader, and The By-The-Book Readers and Readings

The Bat Tarot Spread - Break Your Illusions

So today we have a fun spread featuring one of my most favorite critters. I have this...thing for rodents. Hares, rabbits, bats and buns are my most beloved creatures, and now we have this awesome spread that my friend and tarot student, The Nerdy Witch posted on her blog. Of course I'm absolutely unable to resist trying it out for myself. So here we go!

A spread to break you of illusion, and to show you the truth of the matter.
1: Who Am I Right Now?
2: What Do I Want to Be?
3: Where Am I Excelling?
4: Where Do I Need Work?
5: In What Ways Am I Fooling Myself?
6: In What Ways Are Others Fooling Me?
7:What Is Barring Me From Success?

I drew:

1: 10 of Wands, Reversed
2: Page of Wands, Reversed
3: Page of Cups
4: The Hanged Man
5: The Empress, Reversed
6: 5 of Wands, Reversed
7: 4 of Cups, Reversed

Who am I right now? Duplicity, separation, loss.
What do I want to be? Indecision, unpleasantness
Where am I excelling? Rebirth, emotional objectivity, and detachment, controlling, messages from dreams
Where do I need work? Perspective, surrender, breaking old patterns, resolution, freedom from self imposed limitations, unlimited life-force, different postures and perspectives, awakening, deep spiritual wisdom, creativity, intelligence, prophecy
In what ways am I fooling myself? Sterility, poverty, inaction, disruption, destruction
In what ways are others fooling me? Contradiction, complication, competition, restriction, restraint
What is barring me from success? Novelty, contemplation, wonder

I had a hard time with the above draw, so I drew again:

1: Temperance, Reversed
2: 10 of Wands, Reversed
3: 2 of Cups
4: The Empress
5: 8 of Pentacles, Reversed
6: Wheel of Fortune, Reversed
7: 5 of Wands

Who am I right now? competition, mutation
What do I want to be? duplicity, separation, loss
Where am I excelling? reflection, carnality, passion, love
Where do I need work? fertility, wisdom, earth-mother, prophecy, love of nature, spiritual essence, healing, nurturing, emotion, creation, cycles, balance, fruitfulness, contentment
In what ways am I fooling myself? ineptitude, inability, lethargy, chaos
In what ways are others fooling me? misfortune
What is barring me from success? strife, competition, obstacles, anxiety, frustration, freneticism, hyperactivity

The two draws seem quite different, but there is a theme still running though them. I pulled these cards when I honestly had maybe too much on my mind. I won't go in to the more worked up walkthrough that I might normally, because these are quite personal to me.

I have to say , I like this layout, but I don't think I'd use it often it doesn't allow for much in the way of storytelling or dot-connecting, but depends heavily on the meaning of each card standing on its own, rather than the card meanings in relation to one another in the context of the spread.

Next Blog: Messages From the Cards, or, Why is this card FOLLOWING me?

My Favorite Layout - The 'Perfect Spread'

So whenever I do a reading for a client, or for a friend, or for myself, this is the layout I use. It's dynamic, simple yet detailed, and works every time to help me talk to the person I'm working with about their situation. I call it the perfect spread because I of all the layouts I've tried, this one is my go-to spread. It just really works.

It may be a little hard to read, if so I apologise. The spread is actually two spreads combined: a simple 3 card past, present, future spread, over a simple 5 card question spread. The two layouts mesh very well together, and if you're the type of reader who likes to move the cards around during a reading, this layout allows for that as well.

I like to begin the reading by going over the 3 top cards - they are basically gimme cards, but often they can give clues to what the lower five will be about.

Once I've covered the top 3, I start on the lower five - and I don't take my time. I basically go over what each card means. The next part is the fun part.

Here's where you can shift the cards around. The top 3 cards each usually line up with certain cards in the lower 5, allowing you to go back and start telling the story while physically lining the cards up and you verbally connect the dots between them.

Here's how they look shifted:

As you can see (again, small picture is small, sorry) the cards line up into columns under past, present and future.

Under Past, the fist two cards of the lower five line up, because they are literally about the past. Card Four is the Question or Issue card, and it is very rare that the question or issue has nothing to do with the past. Even if the question is ABOUT the future, the reason for asking about it is likely firmly rooted in the past, and because they are so closely linked, they line up under the Past.

Under Present, I usually talk a little about how the Present card is the Present - General, and the 6th card is Present - Specific. Usually, Present - Specific to this issue. And below it, the 7th card, Environment/Support falls under Present because it is speaking about the people and environment the querent is currently experiencing and how those things affect the issue at hand.

And finally, under Future, the Answer/Solutions card lines up. Here is where I might talk about how the tarot are not for telling your future, more about showing you the most likely outcome based on the path you are currently walking, that the future is not fate or destiny, it is not set in stone, etc.

So, lets work through this spread with cards in play.

I drew:

1/Past: 2 of Swords, Reversed

2/Present: Ace of Swords, Reversed

3/Future: Judgement

4/Question/Issue: 8 of Swords

5/Reason Behind Question/Issue: 5 of Cups

6/Querent, In This Moment: 7 of Cups, Reversed

7/Environment/Support: Queen of Swords

8/Answer/Solution:10 of Wands, Reversed

See my lovely cramped kitchen table, uh, I mean, workspace?

So lets start at the top with the Past, Present, and Future cards.

For the Past, I drew the 2 of Swords, Reversed, which is a card about Balance. It implies that the querent - me - was at a stalemate, may feel impotent about the issue at stalemate, and may be preparing for a truce or release with this past issue. ( I have a feeling I know what this might be about. I reserve judgement.)

For the Present, I drew the Ace of Swords, Reversed, whose keywords are disaster, tyranny, and ignorance. So it indicates that I am in the middle of something that is falling apart, that I may be a tyrant or that I am under the thumb of a tyrant, and that I may be blind - ignorant - to the truth in that situation. (I can see a couple things that this relates to in my life, but nothing is jumping out at me. We will wait and see what the lower five have to say before I attach much meaning to this card.)

I drew the Judgement card for the Future position, which is usually about - you guessed it - judgement. It is also about reunion, awakening, perception, insight, assessment, integration, and manifestation.  (This card actually hit hoe the most so far because I actually spent some time in the last week thinking about, then writing about, then talking with others about a but of self assessment I did that concluded in my making a realization about my relationship that, I think, will bring my fiancée and I closer together and help us create a stronger relationship.)

The fourth card, the card that represents my Question or issue, is the 8 of Swords. It means crisis, indecision, restriction, censure, doubt, mistrust, over-analytical mind, confusion, and interference. (This card says a lot to me, and definitely ties back to the Past and Future cards I drew. We're getting somewhere!)

The 5 of Cups card is in the position of the reason for asking/thing that happened that caused the issue at hand. The 5 of Cups represents disillusionment, disappointment, sorrow, loss, fragility, and depression. (This also means quite a bit to me, and speaks to my state of mind about the topic at hand.)

The card that represents my immediate Present, or me, in this moment, is the 7 of Cups, Reversed. Typically, if it were upright, it would be inferring temptation, selfishness, and addiction, but reversed, it indicates determination and realization. (This lines up a lot with what I mentioned about the Future card. Connecting the dots!)

My Environment and Support in relation to this issue is represented by the Queen of Swords. She means perception, confidence, rationality, objectivity, and a consulting intelligence. She basically means that the environment I'm in and the people I am going to to talk about this issue are the right ones, that I'm getting objective advice and feedback, and from people rational enough to provide it thoughtfully. It says the environment I'm in is one that will help me build confidence abut the issue as well.

For the final card, The Answer/Solution card, I drew the 10 of Wands, Reversed. It represents duplicity, separation, and loss. (This card has come up for me over and over in last few weeks, so I want to do some research and see if there's some other meaning here that I'm not seeing. I swear, this card is following me! I'll be doing a blog post about this very soon.)

So, this reading ended up being quite personal to me, and nothing I'd like to delve into here, so I won't be going quite as deep as I usually do, but I am hoping tat the breakdown earlier gives a clear idea of how this works.

Please make sure to comment and let me know what you think of the layout, of my interpretations, ask questions!

Next Blog: The Bat Tarot Spread - Break Your Illusions