The Tarot Room – Georgianna

Today’s Tarot Reading suggestion is a book by Paul Huson called Mystical Origins of the Tarot: From Ancient Roots to Modern Usage. It was published back in 2004 by Destiny Books/Inner Traditions/Bear.

5 Points About This Book:

1. History: As the title suggests, this book is focused on the history of Tarot… or more specifically, the history of the use of Tarot for divination and the meanings assigned to each card.
2. Major Arcana: After revealing his theory on the provenance of the whole series, Huson goes through each of the Major Arcana card by card, attempting to identify the origins of each image … Spoiler Alert: Huson believes that Tarot’s Major Arcana began as a representation of the ancient Mystery, Miracle, and Morality plays. He makes a compelling case.
3. Minor Arcana: For the Minors, Huson goes suit by suit, and card by card comparing the interpretations of historical Tarot heavyweights: Ettellia, Mathers, the Golden Dawn, and Waite.
4. Spreads: Mystical Origins includes a whole chapter on historical Tarot spreads. Some of them are straight forward, some very, very complicated, but I found all of them quite interesting. Huson includes a sample reading as well.
5. Tarot Reading Advice: Though this book isn’t so much a Tarot learning guide as it is an historical dissertation (with lots of illustrations), I think it could be quite helpful to new and seasoned readers alike. There’s some excellent advice on doing readings (though, obviously, everyone has their own style), and of course, as already described, there are detailed descriptions of each card, as well as some Tarot spreads to try … if a new or practiced reader is interested in learning the context from which Tarot evolved, as well as how it works, and general instructions on how to use it, this is a great book.

Overall, I very much enjoyed reading Mystical Origins of the Tarot. Don’t know why it took so long for me to get to it, but I’m glad I finally did.

Saturday, September 21, 2024
10 of Cups

You feel full up with all the love around you.  In fact, you might even be a little overwhelmed with how much you care and how loved you feel.

This is a happy time to be with your family or friends, or whoever it is that makes up your social community.

You’re probably nearing the end of an important emotional phase.  Taking the time now to recognize and be grateful for all you have will help prepare you for the beginning of the next stage of your journey.

Celebrate with your loved ones, remembering with joy and humour all the good and not so good days that brought you to where you are now.

The Moon moved into Taurus today and stays there until Monday.

If you look at this transit through the eyes of the Tarot, it would be like the High Priestess is dressed as the Hierophant. She’s sitting before two acolytes and sharing the secrets she usually guards.

The Moon in Taurus, or High Priestess in the Hierophant’s clothes, is a time of spiritual and emotional certitude.

There’s a sense that the truth can be explained, understood and incorporated into daily life. Rules can and should be followed.

Instead of trying to force others to recognize what you know to be certain, try using this time to simply share your emotional, intellectual and spiritual perceptions.

Celebrate the diversity of spirit in our world, while figuring out for yourself what rules, spiritual or otherwise, work best for you.

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Friday, September 20, 2024
9 of Disks

You’ve worked hard for your keep, with discipline and perseverance.  Physically, some important goals are finally being achieved. 

You’re moving towards a place where you feel more at ease, towards a practical stability.   The fruits of your labour can now be recognized and finally enjoyed.

Take some time today to quietly congratulate yourself. You’ve worked hard and deserve what you’ve received.  Though the road hasn’t always been easy, developing patience and inner strength will have proved well worth it.

Thursday, September 19, 2024
King of Disks

Physically things will likely be pretty good today.  You’re probably feeling strong and have enough of everything that you really need.  You might even have more than enough and can give some away.

If you do, take advantage of this period to be generous.  You’ve done wonderfully in building your world, see if you can help someone else do the same.

Prosperity and stability are highlighted.   Enjoy the fruits of your labour.  It’s been your steady steps and sometimes less than exciting work that has brought you to where you are.  Good work.

The Moon moves into Aries today and will stay there until Friday.

Translating this transit into Tarot cards, it would be like the High Priestess is wearing the Emperor’s clothing. She’s in scarlet and armour and is ready for battle.

The Moon in Aries, or High Priestess in the clothing of the Emperor, is a time of intensified emotions. You might feel an increased desire to shape your own world.

Rather than sitting back in stillness, this transit encourages the loosening of emotional restrictions and the conscious expression of enthusiasm and/or passion.

It might be uncomfortable at first, but allow yourself to speak out loud. Take steps forward to let people know what you know and what you love.

Try to remain objective and open-minded while acting with determination and direction. It might sound impossible, but you can do both if you try.

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Wednesday, September 18, 2024
#8 – Justice

Today’s themes are balance and justice.  It might be time to stand up or into your own authority by being strong, sure and most importantly, just.  This isn’t the time to play around and think you’ll get away with not doing your share.  On the other hand, if you do the work required, the Justice energy is happy to reward you.

Have you been playing fair?  It’s not so much about the mundane rules as it is about the bigger universal justice.  And it’s not necessarily about ‘work’ per se, but rather the energies that you’ve been putting out there.  Are you speaking up for what you believe in?  Are you taking responsibility for your own life?  Do you help others as you might expect them to help you?

What you send out is what you’re likely to get back.  This is karma in action and it’s generally quite profound.  On days when the Justice card appears, the karmic force is typically more obvious than usual.  Look around and see if you can find it.

Take time to rebalance yourself, and if possible, find some time to get out into nature.  It usually puts things into perspective pretty fast. Think carefully about your next move.  It’s what you’ve already done that has brought you to where you are now.  What you do next will determine what you’ll be reaping in your future.   Try to make it something good for everyone.

The next pull from Georgie’s Magic Card Collection is the Tarot of Love. The cards were designed by Marcia Perry, while the Little White Book (LWB) was written by Wolfing von Rohr and Gayan S. Winter. The deck was published by AG Muller, and my copy seems to be from 1991.

5 Points About This Deck

1. Theme: There’s a very clear theme … this is a Tarot of Love, and its focus is on relationships. If you’re interested in other topics, no harm in asking this deck, but don’t be surprised if you find it trying to turn the conversation back to love.
2. Major Arcana: To start, instead of 21 Major Arcana cards, Tarot of Love has an extra card – #22 Soul Mates. The deck also breaks with tradition in the naming of many of the Major Arcana. In some cases the new names kind of follow the norm, ex. the Empress is the Mother, the Emperor, the Father. For others though, there’s a bigger break from what’s customary … for instance, the Chariot is Companionship, Strength is Climax, and the Devil is called Entanglement,
3. Minor Arcana: Rods, Lightening, Blossoms, and Nuggets replace the more traditional suits of Wands, Swords, Cups, and Disks/Pentacles.
4. Artwork: The artwork is sweet, bright and bold, yet somewhat gentle … leaning more toward the symbolic than the figurative.
5. Readability: Tarot of Love might be a little more difficult to read without a Tarot system than some other decks, but the images do tell their own stories, and the LWB is quite comprehensive.

And one more point … though the box the Tarot of Love comes in is not my favourite (it’s actually falling apart and I’ve had to tape it), the card stock of the cards themselves is excellent, and that matters a whole lot more than a box.

All in all, it’s a lovely deck.

Tuesday, September 17, 2024
#5 – The Hierophant

Spiritual questions and tradition are highlighted during this period.  It’s probably important to you now to look carefully at the spiritual structures in your life.  Why do you believe what you do?  Who are your spiritual authorities and what gives them their legitimacy?  Who decides issues of morality for you, your family and/or your community?

Many of these questions are answered with cultural traditions. Today, you’ll probably be examining whether or not the answers you’re accustomed to are still satisfactory.  They might be or they might not be.  Don’t be afraid to seek out your truth simply because it rubs against your comfort zone.  Sometimes growth hurts a bit.

You might be asked to judge someone else’s dispute, or find the need to go to an authority for answers yourself.  Keep your mind open, but your skepticism on.  Ultimately, you’re the only one who can decide whether something makes sense for your life or not.