To close out 2013, I thought I’d ask the cards for advice for 2014. The card I got was the Page of Cups.
I think the message is clear – be sweet, be kind, and be open to new experiences and to new love. Let positive emotions flow and try to look at the world with fresh eyes and a compassionate heart.
There’s nothing heavy about this Page. She wants us to dance and play and be willing to make friends with everyone, even a talking fish in a cup.
Let’s heed her advice. Go to it and let love rule our new year.
Now that the Holidays are fully upon us, I thought I’d ask the cards for a little advice on this festive time. The card I got was the Page of Cups.
How very sweet.
This Page is about being open and loving and willing to give as well as to receive.
There’s a light-hearted playfulness here, and a feeling of newness of emotion.
It reminds us not to get hung up on anything in particular, to enjoy the flow, and to let love guide the way.
This is a time for sharing, laughing, and sweet-talk with everyone, even if it happens to be a fish in a cup.
And speaking of that fish in a cup – what interesting symbology for Christmas time. The fish is an ancient symbol for Christ, and the cup, of course, a symbol for the womb.
Could the Page of Cups be celebrating the newborn baby Jesus?
“Return is the movement of the Way;
yielding is the function of the Way;
All things in the world are born of being;
Being is born of nonbeing.”
After reading that, I asked the Science Tarot how it might describe this concept.
The card I got was the actively ‘yeilding’ Hanged Man, or as it’s called in the Science Tarot – Potential Energy.
Part of the description for this card is, “The Hanged Man is like a precariously balanced bolder. The stillness and peace of the balance eventually transforms into the movement of kinetic energy.”
I asked my cards two questions the other day. ‘What is Tarot good for?’ and ‘What is Tarot not good for?’
For the first question, what Tarot is good for, I got the 3 of Disks.
Hmmm … I would have thought it would be something more dramatic – like the Fool, the World, or maybe the Magician, or High Priestess. I didn’t really expect this rather humble card about developing mastery.
But really, isn’t that what Tarot is best for, working on ourselves, trying to actively make our world a little bit better?
The 3 of Disks asks us to care about what we’re doing, on both a physical and spiritual level. It’s a card about step-by-step development, creativity, and the willingness to work hard to achieve something worthwhile.
What a beautiful way to see the cards, as a helper in our work.
Now for the second question, ‘what is Tarot not good for?’; the card I got was the 4 of Wands.
In the Rider Waite Smith deck, this is a card of celebration, which makes me think right away – Tarot’s not really a very good ‘party trick.’
But for this question, the idea in the Thoth version of the 4 of Wands speaks even louder to me.
The key word on the card is ‘completion’, and that’s exactly what the Tarot is not good for – completing things.
It’s not trying to settle all our questions, or give us the final answers to anything. It’s just there to help us figure things out as we go.
Tarot is more like a friend to ask advice of, than a Guru with all the answers.
As Halloween is drawing near, I asked my RWS deck to show me a card that would inspire a good Halloween spread … the card I got was the Devil.
Though at his more challenging the Devil represents brutish power games, physical obsessions, and spiritual imbalance, at his best he can reflect hard work, a fiendish sense of humour, and an enthusiasm for breaking taboos and exposing hypocrisy.
One way or another, the Devil asks us to face our demons. It’s a spooky thing to do, perfect for Halloween.
So here we go, a Halloween inspired, Face Your Demons Spread …
1. What is the spooky demon I’m most afraid of facing?
2. How am I bound or chained to it?
3. How can I unchain myself?
4. What false belief, silly taboo, or outdated orthodoxy am I clinging onto?
5. What purpose has this perspective served for me?
6. What might be a more balanced and useful perspective to explore?
7. How can I find humour in the demon I’ve been facing?
In this case she demonstrates how to use both decks in the same reading.
She shows us how the Lenormand is particularly good at answering how something is likely to take place, while the Tarot focuses more on how that something might feel.
Get out your own cards and take a look. You’ll want to try this technique yourself after watching.
Today is the Autumn Equinox – or the Spring Equinox if you happen to be in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s a day of balance when the Sun and Moon hold equal reign in the sky.
Though I’m typically more excited about the onset of Spring than the beginning of Autumn, I love the day when everything switches and for a moment the whole world is somewhat aligned.
To celebrate that balance I’ve come up with an Equinox Tarot Spread focusing on achieving our own personal balance as we face a new season.
Equinox Tarot Spread
1. What does ‘balance’ mean to me?
2. In what area of my life could I use more balance?
3. What underlying motives, assumptions, or unconscious impulses might be driving me towards imbalance?
4. How can I be more positive, open, and clear in directing my energies towards realignment?
It’s a mid-summer long-weekend here in Toronto, and in honour of the holiday I thought I’d share a mid-summer Tarot spread.
It’s meant to tap into the energy of summer and be a keep-the-heat-on mid-season check-up for any project or situation you’ve been focusing on these last few months …
Mid-Summer Tarot Check-Up
1. What has been the focus of my summer to date?
2. What mid-point have I reached regarding this focus, project, or situation?
3. What adjustments in my focus might be recommended considering the progress I’ve made so far this summer?
4. How can I keep-the-heat-on in gaining clarity, and/or achieving resolution?
