My Card for the day - XX Judgement

I've been using the LWB app to pick my daily tarot card. Most days I want to look at the card from different decks.

I'm using my iPod touch to upload this post so I don't know how it'll look with the images. (btw - it looked like crap, so I changed it on the computer whick keeps locking up!)

This morning got off to a rough start trying to get my older son to school. So The Dagger from Madame Endora is right on the money. (He was being such little tool!)

 

I'm hoping the rest of the day reflects the Judgement card. "Heed the herald’s call. Deep satisfaction with what you have achieved. A current project will draw to a close, but an exciting new one will commence. A dramatic life-changing and positive experience. ". Minus the "dramatic" part, I don't care if it's good or not - I've had enough drama for one day!

I had a couple other decks in mind for this card. Since my mood was dark already Bohemian Gothic came to mind. In fact it is the image I've got as wallpaper on my lock screen.

One of my favorite Judgement cards is from Tarot of Trees. I'm thinking I'll put that card in my dresser top somewhere so I can see it all day. That should help brighten my mood.

I'm studying a card a week, using the same card from 7 different decks. This week it's The High Priestess. Today's High Priestess is brought to you by. "The Afro-Brazillian Tarot". Which features Nana Buruku; "Orixa of rain, she keeps the atmosphere clean and protects women during childbirth." I found this on wikipedia..."She is celebrated as Nanã in Brazilian Candomblé Jejé and Candomblé Ketu, where she is pictured as a very old woman, older than creation itself; as Nana Buruku, primordial swamp spirit in Orisha tradition."

Some updates: My month with the Vanessa Tarot was kind of a bust. I did one 10 card reading for myself that was really helpful and I carried her around with me everywhere in my purse, I love a deck in a tin! I was even shuffling her often, but I never had the urge to read with it. Not even one carders.

It may have been more about the space I was in than the deck itself because I wasn't up for being very introspective. I knew what was going on with me (with all of us) internally and I had no desire to document it or peer too closely at it.

So I decided to swap decks and I'll revisit Vanessa next year. I spent my time instead with The Golden Tarot of the Renaissance aka the Estensi Tarot. It had been calling out to me and was just what I needed. Because it's not like any other deck really, I just spent the time memorizing the keywords from the LWB. It makes more sense than I thought it did when I originally bought this deck. I enjoyed making connections between the keywords and what's pictured on the cards. Still haven't read with it yet, but I'll keep you posted. :)

About the reading I did with the mini Marseille for/about my husband going back to school. There was way more trouble and drama and obstacles just to get him registered and set up with books than there should've been. At one point we'd both figured it wasn't going to happen, at least not this year. But it all worked out. Now we're just going through the expected upheaval that anyone would predict. Even without a deck of cards!

A Reading with Tarot of Marseilles

I actually had a successful reading for my husband the other night. Well, technically the question was "What do I need to know about P's. school career?"  He was on the phone at the time leaving a message to schedule testing before the fall semester starts.  I was watching Stargate SG1 and just shuffling my mini Marseilles deck.  The show was paused so he could handle his business on the phone and out of boredom I asked the question and laid out a Celtic Cross.  For a spread I don't like, I sure do use it a lot.

I didn't try to 'read' these cards differently because they aren't a RWS or Thoth clone.  And I didn't just overlay the images of decks I know better, either.  (Except with the outcome card, I didn't do it on purpose - it just happened.) Mostly I just looked up the meanings to see if they matched what I felt the card was saying.

Kurt Cobain & Bohemian Gothic Tarot

It would be way to hard to recount this dream in its entirety. This small part of it is not even the weirdest. 

From my dream journal December 2010:

I have Kurt Cobain and an old boyfriend of mind in a tin can. I am carrying them around an indoor mountain hiking & climbing theme park.  As I hike up the trail I go around a bend to a part that is open air, no ceiling.

Several queues have formed for the mountain climbing part at the end of the trail.  I can see others being helped up an almost 90 degree mountain wall.  There are park employees attached along the wall to make sure everyone gets to the top.  At the top are more employee-helpers pulling people up over the ledge. 

Everyone climbing on the wall-mountain is strapped to one of several long red ropes hanging securely from the top.  This is a safe and easily managed climb, even for someone like me who is terrified of heights.

I can’t carry the guys beyond this point.  I’ll need both hands to climb the wall and even the queue paths are so steep that people are holding on to a metal rail.  I shake the can and tell them they’re going to have to go on their own two feet from here on out.  They don’t seem to want to come out because I’ve really got to shake the can and pound on the bottom to get them to fall out.  I drop a couple drops of water on each of them so they can get back to their full size.

Notes from:

Some key cards from my month with Bohemian Gothic Tarot December 2010

Asking about Kurt Cobain – what did he symbolize in my dream?

IX The Hermit

[like the other random reading notes I didn't write any meanings down at the time. The following meanings are from the companion book to the deck.]

Darker, shadow or more hidden meanings: "Being rejected and isolated by society - Calling someone to the dark side - Being too isolated from others, this could affect your psychological well-being."  

I couldn't help but notice the whole vertical mountain Hermit connection even though the hermit from this deck isn't pictured that way.

From Led Zeppelin IV

Just as an aside: I was more of an Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam fan, myself.  I'd never seen Nirvana live or listen to a whole CD.  Just whatever was played on the radio and TV. When it comes to dead rock stars Jerry Garcia has shown up in my dreams more than once. I wouldn't be surprised to see Janis, Jim Morrison or Jimi Hendrix, but Kurt Cobain??? Yeah, I had to pull a card for that.

Dreams & The Boheiman Gothic

“T” was my best friend turned nemesis back in high school.  If we were to cross paths in real life I think we’d both pretend not to see the other. It would be awkward if we had to speak to each other.

Frankly she was always kind of a stuck up B, and whenever she would show up in a dream she was true to her real life character.  However, around the time of the following reading, I’d been having clusters of dreams where T, (and other random jerkwads from my past) were nice, kindhearted people and wonderful to me in my dreams.

These weren’t just “nice” dreams, but dreams that left me waking up with a euphoric sense of peace. They also had me scratching my head going “WTF?”  So I pulled some cards. These are the notes, pretty much, as I found them.

Some key cards from my month with Bohemian Gothic Tarot December 2010:

Asking what help/usefulness T. was as a symbol in my dreams?  (How is it helpful to me?)

XVIII The Moon – Six of Swords – XVI The Tower 

[I didn't make any interpretive notes at the time.  I'm taking these meanings from the book as I write this post:]

Mental disturbance, confusion; A shift in perspective, a change in the way you see things; Dramatic change

Asking what does T. symbolize in my dreams?

Page of Pentacles

[I didn't write any meanings at the time & I wouldn't know what to put now either.  If I had to guess I'd pick the following from the darker, shadow or more hidden meanings from the companion book]:

Retreating over-much into fantasy

Nothing about this dream was fantastical except how friendly and happy it was.  Maybe I have deep-seeded wishes to be liked by everyone! :)

Notes on Random Readings

I mentioned in a previous post that I’d come across some old notes about tarot and my dreams while getting myself organized.  They were all together in the same place, but I’ll post them separately.  That way I can give a short background explanation and then just post the notes as I wrote them, bad English and all!

I can’t remember if this first one was dream related or not, but it was with the others. At the time I wrote this my deck of the month was Robert Place’s Vampire Tarot and I was also working with the Mystical Lenormand deck.  I wanted to experiment to see how the cards of both decks might work together.

11/11/10 3:23 pm

Q: "Are there any ancestors or other spirits that want to work with me?”

1 Card draw – Vampire Tarot (Robert Place) & Mystical Lenormand

Six of Knives (Swords)

Dracula sails in the Demeter “…going with the flow or being driven by a situation that is beyond one’s control.”

Six of Swords is Mercury in Aquarius

 

Mercury = #1 Rider (9 of Hearts)

Aquarius = #16 Star (6 of Hearts)

Rider + Star = Work done/performed at night MdV [Mario dos Ventos; The Game of Destiny]

Star + Rider = Receiving messages from the spirit world (not directly but via other people). MdV

MdV Macumba meaning: Mystical & Spiritual Card Combinations:

The Rider + The Star = Astral Travel

-         Could also mean a nice pleasant and charming young man wants to speak with me at night! {from the spirit world or in the spirit not a motel! Ha!}

My Tarot Card for the Week - Four of Cups

Four of Cups

Boredom - Overindulgence - Ennui

So we meet again...

From the very first entries of my journal.
From my journal: 3/12/11
Saturday 5:41 pm (at home with the boys)
"I am not having a good evening. P & I both think writing will help with my boredom issues.  But since I'm alone with the boys I'm not just bored, but frustrated and agitated too.  Don't want to fill this book with bitching & whining. So I pulled a card hoping it would give me something constructive to write about." (It did, it was an oracle card, but that's another post.)

Second entry from my journal: 3/14/11 Monday 3:06 pm (Sitting in the preschool parking lot waiting to pick up A.) "This weeks Housewives card is more than fitting. 4 of Cups...so fitting it is scary.
'An intoxicated housewife stumbles back from a foolish binge.  Another glass is offered to her, but she wisely refuses it.  the Four of Cups warns of overindulgence...'

Change,  not escape is the answer.' 

"I've chosen not to write about my almost perpetual boredom or the daytime drinking I've been doing (out of sheer boredom not stress) because I want this journal to be ...*Next day- ran out of time, what I'd wanted to write was that I would focus on the "Change" aspect - wish I could've written it yesterday"

The oracle card I pull on 3/15 was Oya - Change, from the Goddess Oracle!!

Back to the Four of Cups.  I had just asked P to pick me up a pint of Blue Skyy. Then I pulled this damn card. Phooey!  Well, I got the Blue Skyy anyway. :) Pulling this card & reading my old journal entries was a good reminder of how much better writing, this blog, my cards, etc., is at fighting off the boredom than vodka is.  Its fun, but offers a diminishing return.

Psychic Tarot Excersie: Light & Shadow Reading with the Celtic Tarot

(Some how this post got removed, after I'd posted it. I had to edit it before or I'd never have gotten it posted.  I like sharing my readings, but not always my interpretations of them.  They're either too personal or too-long winded.)

I pulled these cards on 4/23/11

I was scratching my head over this one when I first laid out the cards.  The Light & Shadow Reading (chapter 4, page 31 of the book Psychic Tarot) has you draw 2 cards randomly from each suit.  One card represents where I am "strong, highly developed, and natural." The other represents where I "need more nourishment, awareness, or growth."

Strengths:                     Needs:

8 of Swords                   4 of Swords
5 of Cups                       Ace of Cups
7 of Wands                    Ace of Wands
2 of Coins                      Ace of Coins

Okay, this is weird, right?  Seems like the columns should be switched.  What's with all the Aces in the needs column???

Eight of Swords: As an area of strength.An ability to filter superfuous information, and choose where to direct my thoughts?  This feels right to me as a meaing for this card in this postion in general - but I would not have said this was one of my strengths.  I have to work really hard to do that.  I also sometimes take this card as one of self-restrictions; like quitting smoking or other compulsive behaviors.  Such as buying too many tarot and oracle decks! Again not something I, or anyone who knows me, would really consider as a strength of mine.

Four of Swords: As an area in need.
It could be that I need to nurture my ability to recuperate.  I'm pretty good at sitting on my butt and vegging out on the TV & reading bad pulp horror and fantasy fiction, but that's not the kind of regenerative rest the 4 of swords speaks of.  There is no healing in the retreats I take.  Only numbing.  From the book: "Quiet pastimes such as reading or meditation."  I guess I need to nurture those habits more (maybe the pulp fiction isn't so bad after all?).  Definitely taking time to clear my mind after troubles so that I can better handle future difficulties in is an area where I use a lot of growth!

It gets pretty personal from here on, so I’ll just post general keywords for the cards from now on.

Here’s a note I wrote in the margin of my journal, “Feels more like psychotherapy than psychic tarot.”  I looked up psychotherapy on wikipedia when I first wrote this post. Words like interpersonal relationship, dialogue, communication, caught my eye before I’d even read the text.  Those words sound to me like what I want to have with Tarot.  Maybe psychicthearpy is a better word for what I’m doing with this book.  Either way, I’m enjoying it!

5 of Cups: strong, highly developed, & natural
Grief; loss, bereft, regret

Ace of Cups: needing more nourishment, awareness or growth
Emotional force; intuition, intimacy, love

7 of Wands: strong, highly developed, & natural
Valor; strength, aggressive, defiant, convicton

Ace of Wands: needing more nourishment, awareness or growth
Material force; prospering, being practical, proceeding with trust




You can see how this reading would spark a lot of journaling and self reflection!  Here's another note from my journal, "I know I'm not supposed to use the book meanings, but frankly I'm lost without them right now.  I feel that I'm getting a lot personally from the exercises in this book and very quickly developing a working relationship with this deck."

So yeah, I'm cheating.  I'm also not using the type of deck the author recommends either.  My plan was to use Celtic Tarot to start learning how to read other non-scenic pip decks.  Now I'm seeing that this deck was designed to be read more like a RWS.  I'm alright with that.  I think this deck is beautiful.

SPRING EQUINOX - REBIRTH

I pulled this one this morning, right before posting here.  Although the time of year is right, it feels more like I'm coming out of a very energetic and productive phase, not moving into one.  My energy level has been really down.  I haven't been feeling emotionally down, just less motivated.   Before, I was staying up until the wee hours of the morning and still going the next day and last night I fell asleep on the couch at 8:30pm!  I'm drinking 3 or 4 cups of coffee to get through the day and still I just want to sit and watch Stargate Atlantis.  I'd rather read a book, (or listen to an audio book) than try to write.  So I don't know...maybe as the week progresses this card will have more meaning to me.

Weekly Tarot Card - Queen of Swords

Sharp-Tongued – Stern – Mournful

 

I don’t see much of myself in the Queen of Swords from this deck. I’m not ‘tough as nails’, I don’t have a ‘cast-iron will’ or ‘razor-sharp wit’.  And I do tend to cry, not in the face of adversity, but certainly behind it’s back! Unfortunately, I can be a total bitch.

I’m sure my boys see the sharp-tongued and stern Queen of Swords in me, especially lately. With the older one off-track from school, the little guy is really not getting why he has to go to school and big brother gets to stay home with mommy.  You’d think I was dragging him off to boot camp instead of a few hours of pre-school!

I do need to check myself though.  I’ve been pretty short with them this week.  With all these ideas floating around, I’ve been trying (quite successfully!) to get my thoughts organized and written down.

It’s one thing to be physically moving around doing stuff or running errands with kids.  They certainly don’t make it easy.  But to sit still for a while and try to think? OMG! It’s like that episode of Family Guy where Stewie just keeps going “Mom, mom, mummy, mummy, ma…ma…ma…”, and the moment he gets Lois’s attention – he’s got nothing to say.

Right now I’ve got so much going on in my head it’s almost manic. I had to write a list so I could go to bed last night (3am!) and not feel like I had to do it all right away or I’d forget.  And still after a lite doze I woke up at 5:58am, lit a candle and wrote some notes for my tarot journal that I’d been mulling over regarding a tarot-tribe podcast I’d listened to earlier.

Some of the different ideas I started thinking about last week are now in the detailed planning and preparation stage. So I’ve been cleaning out old notebooks and day-timers to use.

I came across some good stuff to post about a couple of dreams and trying to use tarot to help me make sense of them.  Just the act of getting my ideas together has given me more ideas. It feels great despite the fact that, I can’t get to most of the on my list.  I know when the time is right, the ideas won’t be lost.

6-12-6 Spread with The Fairy Tale Tarot

I'm breaking all my own rules, and it's fun!  I'm posting a reading I did three days ago from the deck I wasn't supposed to start using until today.

I used a three card spread that I started using to get familiar with an oracle deck, The Shaman Wisdom Cards. 

I wanted to get a general impression for each card in the deck before I started asking questions.  I would pull out cards that had been drawn until I went through the whole deck.

It began as a standard daily Morning-Afternoon-Evening spread, where I'd find time during that part of the day to study or just spend a few moments reflecting on the card.  This was so therapeutic for me I decided to keep using it after I'd gone through the whole deck. 

It evolved to being a more specific time for each card.  At night in bed, I would draw three cards for the next day.  Two of the cards are for 6 hours of the day and one is for 12 hours. 

Card 1: 6am-12pm

Card 2: 12pm to 6pm

Card 3: 6pm to 6am. 

This spread motivates me to take a Tarot/Oracle Time Out.  If I hadn't done it spontaneously, I'd make a point of it when I noticed the time.  This spread also helps me get out of or avoid altogether a 9 of Swords type situation.  Its like I’m using the card the way a woman would use a focus object during labor.  It doesn't stop my nasty midnight thought-loops completely, but it does help me ride them out and break the self-perpetuating cycle that makes it so much worse.

That's the reason I named this blog Midnight Tarot. Often I find myself awake in the middle of the night for various reasons.  Instead of counting sheep, I play tarot games in my head.

Since I didn't buy Lisa Hunt's Fairy Tale Tarot deck for doing predictive readings I thought it would work well for this spread.  This is a beautiful deck and I'm fascinated with fairy tales and enjoy reading ones from different cultures.  That's what this deck is all about. During the day I would stop and read the story from the book out loud to the kids.  At times they would sit and listen, mostly they'd quietly play or draw while I read.

Here are the cards I pulled:

Card1: 2 of Swords

Story: Snow Daughter & Fire Son

Culture: Russian

Keywords: Opposing Forces, Stalemate

 Lesson I picked up from the story: over-reaction to energy or ideas that conflict with mine (i.e. kids that want to run around and shout before I've had my morning coffee) will cause a complete breakdown in communication and nobody wins.  For now a temporary truce is best.

Card 2: 10 of Cups

Story: The Girl Fish

Culture: Spanish

Keywords: Dreams fulfilled, Peace

Lesson I picked up from the story: Take the afternoon to enjoy my life and the people in it.  Sharing the things I take pleasure in with loved ones.  And doing things they enjoy with them.

Card3: Queen of Cups
Story: Sealskin
Culture: Irish
Keywords: Loving, Intuitive
Lesson I picked up from the story:  Take some time tonight for myself, writing in my journal or playing with my cards.  I don’t want to become cut off from my true nature. Being compassionate and loving to my inner self will “strengthen my love and compassion for others.”

My Oracle Card of the Week



 #12 Porcupine - INNOCENCE
From the book "The medicine in this card is that of relief from seriousness and severity.  Open your heart to those things that gave you joy as a child."

Yesterday was a rollercoster day for me. It went from bad to good, then worse to better.  I like to post my oracle card on Wednesdays, but it just wasn't happening.

My card draws were as all over the place as my emotional state! This week I'm using Medicine Cards, but before I drew this week's card, I was about to write some final thoughts on last week's oracle card in my notebook. 

My Tarot Card for the Week - King of Wands

Charisma - Inventiveness - Encouragement

"Brandishing a multi-purpose, five-headed wand he constructed himself, he is full of bold ideas, and his magnetic personality inspires others to partake in his journey to the top."

I have been full of ideas for the last two days.  From home made cleaning supplies to neighborhood nature adventures and projects I can do with our older son while he's off-track from school.  I even had some ideas for my social life that I just took for a daydreaming kind of "What if I could...?" thing.  I believe I might be able to pull off some of these ideas of mine.  I don't think I'm heading to the top of anything, but I do have some interesting ideas that others might want to go along with. 

My Oracle Card of the Week

VILA Shape-Shifting

The book says  "Vila (pronounced vee'lah) is the eastern European name for the Goddess energy moving through the earth as nature."

I usually like to do my oracle card draw the day after I do my tarot card for the week, but this time I did them the same day.  At first glance the two cards seemed completely unrelated.  Then I read the section for the meaning of the of card and this line jumped out at me, "Are you feeling stiff and stagnant, losing flexibility in your way of thinking and being?"  I couldn't help but smile.  It would be lovely if every week’s cards were this cohesive.

Practice Reading

This is the follow up reading I'd mentioned doing for my friend in this post. My placements of the cards in the Celtic Cross might be a little different so I'll list them below.

1. What Covers: Queen of Wands

2. What Crosses: 5 of Coins

3. What Is Beneath: 0 The Fool

4. What Is Above: 2 of Coins

5. What Is Behind: XVIII The Moon

6. What Is Before: 9 of Swords

7. Self: VI The Lovers

8. House: XIII Death

9. Hopes & Fears: Knight of Cups

10. Outcome: Page of Wands

Below is my very brief interpretation. 

XIII Death - My Card for the Week

An Unavoidable Ending – Loss – Necessary Change

Okay, my first thought is to deal with that stuff in the ‘fridge. I’m sure this card has deeper meanings for me as well. 

I wonder if this is related to the books I’ve been reading and ideas I’ve had about religion lately.  They are starting to change or at least challenge my beliefs.  The way I look at things.

Reading for Others

I cannot read for my husband.  I’ve tried more than once and with different decks too.  The first time I used Tarot of the Saints. It all made sense and seemed like a clear reading.  But what I saw isn’t at all what happened.  In fact, it was exactly the opposite.  The other times the decks were New Orleans Voodoo Tarot and the Golden Tarot. It was just gobbledie-gook.  None of the cards seemed to have any relation to the question (all 3 readings were work related) or to each other. Recently though, I have had some success with reading for a couple of my friends. 

My Oracle Card of the Week

Blessings

Now I'm feeling the fluffy-bunny. :D

"The storm has passed, and it is time to enjoy the refreshing beauty of this cycle,..."

Not surprisingly, this card is about counting my blessings.  The book says to..."do so slowly and with genuine gratitude that is expressed up close and personal."

I like go back year after year and re-read my journals, leaving little dated notes to myself. Doing this had taught me that I tend to write more when I'm not happy. 

Tarot Card of the Week: Judgment

 Assessment – Acceptance – Harsh Criticism

This has got to be one of the top 5 empowering Judgment Cards.

I’m so glad I finally pulled a card that’ll give me something thoughtful to write about in my journal.  Aside from just looking at how this card, from this deck reflects this week.  I can spend the week reflecting on The Judgment card in depth.

Queen of Swords

At night I need to stay in the boy’s room for a while to make sure Anthony, the younger one, doesn’t get out of bed.  To relieve my boredom & stress, I’ve been listening to these weird brainwave mediation recordings that I found on rhapsody.  Most of them are ocean sounds, but one that I really like also has something that sounds like wind blowing with a babbling brook kind of sound.  It’s an Astral Trance OBE brainwave thing. It was so relaxing.  Love it!!

While I was listen to this the other night, sort of dozing, the image of the Queen of Swords from the DruidCraft Tarot just popped up in my mind.

The image was animated; I could see the wind blowing her hair and clothes.  I went with it and put myself in her place and enjoyed it until it was time for me to leave the room.  I don’t know if that counts as a full on out-of-body-experience.  But it got me thinking about my relationship with the Queen of Swords and how much its changed over the years.

Last Weeks Tarot & Oracle Cards

7 of Wands

Well, it looks like I might’ve read this one wrong, at least the wrong kind of bugs.  We have been fighting with an irritating cold germ.  No crawling bugs, no allergy attacks. Maybe because I took defensive position to start with, I don’t know?  It hasn’t been too bad, just bad enough to keep us from enjoying the weather over the weekend, and keep me off the computer.

As for my oracle card that I never posted about …

From the Shaman Wisdom Cards #36 Nettle (Masculine-West-Mars-Fire).  Another not so happy-go-lucky card.  This used to be a daily deck for me. It is an odd one, but I’ve bonded with it.  Whenever the Nettle Card would come up there would always be more bickering in my family.  Naturally, I wasn’t too happy to see it pop up as a card for the whole week! 

My Tarot Card of the Week

The Seven of Wands

Challenges - Fighting Back - Crisis

Where are all the warm and fuzzy cards!?!  Oh well, this one is pretty fitting.

I had a serious allergy attack this morning and nothing that I could take for it.  It is time for me to find something that I can take daily.  The season is upon me and if I don't take defensive measures I'll end up with ear infections and sinus infections. Ugh!

The other seasonal battle to deal with is against the bugs!  It was a losing fight last year, but I learned quite a bit about which essential oils repel which critters.  Itsy-bitsy red ants were into the coffee, the peanut butter, the smallest food dripping. They hated the citronella. Big black ants would come into cool off every time we hit triple digits.  They wouldn't cross a line of peppermint.  I can't even talk about the spiders...Blech!! This season I'm already armed and prepared with my own home-made Bug, Be Gone! In 2 scents mint & citrus!

My boys are like Hansel & Gretel with the crumbs, so vacuuming alone isn't going to cut it.  I will arm the perimeters today.

Clearly, I have issues

I went to Target just to get allergy medicine, but I couldn't stop myself.  Yes, I know the notebooks are on the other side of the store. 
These little spiral bound guys have those pockets that I love so much and they match my hardcover daily journal.  Of which I have 3 extra.  Two of those are in a different color combination that I did not get the matching mini spiral notebooks for.   Let's see how long I hold out.

I've added a Tarot Journals page with info on how I use my tarot journals.  If you're interested in what tarot users do with their journals, like I am, check it out. 

If you have a blog or something else where you talk about your tarot journaling or other tarot experiences, let me know by leaving some info in the comments  so I can read about it.

Another month – Another Deck

This months deck is Kat Black’s Golden Tarot.  I did a 3 card reading with it yesterday.

I’d like to be able to use my cards to do readings for others not just myself.  It’s hard to find chances to practice.  With the little ones, I don’t get out much and most of the people I know aren’t into tarot readings.  I think its probably better practice with total strangers anyway. 

I like to see other peoples spreads they’ve laid out for themselves without reading their interpretations.  Just the question or situation and the cards.  Then I can read the cards (or lay out the same ones with a different deck) and imagine giving them the reading myself.

Since I like to see others doing it, I’ll start doing it myself.  No need to tell me what you come with, but if you have a blog where you post your readings please let me know so I can follow it. If you want to see the reading follow the link
 

Update on my card of the week

I’ve been about 50% on it when it comes to the advice from the 5 of Swords.  Good thing I got the heads up because I spent all of Saturday laid up with migraine.  So I’m better off today than I would’ve been if I’d been my usually slacker self.  

My Oracle Card of the Week

from The Hidden Path divination deck

Tree in Winter

Endurance, Preservation, Stability



I really need to pay attention to this one.  Trying to follow the ideas from the 5 of swords is not so easy for me.  One of the things I haven’t been doing while my son is home from school this week is meditate.  Trying to get in at least 5 to 10 minutes here and there is better than nothing.  It’s the best thing for me when it comes to mental/emotional endurance and stability.

Preservation…I’m taking this as more about maintenance than conservation.  I just need to hold the fort for one more day then hubby has two days off in a row! (That almost never happens).  If I continue what I began with the 5 of swords then it’ll be a more peaceful weekend.  If not, then I’ll be spending the whole time playing catch-up instead of enjoying my family and some me time.

My Tarot Card of the Week





ACCEPTING LIMITATIONS - REALISM - TIME MANAGEMENT

These will be good things for me to focus on this week, especially since I have a four-year-old son with Autism who is out of school for the week.  “Accept your limitations…Be realistic in your expectations…Manage your time…” they could be my mantras for the week! Our son has come so far in his language, and the social skills are starting to show progress too.  Sometimes I forget he’s different until I see him around other kids his age.  In the beginning it was front and center all the time. 

Psychic Tarot & Celtic Tarot

On March 17, I went to B&N to pick up Psychic Tarot by Nancy Antenucci. After listening to her interview on Beyond Worlds and reading some reviews, I decided to give it try. While I was there I checked out the bargain books bins and found The Celtic Tarot Kit. 

 

I'm always look there for inexpensive fun tarot kits, but I’ve never gotten lucky before.  Not thinking at all about the date I impulse bought, something I rarely do. Not knowing anything about the deck or what the art was like, the price was right so I just went for it.

When I showed it to hubby, he said “Oh yeah, for St. Patrick’s Day…neat.” Yeah, that’s right…I put that much thought into it, dear.  It’s in honor of your ancestors so it’s okay that I spent more then I meant to.

Turns out the pips aren’t scenic, which is something I am currently fixated on.  I love this deck!  I’ve been working on figuring out my own reading technique for decks like this. I am determined to use my new Marseilles style decks only for reading for others.  For my personal readings, journaling and mediations, I use my illustrated decks.  But I need to work with these types of pips before I can do a reading with them. Total conundrum.

Now I’ve got this really interesting looking book. I could use my other decks with it however; when I get fixated I’m not too keen on forcing myself to switch gears.  I am engrossed right now with learning to read pip cards. Kismet had me find this deck on the same day I picked up the book – so I will do all the exercises in it with my new Celtic Tarot!

Since I’m not new to tarot I could never do the exercises without preconceived ideas about the images on the cards.  One of the first things the book says to do is “put away all reference and definitions books.” Can’t put them out of my head! Overlaying images from memory of other decks seems pointless. When it comes to reading pips I am a newbie, so it works out perfect!

Here's a spread I did working with the four suits.

The Essence Spread (Part One).