Strength
Percivale’s Vision
Haven’t seen this card since WAY back in March. And it’s always a fortunate card to turn up.
Obviously, this card betokens its own name: Strength, as well as courage and vitality. Plus magnanimity − both toward you and emanating from you – [so feel free to send your favorite Tarot reader a beautiful and rare Italian silk almost-anything. Thank you]. The card can also indicate perhaps the most perfect light touch of luck.
Really pretty good for a July Saturday! So TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT! ALL OF IT!! (Otherwise what are you reading this for?)
Where was I?
The Strength card is one of the most utterly positive cards in the deck. And it does offer a few useful, specific recommendations.
It is very important that you do not underestimate your physical and emotional strength at this time, or doubt the power and durability of your connection to Universal Life Force – God, Spirit, The Big G, Mr. Spielberg, or Whatever-You-Name-It.
In other words, don’t down yourself out or assume less of yourself than you may actually be able to handle. If opportunities come, REACH! If challenges come, PUSH BACK! Don’t just crawl under the bed and hide.
Believe in your ability to succeed and to attain that which you most desire, particularly in areas of physical healing and achievement and/or emotional connection and healing.
Draw on your inner strength, which is truly far greater than you give yourself credit for.
Like many of us, you may need to begin investing some ongoing effort toward actually identifying and functionalizing your connection to your inner strength. Our culture ain’t so good about that, unless you have forced yourself to march to the same “inner drummer” as everybody else. Get to know your OWN connection to Source, and work with it.
We have in us the brilliant, beautiful and eternal power of stars. It’s up to us to find and focus it.
Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, feels this card indicates having the strength and vitality to realize one’s goals, and also ambition tempered with serenity – a gentle strength. Great energy for a wedding day!
When I work with clients, I advise them about an additional level of meaning to this card in this particular deck. I find this to be the card of the visionary – the individual who can see higher, farther, and deeper than others can.
Sometimes, even more important, this is the person who can see (distinguish clearly) the trees for the forest and the forest for the trees. So give yourself credit for being able to see things more clearly, and define things more accurately and truly, than the madding crowd around you.
Own your ability to be the visionary who can, as Robert F. Kennedy so beautifully put it, “…dream things as they never were, and say why not?” Or see things as they really are, and say, “Nuh-unh sucker! We don’t play that way NO MORE!”
Trust in your strength and draw on it. Manage it well when you must, but draw on it. Believe in your success. And let your vision of WHAT CAN BE guide you higher and higher beyond the norm of what has been.
Bright blessings, light, clarity and joy!
Quote for the day: How many times have you thrown a magic ring into the deepest depths of the ocean and then, when you get home and have a nice bit of turbot for your tea, there it is? ~ Terry Pratchett, from Wyrd Sisters
Today’s Weather: Mallards on the mainsails, Oh My!
On this Date: 1859 – A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is published.
Queen of Cups
Britannia
First of all, let me say absolutely and without question, this is not about my friend David.
Even so, What A Great Card!
Most readers respond to this card with info like happiness, pleasure, a good, fair, honest and devoted woman who will serve the querent − the person having the reading. So if those things fit in with your needs, reach out for and receive them. And if you encounter such a person, by all means engage her on your behalf. Even if, as I said last time, she does sound a tad like a Labradoodle. One reader speaks of finding this card to embody the nature of St. Clare − the founder of the Poor Clares – the feminine counterpart of St. Francis in that she embraced poverty, simplicity and service with great love and compassion for all.
Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, sees the Queen of Cups as many beautiful and wonderful things, including an Otherworldly woman with a wealth of artistic ability who trusts her psychic abilities. Also a poetic person of vision and intelligence. So, by all means, EMBODY THOSE THINGS in yourself and your life.
Britannia is the Spirit of the Land of Great Britain, and (in my interpretation of this card) reminds us that we bear an obligation of loyalty to our land, i.e., to our environment and all the creatures who continue to live among us, as well as to those we have displaced in our creation of “civilization.”
In working with clients over the years, I have also come to know the Queen of Cups as a card of compassion – especially compassion for the self.
One of the most persistent pop psychology tenets of the 70s went something like, “You can’t reeeeelly love anyone else unless you love yourself first.”
Well, I’ve found that this card says something like that.
When it turns up for a client, I remind them that, whatever may be going on in their life, it would be well if the whole magilla were seen and understood through the perspective of compassionate contemplation.
And that, just as important, it is necessary to be compassionate toward the self during times of stress or turmoil. That way, we’ll be more likely to take care of ourselves well enough to be an appropriately compassionate helper to others if/when we are called to.
So:
Keep an eye out for a wise, fair, caring woman who may be able to give you a hand. Own your artistic and intuitive nature. Honor and care for The Land, its creatures and its Spirit. And have compassion – for others, yes, but especially for yourself.
Bright blessings and a beautiful, gentle day!
Quote for the day: For those who may not find happiness to exercise religious faith, it’s okay to remain a radical atheist, it’s absolutely an individual right, but the important thing is with a compassionate heart − then no problem! ~ The Dalai Lama
Today’s Weather: Startled carpals; eclipsing twinkies; smaug.
On This Date: 1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law.
And: 1958 – Lituya Bay in Alaska is hit by a mega-tsunami. The wave is recorded at 524 meters (1,720 feet) high, making it the largest wave in history.
The Lovers
Gareth & Lyones
We last saw this card toward the end of May. At that point I must have been having quite the interesting time, because I said
You know it’s been one of those days when the card that comes up is The Lovers and the only thing that comes into your mind is:
Morticia & Gomez?
Anyway, as I have said before when this card turned up, if you REALLY need to know what The Lovers portends as a daily card, you more ’n likely need greater, deeper and more intensive help than I can provide. Nevertheless…
Some readers see this card as a harbinger of attraction, love, beauty, and trials overcome. Others believe it speaks of fidelity.
Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, finds lots of wonderful things in this card, among them the blossoming of a valuable and balanced relationship or a connection on a higher level.
So yes, The Lovers is at the very least the card of a good, solid, balanced, loving relationship − one that is comfortable, open and committed, if not necessarily intimate. Platonic will, in fact, do very nicely.
When I work with clients and this card comes up, I tell them they are being guided to look for perfect partnerships in whatever areas of life they may be asking about.
And I remind them to bear in mind that partnerships are not just about people.
A perfect partnership can be the right romantic partner at the right time, certainly.
But it can also be
~ the right working relationship (boss or assistant) or
~ the right work,
~ the right client(s),
~ the right doctor,
~ the right book,
~ the right business location,
~ the right prayer,
~ the right meditative practice,
~ the right sacred space ,
~ the right Springer spaniel puppy or even
~ the right Tarot reader [This advert brought to you by the committee to keep Neal out of debtor’s prison. Ima Shyster, Secretary.]
So when you have choices to make today, AND in the foreseeable future, look for PERFECT partnership. You deserve it, and you should not settle for less.
Bright and perfect blessings!
Quote for the day: It can hardly be coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression, “As pretty as an airport.” ~ Douglas Adams, from The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
Today’s Weather: Westerly flamarions; noodleby kraftswobblers.
On This Date: 1663 – Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal Charter to Rhode Island. [There goes the neighborhood.]
And: 1853 – Commodore Perry sails into Tokyo Bay. [There goes the neighborhood.]
Ace of Swords
Sword of Strange Hangings
This was the very first daily Tarot card which turned up for this blog. And it’s a good card to learn from at this time of year [or any time, really.]
All RIGHT now, boys and girls, ALL TOGETHER NOW:
Aces in any Tarot deck are cards of a new beginning.
Therefore:
~ How can you (how do you need to) begin your life anew, today, right now?
~ What changes can you begin, even in ways that may seem small?
~ What potentials can you believe in, hope for, reach for and remember?
When the Ace of Swords comes up in a reading, I tell the client,
“Your new beginning has to do with going on an adventure, of giving yourself permission to go after something that really sets your heart and soul on fire.
Please understand, if you undertake this quest, it very well may involve the release of some element of your life that no longer serves you.
Should you find that to be the case, strive to let the release be as quick and clean as possible, a very skillful surgery.”
I’ll stand by that set of interpretations.
But as I’ve worked with clients who have had this card come up, I’ve also come to perceive that the adventure, the new beginning and the release tend to have an aspect of destiny to them: we often find that the person has reached a point where they must make some choices to move forward in order to evolve as their life offers them the potential to do.
And what I often see is, in doing so, they do very well to remember that even big changes can be initiated and made without creating negative karma.
By the way, I have also found that this card betokens a positive outcome for skillfully undertaken literal surgery.
(And for some people, the adventure they decide to go on, and the “surgery” of the release they decide to make, can lead to a profound healing of the romantic side of life as well.)
What is your new beginning? What adventure does your destiny call you to beginning today? What may you be called to release? Undertake your quest in a way that is firm yet considerate of the law:
What Goes Around Comes Around
Bright blessings and joyous adventures!
[Note: There is a Full Moon in Capricorn at 5:21 am EDT followed by a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse at 5:39 am EDT. For info about what this means to you today, please see http://www.astrowisdom.com/thisfullmoon.htm ]
Quote for the Day: We love because it’s the only true adventure. ~ Nikki Giovanni
Today’s Weather: Ruptured bean-shìdh with scary biscuits.
On This Date: 1456 – A retrial acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death. [“Gee. Thanks guys.” ~ Joan]
Also: 1928 – Sliced bread is sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri. It is described as “the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped.”
Eight of Cups
Chapel Perilous
[And a boohiss on all of you sweet folk who thought, “Ah, any chapel would be a chapel perilous for you, Nealio.”
I’ll have you know I’ve been to several religious services over the last couple of months and the Holy Water doesn’t hardly leave scars at all anymore. Especially if I use aloe.]
Anyway, this is a card that has never popped up for the blog, and it’s one that has a lot of helpful guidance to it. It is, however, another one of those cards that often has clients whimpering just from the visuals. Except for those who are superGoth. They just ask where they can find the place.
The card, you see, portrays a knight who has ridden into a chapel to protect himself and his steed from a furious storm. He notices that the altar is without any adornment, save for a brightly flaming large golden candle. As he waits, he sees a giant, clawed, black hand reach in through the window high above the altar and make to extinguish the light.
Charming, yesno?
Some readers believe the Eight of Cups conveys either turning away from felicity and celebration, or the exact opposite [I guess it depends which side of bed the reader fell out of]. Others believe this is a card that calls the querent (questioner) to look for a deeper meaning in life; it is a time for soul searching.
Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, finds this card to be about abandoning a path, a change of plans, and escaping an unhealthy situation, among other things.
Of course, I have my own particular take on the card. When it turns up for a client, I usually say things like
~ Do not let anyone or anything – especially yourself − put a bushel basket over your light.
~ Do not allow anyone or anything – especially yourself or your perception of your self − hold you under its thumb.
If necessary:
Leave.
Move.
Go elsewhere.
Try something else.
Rework your priorities and take life from there.
Set yourself free.
Today, refuse to be confined, repressed, dimmed by anyone or anything – especially yourself!
Bright blessings and an open path to your true self!
Thought for the Day: I pay no attention whatever to anybody’s praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings. ~ Mozart
Today’s Weather: Coddleston pie; radiant penstemons
On This Date: 1957 – John Lennon and Paul McCartney first meet at St. Peter’s Church garden fete in Liverpool, England.
Six of Swords
The Eachtra
Saw this one about a month ago, and about three weeks before that.
As I’ve said other times this card has turned up, the Six of Swords as I work with it has several layers of meaning, and requires a bit of storytelling and explanation. So, once again, bear with me.
Go get another cuppa, an OJ, a brewski, a Laphroig. And grab a bowl of porridge or fruit or fudge ripple or beer nuts. Whatever.
According to Anna Marie Ferguson − creator of Legend,the Arthurian Tarot − The Eachtra is the Irish phrase for an Otherworld journey and adventure.
Among the Arthurian legends, one adventure involved a great quest in which Arthur and his knights ventured to the realm of Annwn − the Celtic Underworld − to meet Arawn, the Lord of the Underworld, and (depending on which version you harken to) form a brotherly alliance, king to king, {or do grievous battle, army to army} so as to win and bring back {or steal and bring back} magic and magical tools for the grace and hope of Camelot.
Funny how variable those legends are. I blame it on the monk mead meself. And those wonderful little mushrooms they ate with the salads. Ah, the goode olde dayes!
So, let’s see. An otherworld journey and adventure…
That’s a pretty perfect thing to have recommended to us right now − a time full of summer magic, during which some of us may be sensitive to a thinning of the veils between ordinary reality and the realms of spirit.
How will you let yourself explore the doorways to goodness, wisdom and healing that are available just now? Dream on it at least, I hope!
Anyway, back to the card, more or less.
In the teachings of modern core shamanism, journeying is the term given to the deep, powerful meditation used by shamanic practitioners to travel to alternate realities. Often, the first teaching journeys are to the lower world, into beautiful, fruitful, healing darkness entered through an opening into the Earth.
So, in my work with clients, and based on my shamanic work, I’ve come to refer to the Six of Swords as The Journeywork Card.
This card directs us to go deep – deep within the self, into the core of our hopes and dreams, to the very essence of our being. It tells us to believe in, seek and find the beautiful, powerful, enlightening, inspiring treasure within us. And it asks us to then embrace it fully and bring it up and out into the world to share with and benefit all.
Isn’t that why you agreed to come into this lifetime, after all?
Explore the realms of the sacred and the healing. Go deep within and find the treasure there, then bring it out to lovingly share with the world. Be part of the beautiful and powerful magics of the season.
Bright blessings and miraculous journeys!
[For more information on journeying, please see my article at
http://shamanspath.org/index_ShamanicJourneyIntro.htm ]
Quote for the Day: Do we delude ourselves in thinking we possess and command our own souls? … Even in our midst, the poet now and then catches sight of the figures that people the night world – the spirits, demons and gods. He knows that a purposiveness outreaching human ends is the life-giving secret for man. ~ Carl Gustav Jung
Today’s Weather: Chewy with a blackberry overtones and a hint of penicillin, oatstraw and really small, tart sardines. (Three tongues up!)
On This Date: 1937 – Spam, the luncheon meat, is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation.
Also: 1776 − Thomas Jefferson awakens with a scalding hangover from the big celebration. Says, “We did what?”
The Judgement
Avalon
Interesting card to show up on US Independence Day.
As it has become a regular card on this blog, showing up at least once a month for most of this year, I’ll reaffirm: it’s always a good card to work with and one we would do well to allow to guide us.
[And Spirit is probably telling me to get rid of all my backhanded meanness about the clowns who put the world financial markets into such a mess. Ah, well…]
So. Then. If there’s any inkling in your mind that you might be being
just a tad judgemental,
it’s tremendously important that you STOP THAT RIGHT NOW ~ don’t be judgemental of anyone else. And especially don’t be judgemental toward yourself. It’s not useful or even valid to be that way. Today, especially, anyway.
That doesn’t mean you should let yourself – or anyone else − run hog wild, going off half-cocked and half baked in every goofy direction that occurs.
Nor should you beat yourself up if you really want to just get quiet and do what it takes to stay grounded – or want to just hide and say, “To hell with ALL these Bozos!” for today. Oh. Wait. That would be kinda judgemental. So you can do it (hide away), just don’t say it (these Bozos).
It does mean
~ don’t repress your own tendency to wish for what you wish for
~ don’t berate yourself for wanting to be able to upgrade
WELL beyond what ordinary reality might provide
this week in some area of your life, but
~ stay grounded for the moment regarding what you actually grab
or grab for
And send kind energy and blessings of Light to those who do get sucked into any craziness that’s around today.
Also [and I’m finding this one to be unusually important with my clients lately],
be sure you are pursuing what really is for the highest and best of all.
Don’t just do what you’ve always been told you should do in order to be successful, popular, spiritual, blah, blah, blah..
Anyway.
Different decks portray ~ and different readers interpret ~ The Judgement in exceptionally different ways. Some say it indicates a change of position, a renewal or reawakening, an ultimate outcome.
Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, finds it to portend passing through a gateway to a new existence, an understanding of how one’s actions influence others, good health or a positive legal outcome.
Me? I tend to see this card as requiring some action. When this card appears, I’m likely to say:
“Look. Really. There are powerful, helpful people who would be happy to work with you, work on your behalf, who might actually be out there looking for you right now. But they can’t find you where you usually are.
“There are wonderful, transformational experiences waiting for you. But they can’t happen where you are, in the rhythm of your life as you currently live it.
“You’ve got to go new places, meet new people, do new things! And push yourself a bit to keep doing that for the foreseeable future.”
So, while staying grounded and aware of what your wishes are − or could be if you really owned what you wish for − entice yourself out of your rut.
Shop at different stores, from grocers to clothiers to where you buy your lottery tickets or get your dry cleaning done.
Go to different movies at different theaters.
Eat at different restaurants.
Write at different coffee bars.
Don’t let yourself stagnate where you are and have been.
Perhaps the most important aspect of this card is that it indicates your destiny is trying to reach out to you and for you. Will you be there? If you are, bear in mind the insight of the card as it reminds us to understand the impact of our actions upon others.
Know what you want.
Don’t be crazy, but be willing to try something unusual or out of character to get it.
Reach out for your destiny.
Bright blessings (without even the least little hint of judgemental)!
Quote for the Day: “All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. “ ~ Thomas Jefferson
Today’s Weather: Punted trout lilies; estimated purslain portals.
On This Date: 1054 – A supernova is observed by the Chinese, the Arabs and possibly Amerindians near the star Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula. [It ultimately inspires the Chesapeake Tribe to invent crab salad. Or maybe it was China’s Zhou Dynasty.]
Also: 1776 – American Revolution: the United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress.
And: 1855 – In Brooklyn, NY, the first edition of Walt Whitman’s book of poems, Leaves of Grass, is published.
Nine of Swords
Lily Maid of Astolat
This card last turned up around mid-March. And it’s one that’s always an important reminder in our codependent culture.
[Finishes pontificating. Gets down off soap box. Tidies hair and looks around for coffee. Asks, where was I?]
This is a card of warning, plain and simple.
Different readers vary the focal issues being dealt with here, so I’ll give bits and pieces of other perspectives before offering my take on things.
Betty, who [if you’ve read about this card on the blog before, you will remember] was my long-time teacher and friend. She used to turn this card into a little piece of performance art. When Nine of Swords would come up, she’d shake her head, give a low whistle, shake her head again, look closely at the card, look up mournfully at me − or whoever she was reading for − and say, “This situation is nearly DEAD.” Got me whimpering every time.
So if that’s the interpretation of the card we’re working with, one of the things to be careful about − depending on exactly what’s being examined in the reading – is that you and/or or a situation may be about to seriously pass the point of burnout and you need to pull back, regroup, rethink things and really recover before you go off the deep end or go up in smoke.
So please, give that interpretation some thought throughout various aspects of your life.
Some readers find this to be a card of delay, deception and disappointment − or worse. Others indicate that it betokens fear and dread for the future, and implies a course of action that will still and calm the mind to help instill courage. Other sources recommend a path of extra alertness and wariness, along the lines of “cover your back” for now.
Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, writes of pining for a loved one, fretful dreams and obsessions. Her interpretation that I’m most interested in (on your behalf) is depression blinding us to the possibilities and beauty that surround us. (Don’t go there! You DO NOT need to do that!!!!!)
When this card turns up in a reading for a client, I say things like, “Okay, several levels of meaning here, and you need to pay close attention to each one.”
First, this is a card that says be very careful NOT to take on the emotions of others. You may choose to be kind and be a shoulder for another to cry on. But understand that to do so does NOT involve letting someone else’s disappointment or depression take you over; you are NOT meant to be anyone else’s psychic and emotional trash bin. If you’re one of those people who lets a friend come over and dump all his baggage on you so that he can then just skip away, free as a bird and back in the groove while you need to go hide behind the couch in the basement – STOPPIT! That’s unhealthy behavior. It’s not kind. It’s not even really helpful to you OR him.
Second, do not take responsibility for other people’s emotions. Yes, we all do things that disappoint others, even those we love. But their emotions in response to the situation are THEIRS to deal with and work through.
I remember overhearing a woman in a store, talking to her four-year-old daughter, saying, ‘If you keep acting this way Daddy’s going to divorce us, and it will be all your fault!’ [Beyatch!]
It’s obvious how false and manipulative − not to mention cruel − that was. Well, whether we like it or not, WE are responsible for OUR emotions and HOW WE RESPOND to all the situations in our life. That’s true for everybody else as well. So don’t let anyone bamboozle you into thinking different.
Third, don’t take responsibility for anyone else’s life or life choices. If you’re in a position to help someone when they’re lost or down, and you CHOOSE to offer that, do so – if you can do it in a way that’s safe and healthy, non-manipulative, non-addictive, non-codependent, with healthy boundaries. It’s like they say on an airliner: if you’re traveling with a child and the air masks come down, put yours on first, THEN put on the child’s.
So, be careful today not to overextend yourself in unfair or unhealthy ways. Hold good boundaries. Be compassionate, but don’t be a doormat or a crying towel. And double-check your own energy to be sure depletion isn’t closer than you may have realized. If it seems it may be, do what you need to do to take care of YOU!
Bright blessings, solid boundaries, good choices and discretion!
Quote for the day: The mystical life is the center of all that I do and all that I think and all that I write… and I have always considered myself a voice of what I believe to be a greater renaissance – the revolt of the soul against the intellect – now beginning in the world. ~ William Butler Yeats
Today’s Weather: Bear’s breeches postulating toward syncopation.
On this Date: 1844 – The last pair of Great Auks is killed.
Six of Shields
Castle of Maidens
Curb thy fevered brains, Python fanatics! [And if you have no idea what I’m talking about, you’ll just have to get around to watching “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” sometime soon.]
Although the Arthurian Castle of Maidens story may have led to about the kind of scenes you’d have expected from the Pythons, the real legend − and the meaning of the card − is actually very good, very kind, very positive. [And not kinky at all, even the least bit.]
Pretty much any reader will tell you that the Six of Shields betokens generosity, charitable acts and material gain. Some might also indicate that it’s a sign that you will soon reach a position where you feel you can help others. [Always good.]
In my readings, I’m often intuitively prompted to take the interpretation a bit farther and in a slightly different direction. I’m likely to say something like:
Focus for a minute.
Let your inner vision move back and forth in time across your life.
Something that is yours by right
that was lost or taken from you
will be restored to you in full.
So today, right now, this moment let yourself attend to what that might be and how it can most happily be brought into being.
This card can apply to many different aspects of life:
~ the artist who (thinks he) has lost his Muse
~ the investor who (fears she) has lost her basis
~ the manager who (believes he) has lost his artistry
~ the writer who (worries she) has lost her prosperity
It can even imply a return of misappropriated property, a renewal of a sundered relationship, or the reopening of a realm of hopefulness that seemed long gone.
So the important thing to do is − without bludgeoning yourself − scan your life and acknowledge what it is you fear has been lost, or what you have lost in fact. Then let yourself understand that TODAY is the day you can renew that connection, revivify that dream, and reconnect with that hope.
By the way, some readers feel that this card tells us to be attentive to the possibility of helpful intervention by/through positive masculine energy. So keep an eye out for that.
Know what you would bring back to your life. Know that this moment is the time when that renewal, that reconnection, that return, can begin. Go from there!
Bright blessings, joy and light!
Thought for the day: If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you. ~ Oscar Wilde
Today’s Weather: Hippogryph; mendacious porpentine
On This Date: 1777 – Vermont becomes the first American territory to abolish slavery.
Also: 1808 – Simon Fraser reaches the Pacific Ocean near New Westminster. [Tells Mrs. Fraser he doesn’t need to stop for directions: they’ve gotta be near Toronto and will arrive any minute now.]
