Daily Tarot ~ December 1

Two of Shields

Castle Pendragon

Fortune Cookie: Honest and open dialogue is important today.  So is networking.  Get out and meet new people. Make new connections for your potential benefit.

We last saw this card waaaay back on Thursday.  So it’s here now in part to remind us that what we were working on then is still important. [Or if we kinda ignored the issue last time around, to get off our royal, rosey red…  Uhhhh… You get the idea.]

Let me reemphasize that networking and communications might be kinda sorta important all the time.  So please keep that in mind DAILY.  [Reader gets down off soap box.  Replaces soap.  Carries back to warehouse from which it was pilfered.  Makes note to be taller next lifetime.]

Some readers see this card as betokening recreation. [So do take at least a little time to celebrate something today, if you please.] Others find it to be about receiving news in writing.  Some say it indicates that the querent is juggling a lot of things at the moment, and must work to keep things on an even keel. [‘Scuse me?  Anybody NOT experiencing that?  Anybody?  I dare you to admit it!]

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend Tarot, writes of successfulhandling of fluctuating fortunes, employing creative maneuvers and the reevaluation of plans.

So, dear readers [y’all],  if any of those things resonate for you based on what you’re experiencing lately, or expect to experience in the near future, by all means take advantage of this card’s confirming insights and make some skillful moves on your own behalf. Don’t sit there like a deer in the headlights!

 

 

Jeeesh!

In working with clients over a number of years, I find a couple other recommendations to be useful when this card comes up.

First, it shows up as a card about networking. Get out and meet new people, learn about them and have them learn about you.  Do. Not. Hide. [Tarot guy grumbles and throws things at the monitor.  Then realizes HE’S the one who just typed that.]

On a deeper level, it’s a card about honest and open dialogue.  You must speak your truth − calmly, calmly if possible – directly to those who need to hear it and/or those who can help you follow through with what your truth requires.  But then you must ALSO patiently, quietly, compassionately listen to the responses of the person you have addressed, and take their honest words into serious consideration.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly for all of us at any time, this is

The card of

the Kozmic Giggle.

[That’s the aspect portrayed in the Legend deck.  When Uther, Arthur’s father, came to possess Castle Pendragon, he felt it was hard to defend.  He and his chaps dug a moat and diverted the River Eden to fill it, to help make the place harder to get into.  Well, long story short, the River just wasn’t having any, and each morning Uther found the river running exactly where it always had.  He eventually accepted the situation, laughed at how the Kozmos will have its own joke, even on a king, and went on to work on other things.]

So it’s also a card that counsels us to retain a sense of humor when done in by mishaps.  And even in a loving universe [and despite our best efforts], there will  surely be some!

 

 

 

 

 

 

See?

So network.  Engage compassionately in honest and open dialogue.  And try to keep it light!

Brightest blessings!

Quote for the Day:  If we don’t succeed we run the risk of failure. ~ J. Danforth Quayle

And: The future will be better tomorrow.  ~ J. Danforth Quayle

 

Today’s Waethyr: Another, greater Kozmic blivet.  Defend and heal yourself with even more Little Debbie Intergalactic Multiplanar OhWow-I-Just-Saw-Gawd-OhWow brownies.

Daily Tarot ~ November 30

King of Shields

Uther

Fortune Cookie: Ask yourself, “What is REALLY important?  Now how do I attend to THAT?”

A card from back in mid-May.  Anything special cycling back from about then, my pretties?

As those of you who have been with the blog for a while know, the King of Shields is what I call the card of the Goode Kinge.

This is the king who knows what’s going on in his kingdom − how the crops in every county are doing (if not, in fact, how every farmer is doing), what his knights are up to (and what they should be up to), the state of repair of the entire kingdom’s major walls, bridges and roads, etc. − how the kingdom is doing.  Really doing.

He’s perfectly comfortable in the limelight, although he does not seek it for himself and does not miss it when it isn’t on him.

He is simply the good king who understands that his mission is to take care of his kingdom and take care of his subjects so that they generally can take care of themselves.  He considers himself the servant of all his people [even them’s wot’s most deservin’ of a good, solid gangstah-smack].

The hard lesson he has learned is that there will always be more things asked of him than he can possibly fulfill, more things in need of attention than he can possibly do or see to, even by delegating.

He has, therefore, come to understand and be comfortable with the necessity of allocating his resources, caring and effort, in such a way as will provide the greatest return and benefit to himself and especially to his people.

In his realm, it ISN’T the squeakiest wheel that gets the grease; it’s the wheel whose repair is most significant and valuable to him, his people and the land.

So, beginning today, how can you come to understand better the myriad workings of your kingdom?

What, in fact, IS your kingdom?  And how do you need to give yourself − in a functional, practical way − permission to attend to that which is really MOST IMPORTANT rather than that which seems MOST URGENT (or most annoying) in order to keep your kingdom’s balance, harmony and prosperity at the forefront of your consideration?

What do you need to let go of, or let go fallow, or let go to hell, for that matter, in order for the stuff you truly care about − the stuff you truly came here to do − to get done and get done well? 

So ask yourself, “What the hell is all that noise?  Are those TORCHES AND PITCH FORKS the peasants are carrying?”  But more to the point, “What is REALLY important?  Now how do I attend to THAT?“

Bright blessings!

Quote for the Day:

“Eh, does he speak English?” “A kind of English, sir. I think he learnt it in a place called Chicago.”                         ~ Agatha Christie, from Murder on the Orient Express

Today’s Whether: Bruxelles spirites.  Celeriac root.  Froines.  Hunker down.  It’s Fri-dee.

Daily Tarot ~ November 28

Two of Shields

Castle Pendragon

Fortune Cookie: Honest and open dialogue is important today.  So is networking.  Get out and meet new people. Make new connections for your potential benefit.

We last saw this card waaaay back in early April.  So it’s here now in part to remind us that what we were working on then is still important. [Or if we kinda ignored the issue last time around, to get off our royal, rosey red…  Uhhhh… You get the idea.]

Let me reemphasize that networking and communications might be kinda sorta important all the time.  So please keep that in mind DAILY.  [Reader gets down off soap box.  Replaces soap.  Carries back to warehouse from which it was pilfered.  Makes note to be taller next lifetime.]

Some readers see this card as betokening recreation. [So do take at least a little time to celebrate something today, if you please.] Others find it to be about receiving news in writing.  Some say it indicates that the querent is juggling a lot of things at the moment, and must work to keep things on an even keel. [‘Scuse me?  Anybody NOT experiencing that?  Anybody?  I dare you to admit it!]

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend Tarot, writes of successfulhandling of fluctuating fortunes, employing creative maneuvers and the reevaluation of plans.

So, dear readers [y’all],  if any of those things resonate for you based on what you’re experiencing lately, or expect to experience in the near future, by all means take advantage of this card’s confirming insights and make some skillful moves on your own behalf. Don’t sit there like a deer in the headlights!

 

 

Jeeesh!

In working with clients over a number of years, I find a couple other recommendations to be useful when this card comes up.

First, it shows up as a card about networking. Get out and meet new people, learn about them and have them learn about you.  Do. Not. Hide. [Tarot guy grumbles and throws things at the monitor.  Then realizes HE’S the one who just typed that.]

On a deeper level, it’s a card about honest and open dialogue.  You must speak your truth − calmly, calmly if possible – directly to those who need to hear it and/or those who can help you follow through with what your truth requires.  But then you must ALSO patiently, quietly, compassionately listen to the responses of the person you have addressed, and take their honest words into serious consideration.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly for all of us at any time, this is

The card of

the Kozmic Giggle.

[That’s the aspect portrayed in the Legend deck.  When Uther, Arthur’s father, came to possess Castle Pendragon, he felt it was hard to defend.  He and his chaps dug a moat and diverted the River Eden to fill it, to help make the place harder to get into.  Well, long story short, the River just wasn’t having any, and each morning Uther found the river running exactly where it always had.  He eventually accepted the situation, laughed at how the Kozmos will have its own joke, even on a king, and went on to work on other things.]

So it’s also a card that counsels us to retain a sense of humor when done in by mishaps.  And even in a loving universe [and despite our best efforts], there will  surely be some!

See?

So network.  Engage compassionately in honest and open dialogue.  And try to keep it light!

Brightest blessings!

Quote for the Day:  If we don’t succeed we run the risk of failure. ~ J. Danforth Quayle

 

Today’s Waethyr: A great Kozmic blivet.  Defend and heal yourself with Little Debbie Intergalactic Multiplanar OhWow-I-Just-Saw-Gawd-OhWow brownies.

Daily Tarot ~ November 28

The Hierophant

Taliesin

Fortune Cookie: Get to know in a much deeper way your nature as a magical Renaissance man or woman, and bring together all of your expertise and faculties. 

No, he doesn’t look like Johnny Depp.  Or Keira Knightley, either.  So there.

We haven’t seen this card since… early August.  So I guess SOME OF US might well need a bit MORE of a reminder about who we may really be.  Eh?  EH? So do try to actually pay a little attention this time. [And maybe I will, too.  Maybe.]

As I’ve said before, this is a card so dense with information and direction, I hardly know where to start.   So, as ever, hang on a minute while I think about it.

t        t        t        t

t        t        t

t        t

t        t

t    t

t    t

t

t

t

t

 

Right!  Thanks.  Again.

First, I have heard some people refer to this card as the older, more grounded partner to The Priestess.  Fine, fine, fine with me.  But let’s go beyond that.

Some readers find that this card betokens a marriage alliance or servitude, but also mercy and goodness.  Others understand it as indicating the making of a long term commitment or that a new, helpful guiding influence is about to come into your life.  So keep an eye out for that, especially if things have been more bumpy or chaotic than normal. [Argh!]

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, sees The Hierophant in many postive ways.  Some of my favorites are: a person with experience he or she is willing to share; a generous spiritual mentor; initiation; drawing security and comfort from one’s roots.

But also, feeling constricted by conformity to orthodoxy.

[Not THESE guys!]

You won’t find me negating any of those possibilities.  But, still, I go in my own direction with a card as important as this. [Anybody at all surprised?]

When this card turns up for a client, I start off by reminding them that, in some Arthurian legends, Taliesin became Arthur’s magical helper after Merlin left the scene.  (In some tales, Taliesin and Merlin stand together at the water’s edge as the vessel bearing Arthur departs for Avalon.)  So it’s a card of magical assistance or guidance.

Taliesin was one of the great, archetypal Bards of the Island of the Mighty.  As such [at least as I understand it] he was a shapeshifter and wizard; a wisdom keeper; a singer; a poet; a musician; and he brought all those abilities together as a healer; and a teacher; and a community mediator.  Not to mention being the power behind the throne, for − in some of what I have read – you couldn’t lead a Celtic clan or tribe unless the Bards declared you were THE ONE.

So I see The Hierophant as being a kind of super, magical Renaissance man or woman, who brings together and uses (brilliantly) not only ordinary reality skills, training and power, but magical, spiritual, sacred connections and capacities as well.

This can also be the keeper of ancient and hidden and powerful wisdom… not a bad thing to be or to look out for.

One thing more.  In the first Tarot decks created LOOOOONG ago, there was no Hierophant card.  There was instead… The Pope.  Why?  Because, at the time, the Pope was The Absolute Pinnacle of Power and wealth, not only materially but  (as he was perceived at the time) also spiritually. At least in Europe.

So when the Hierophant shows up, I often say, “Ya wanna really grow materially?  Devote a lot more quality time and effort to growing spiritually.  For you, the two must go hand in hand.”

So:

Be open to the possibility of a very beneficial new alliance.

Seek for (or perhaps seek to be) a generous spiritual mentor. 

Get to know in a much deeper way your nature as a magical Renaissance man or woman, and bring together all of your expertise and faculties. 

Own all of that, and move toward your highest and best both spiritually and materially.  

Start today!

Brightest, most diverse and magical blessings!

Thought for the Day:  Keep your mind too open, and you never know what might walk in. ~ Simon R. Green

Today’s Whether:  Circles and spirals and windmills. Frosty fields of the season. Chocolate droops.

Daily Tarot ~ November 26

Ten of Shields

Camelot

Fortune Cookie: Look for the right GROUP energy to become part of so you will receive the right kind of support as you move onward and upward in your life.

Very interesting card.  Always a very interesting card − at least when I have seen it.   It last showed up for us just before the middle of September. 

For those of you who are regulars to these posts, you know I’m about to say something like

Tens in any Tarot deck betoken the end of one cycle and the beginning of another, or even the end of one way of life and the beginning of another.  So, if I were reading for you today and this card came up, I’d ask:

How do the things you have been experiencing – and more importantly, how do the things you have begun to long for in life just now – represent a strong message to you that you must allow yourself to acknowledge the end of a cycle and the powerful potential for you to move into something wonderful and new, even miraculous?

How can you keep that in front of you,

and not just for today?

How can you let today be part of something new that you BEGIN TODAY but may continue to pursue for some time to come?

Some readers see the Ten of Shields as gain, riches, or having to do with family abode.  Okey-dokey.  Us likes wot’s riches an’ gains, us do!

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, indicates this card is about  affluence, riches, inheritance, and possibly clan gatherings.  As my grandmother often used to say about clan gatherings, “Always glad to see you all come.  Even happier to see you all go!”  If you had seen my family, you’d be right in with her on that.

See?  (I’m the one on the lower right.)

I see the Ten of Shields as saying:

Time for a change.

Possibly time for a BIG change. 

In pursuing that change, don’t look for the right person to help bring it about.

Look for the right groups and circles and organizations – possibly new ones to you – to become part of.

Be very careful to evaluate the GROUP energy or the GROUP dynamics of where you are and where you need to be. 

If you were interviewing for a new job (or exploring a new spiritual circle, or new club), it wouldn’t be anywhere NEAR enough to evaluate whether it felt like your prospective new boss (or leader, or pastor, or teacher, whatever) would be good to work with. 

You’d really want to explore and be sure that the energy of the greater team, group, circle or organization felt positive, clean, imbued with integrity, excitement, spirit – whatever you need a boost of right now.

So:

Be open to the possibility that some element of your life is grinding its way to an end. 

Understand that it may simply be TIME for that to happen – let no judgment or negative feeling attach to that reality.  It’s just a necessity in your evolution.

Then look for the right GROUP energy to become part of so that it will be supportive of you as you move onward and upward in your life.

Bright blessings and REALLY GOOD group connections!

Quote for the Day: Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress.  But I repeat myself. ~ Mark Twain

Today’s Weather: Popploptical dust devils and minor majorities. Carry a SuperSoaker full of chilled Bushmills Celtic Twighlights.   

On This Date: 1922 – Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of PharaohTutankhamun in over 3000 years.

Text From Last Night: …it’s that moment where you find out the girl you’ve been dating for 6 months is a mob daughter. // …post breakup?

Daily Tarot ~ November 21

Seven of Spears

Arch of Twelve Kings

Fortune Cookie:  What do you want?  What would your victory be?  Assume today is the day that you begin to move toward sure victory.

Okay, kids. This card last turned for us exactly a week ago.  And about two weeks before that.  So, I ask again, (and again, and again) most humbly…

who’s not gettin’ their vik’try thing on?  Huh? 

I mean, lookey here… Reincarnation and all that is fine.  But, in this lifetime, you only GET this one lifetime to get what you wanna get. So GET IT! Know what it is, and GET IT!  Start.  Now!!!!!   

Grumble, grumble…

As I have said before, this is of those cards we should work with regularly to help us keep track of who we are and who we hope to be.  [Who? Whom? Whoee cares?] It really is very helpful.  And so it’s back again.  [So know what you want, and GET IT!  Know what it is, and GET IT! Start. Now!!!!!] [Back Igor, back.  Down boy!  Down!]

Ahem.

The Arch referred to here is a monument created by Merlin’s magic in celebration of the defeat of twelve lesser kings who rebelled against Arthur early in his reign.

As I’ve asked before: do the twelve kings sound at all like the chaotic, nagging, self-defeating things we get stuck thinking about ourselves, our talents and abilities, even our lives?   Isn’t it wearying to find ourselves so often in rebellion against our higher and better selves?  What a waste of energy, time, peace of mind, hormones, talent and… energy!

So listen up, y’all!  I consider this to be the card of utter, total and complete victory.  It may be victory after a loooooooong, tedious and/or hard-fought series of challenges.  But it’s victory, absolutely, nonetheless.

Some readers indicate the Seven of Spears to be a card of bravery and success.  Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legend deck, says it speaks of promoting unity for the common good and gaining the confidence of others, among other things.  If any of those indicators fit what you’re trying to be about lately, assume you’ve been given a green light and MOVE!

As we look at what this card is prompting, let me ask this old chestnut:

If youwere absolutely certain that you would

ultimately achieve the victory you want

− maybe after considerable time, maybe after considerable strategy and straining, heaving endeavor, maybe after having to release some things in order to ultimately gain what you want –

WHAT

DO YOU WANT?

WHAT

WOULD YOUR VICTORY BE?

~ How long are you willing to work toward it?

~ How long are you willing to go after it again and again and again?

~ How will you strategize for it?

~ With whom, and what will they bring to the table?

~ What endeavors will you put forth to achieve it?

~ What help will you seek, from Spirit and from those around you?

~ What would you give up, release, put aside to have it?

WHAT

DO YOU WANT?

What

would YOUR victory be?

Assume today is the magical day that

if you answer those questions honestly

if you answer those questions fully

and begin to put into play the elements

of your responses

you will move toward sure victory.

Bright blessings and victory!

P.S.  Just as a corollary:  What do you want to be remembered for one hundred years from now?

Quote for the Day: What is true of the individual will be tomorrow true of the whole nation if individuals will but refuse to lose heart and hope.  ~ Gandhi

(Dear Gandhi-Ji: from your lips to God’s ear. ~ Neal)

Today’s Weather: Slithey tovariches. Green tambourines.  And Linnets. Madeira.  Imaginal cells. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ci59fWmc7g&feature=plcp]

On This Date: 1877 – Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record and play sound.

 

Text From Last Night: …you know you need to take better care of yourself when shaving reminds you of sheep shearing…

Tarot Card will be off for some R & R.  And housecleaning.  See ya next week.

 

Daily Tarot ~ November 20

The Tower

Vortigern’s Fortress

Fortune Cookie: Go back to the shop.  Spend some time hammering out a few of the most basic details about who you are, what you believe, what your foundation is, what you want to build — and why.

 Hmmmmm…

Hmmmmmmmm-mmmmm….

We last saw this card back in early August. As usual, I suspect some of us (maybe moi?) need to attend a bit more closely to what’s offered here.  I mean, this really is a very helpful card.

Yes, really.

But still, I can’t help wanting to launch just one wee tiny technicolor

Oh Bugger!!!

There.  I feel much better now.  Thanks.

As I said, this IS such a valuable card.  [And it’s one of my longer posts, for which I apologize.]  [Yes, really.  But don’t expect me to grovel, mind…] So here we go.

As we have seen, this is definitely another of those OhBugger! kinda cards, at least from its appearance — in ANY Tarot deck.

It’s one of those cards for which − by my interpretation, which veers a good piece from the norm − I’m supposed to tell you, “Ah, yes, yes, yes.  Don’t jump to conclusions.  Don’t leap before you look.  Really significant opportunities for growth and learning here.”

And, as I always ask,

Remember the alleged persons (from high school math teachers to your skating coach to Ram Dass to Mother Teresa to Miss Laura on Romper Room to un-indicted senators and everybody in between) who have handed you that “really significant opportunities for growth and learning here” shitake?  It always really means, “Get ready for some deep-down bone-crunching head-smacking hard work!” Even I admit that, and I have the honesty level of a dried toad.

Well, so, maybe that old hard work thing IS the case here.  Maybe.  But with this card, it’s also a matter of IMPORTANT work that will be worth your time and energy for sure.   Hard work, yeah, yeah, true, but SO VERY meaningful.

Now, The Tower isn’t a dire card, at least not as I’ve been given to understand it – intuitively and through my experience with clients.

But when my clients see it as it’s depicted in the Legend deck − a huge red dragon fighting a ginormous white one, completely destroying a massive royal fortress in the process – it sort of makes them go, “Eeep-Mewlp,” suck in their breath,  swallow hard and say, “WTF!”  [That’s Wallachian Toltec Fibrecereal.]

So what’s different about my understanding of the card and what it offers?  I usually say something like:

Okay, I know it looks scary, dragons fighting, castles blown to bits.  But really, it’s positive.

The card is asking you to examine yourself, your hopes & dreams and your being.

It’s saying, Hey.  Stop for a minute.  Look at your life.  Think about it now.

If you take your life down to its foundation, down to what’s REALLY important, what’s really essential to the you that is really you, then

WHAT

IS THAT

TRUE FOUNDATION??     

Who are you?     

What are you?      

What is it that you REALLY care about and

REALLY have available to build upon, and wish to build upon, this time around?

And, by the way, WHAT will you build upon it?

This evaluation should be applied to every area of significance in your life, particularly those in which you’re experiencing some transition.

[Transition.  What a weenie word.

How about stress.  Or wobble.  Or 

outright caving in .  Better?]

 

What is the true foundation – for YOU:

What is the true foundation of career?

What is the true foundation of family?

What is the true foundation of relationships – of each and every kind, from the most intimate and powerful to minor friendships to the bagger at the grocery store?

What is the true foundation of joy?

What is the true foundation of spiritual connectedness?

What is the true foundation of physical health?

What is the true foundation of emotional health?

What is the true foundation of creativity?

What is the true foundation of home?

What is the true foundation of beauty?

And so on, all through the entire list: everything on your own personal list of areas of your life that are important to you.

What IS the true foundation for YOU?

[And how many different type faces can this idiot insert for no good reason in one single post?]

Once you know what your various true foundations are, then you can determine what you’d like to build upon them, how you want to do it, and what the best way is to go about it.

And it’s perfectly okay if what you wish to build changes.  It can be a villa at one time, a pagoda another, a log cabin next and a fairy castle sometime after that.  So long as you know WHAT your foundations TRULY are, and honor them, then what you are about building is and will be perfect.

What are your foundations in each area of your being?  How can you be mindful of them?  How can you stay mindful of them?  What do you wish to build upon them?  How can you begin today? 

Bright blessings and a deep, happy, helpful knowing of yourself!

Quote for the Day: A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.  ~ David Brinkley

Today’s Weather:  Lucid yak twaddle, with intermittent–Yurk!

On This Date: 1985 – MicrosoftWindows 1.0 is released. Yurk!

Text From Last Night: …you started petting my head and said …there there, majestical unicorn  …won’t be long before we get you back to neverland

Daily Tarot ~ November 17

Three of Shields

The Homespun Tunic

Fortune Fookie:  Don’t get stuck in nostalgia; don’t let the remembered goodness of things past keep you from the awesome possibilities in things to come.

This card hasn’t come by since alllllllll the way back in early January!  And it’s an interesting card to have appear for a day near to Thanksgiving… a time when many of us become very, very prone to nostalgia.

So dig:

I mean it!

DIG:

As you have often heard me say [seen me write?  Whatever…], please remember I find a Three in any Tarot deck indicates that the question being explored (or the day being reviewed) is fraught with issues of power:

~ power games

~ power struggles

~ owning your power

~ refusing to submit to ploys that would deny you power you have earned

~ having a care against disempowerment in any area of your life

~ resisting tendencies toward disempowerment of your self

And stuff like that.

So have a care about that.  A really big care.

Now…

My interpretation of the Three of Shields goes way off the beam from any other source you’re likely to experience. That’s because of my persoanl take on the particular Arthurian tales illustrated by Anna-Marie Ferguson in her Legend deck for this card. (More on that in a bit.)

Anyway, I see the Three of Shields as warning us not to disempower ourselves, (or not to open ourselves to being manipulated by others) by getting lost in nostalgia when we ought to be grabbing life by the [ ________kindly fill in the blank] RIGHT NOW! and flying toward our highest and best.

When this card comes up for a client, I affirm that it’s appropriate to honor the good things that have been − in a situation, a relationship, a business, a job, a home, a time in life.

BUT it is deadly important to not just get stuck there, in the past, drooling over what had been and quivering in fear because things must change.

As I said to one client whose eldest child was about to go off to college,

“Look, I know ya wanna grab him, roll him up in a rug and shove him under the bed where he’ll be safe and sound. But if you do that, he’ll NEVER be the brilliant, amazing human being he can become. And that would be because of your choices.” She got the message, though she didn’t like hearing it much just then.

Which leads me to the short version of the story in the card.

The homespun tunic was a garment made − by hand − by Percivale’s mother for him to wear as he set off on his quest to seek a place at Camelot.

[The back story is that her husband, a minor king, was killed while off on a chivalric quest. She then promised herself that her son would know nothing of knights, of chivalry, or even that he was a prince.

She and her retinue went off to a small castle in the wilds of Wales, far from the ways of Court and King. Despite her efforts, at age fifteen Percivale spied what he thought were three bright shining angels travelling through the wood – on horseback. He told his mother, she asked him what he saw… and she knew the jig was up.

She told him of his heritage, and that by his birth he was entitled to aspire to knighthood.

She asked him to hold off on following his bliss just until she completed a beautiful tunic for him to wear on his quest. She made the garment, and sent him off on his quest. Shortly thereafter, she died of a broken heart at his leaving.]

That’s the part of the story that gives me my interpretation of the Three of Shields.

Percivale, you see, went on to be one of the greatest champions of Camelot, and one of only three knights holy enough to achieve the Grail.

But because his mother became stuck, and then distraught at the loss of her expected/desired way of being, and the life she wanted Percivale to have, she lost the gift of being around to see him achieve the brave, brilliant, shining, astonishing, world-shaking things he did. NOT NECESSARY! NOT! NOT! NOT! NOT! NOT!

[Do you get the impression I feel a bit strongly about this?]

And another important element in what this card offers is best summarized by the idea, “Look!  Don’t get stuck thinking there’s ONLY ONE WAY the beautiful things you hope for in life can come to you. Step outside the zone of logic and intelligent possibilities and be open to amazing things that can come in their own, possibly absurd ways.”  [I have no idea who that info is for.  But if it’s you, USE IT!]

So, honor what you honor.

Desire what you will, harm to none, with love, for the highest and best of all.

But don’t let the goodness of things past hold you back from the beauty and power and healing of what can come. And know that what CAN come may far surpass your happiest dreams.

Bright blessings and a beautiful, fulfilling future!

Quote for the Day: What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new. Right now. ~ Anon.  [I STILL LOVE it!]

And: I don’t like nostalgia unless it’s mine. ~ Lou Reed

Today’s Weather: A mildly eleemosynary impulse through the morning, with squishy but ponderous interludes of nonduality.  Help! I’ve fallen into a Thesaurus!

On This Date: 1950 – Lhamo Dondrub is officially named the 14th Dalai Lama.

Text From Last Night: …my math prof is telling us what to do in a gun fight   …i dont want to live in oakland anymore.

See ya again Toozeday!

 

Daily Tarot ~ November 16

Eight of Cups

Chapel Perilous

 

Fortune Cookie: Refuse to be confined, repressed, dimmed by anything or anyone – especially yourself!

This card last popped up for the blog in the first week of September.  It’s one that has a lot of helpful direction to it.  It is, however, another one of those cards that sets clients awhimperin’ just from the visuals.  [Except for those who are superGoth.  They still always ask for directions so they can find the place.  And whether there is an app for the thing. And where they can buy ‘shrooms.  And GOOD eyeliner.]

The card, you see, (at least in the deck I use) portrays a wayfaring knight who has ridden into a lonely chapel to protect himself and his steed from a furious storm. He notices that the altar is without any adornment, save for a large, brightly flaming   candle. As he waits, and drips, he sees a giant, clawed, monstrous hand reach in through the window high above the altar and make to extinguish the light.

What a swell and encouraging image.  Yes?

Anyway, 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 that morning].  Others believe this is a card that calls for the querent (questioner) to look for a deeper meaning in life; it betokens a time for soul searching. [Preferably without the distraction of a giant, clawed, monstrous hand, would be my guess.]

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.  I can work with those meanings, and if you feel that applies to your life in any way at the moment, please take the insight to heart.

Of course, I have my own particular take on the card.  When it turns up for a client,  once I have gotten them to calm back down from the impact of the visual, 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. Hastily.

Try something else.

Reach out for other options.

Rework your priorities and take life from there.

SET YOURSELF FREE!!!

So:

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’m sorry, if you were right, I’d agree with you. ~  Robin Williams

Today’s Weather: Snatches of bander, semi-colon, the frumrious sort, period.

On This Date: 1992 – The Hoxne Hoard (the largest hoard of late Roman silver and gold discovered in Britain, and the largest collection of gold and silver coins of the fourth and fifth century found anywhere within the Roman Empire) is discovered by metal detectorist Eric Lawes.

 

Daily Tarot ~ November 15

Seven of CupsThe Questing Beast

Fortune Cookie: Go after the joy. Seek it, quest after it, demand it! And for pity’s sake, at least be sure you can actually define what it is − or what it would be, if you had your druthers − for you.

 

We last saw this card… on New Year’s Eve!

So, now that it’s back, are we ready to pay attention? Huh?  Huh?  Eh?

That’s good, because it’s an important card with a very solid reminder.  A reminder of what? 

A reminder that we [most of us who are over five years old, ennyway] really need to work on joyfulness in our lives. I know.  Sounds counter-intuitive.  Right?  Well, toobadpayattentionI’mtalkin’here.

So.  Joyfulness. My advice would be to stop reading this, have a Guinness or a Mimosa or a tequila sunrise or an Irish coffee or some God Bud pancakes or strawberry cough brownies, or a…

Oh, wait.  The blog police are scanning the office.  Mindsniffing for fumes. [Creeps.] But that doesn’t mean YOU shouldn’t enjoy yourself in any of the ways suggested. 

Or not.

Anyway…

We really need to work on joyfulness in our lives.  Really.

This is another card where my interpretation may diverge a tidly, tadly bit [or a monster bunch] from that of other readers.  And I’m pretty joyful about it.

Some see the Seven of Cups as recommending opening to visions through contemplation.[My astrologer Mary Ellen tells me this is a big year for me in that realm. Guess I better clean out the meditation room.]  [Where is the meditation room?]  [Oyeah. It’s behind that pile of books on Feng Shui and vegan grilling.] 

Mustn’t argue with opening to visions through contemplation, ever, unless you’re ready to have the Storm Troopers of Light come kick yer butt all across the floor, not to mention several dimensions, with at least one of them being Texas.  And gold lamé spacesuits with emerald wings and ruby go-go boots first thing in the morning are more than I can handle. 

Some readers find the card dictates that the querent (questioner) has a choice to make, and must decide upon one of various options. [Like, maybe where to put the old Vox amplifier, kayac, blue aluminum Yuletide tree, statues of Grover Cleveland and pile of books on Feng Shui now that I’m clearing out the meditation room?] [Or whether to continue reading this silly sh… Ummm… Stuff.]

Anna-Marie Ferguson, creator of the Legenddeck, sees this card as betokening – among other things − fantasy, whims or perhaps a bizarre turn of events.  Right up my alley.  [My office cat refers to my desk as Eddie Poe’s Bizar Bazar.]

I, however see the Seven of Cups as the card of utter, total complete joy and joyful abandon.

There may be some need to stay at least a bit grounded, so you DON’T go completely off into the realm of fantasy in a   

“ ҉     ҉     ҉   Wow, look at all the pretty colors!   ҉   ҉    I’ll betcha I can too live on air and rainbows and weird herbal  pancakes    ҉     ҉     ҉ !” kinda scenario.

But [but! but! but! but! but!] this is also the card of

Fairy Favors,

creativity and

clear vision

around attaining true desires.

[Legally, mind.  Mostly.] (And, as I said to a client in a recent reading, it really does imply that you’re going to do some meaningful work on defining and owning what your TRUE desires in this life actually are!)

Right?

Thought so!

And this can be a great, great time to do some wishcraft around becoming reacquainted with the Green Fey Friends down the garden way now that Summer is nigh past, and work to re-earn the Fairy Favors they offer.

So go after the joy. Seek it, quest after it, demand it!  And for pity’s sake, at least be sure you can actually define what it is − or what it would be, if you had your druthers − for you.

Let yourself renew your belief in and commitment to your happiness, and be open to the myriad magical ways the universe may offer to bring it to you.  Let yourself be open to surprises and miracles in that regard.  And open to a little Fairy Magic today!

Joy!  Joy!  Joy!

And JOY!!!

Bright blessings!

And don’t forget joy!

Quote for the Day: We have now left Reason and Sanity Junction. Next stop, Looneyville.~  Jim Butcher

And: As we go from Abraham Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt to Mitt Romney, I now understand why the Republicans don’t believe in evolution. ~ Andy Borowitz

Today’s Weather: Ivy.  House blooming lavender. Transpersonal wee folk litanies. Embrace ’em all!!!  

On This Date: Text From Last Night: 1969 – In Columbus, Ohio, Dave Thomas opens the first Wendy’s restaurant.

Text From Last Night: …’kay. I shall begin… thank you swedish chef // Hurrfy smmurdshy burrfst! //  …that is the exact response I was looking for…

There are 46 days remaining until the end of the year.