Tuesday, November 12, 2013

The Devil and the "Lost" Girl

Two nights ago I was working with my cards when my girls were getting ready for bed, and I had them pick a card for their day ahead.  They were excited about it. I asked them to tell me what they saw in their cards, and then helped them to interpret it, as necessary.  Mostly we focused on what the pictures meant for them, though I also did bring in the traditional meanings for Isa since she’s in middle school and there is a bit more going on in her world.

Deviant Moon Tarot
Patrick Valenza/US Games 2008
Lourdes picked the Devil from the Deviant Moon, and I just had to laugh.  It was clearly *her* grinning impishly, prancing away from a trick she just played on someone. She’s really our little devil, in the most loving way possible.  She even has a little cackle she uses when she’s brewing up some fun trap for her older sister.  In that way she reminds me a lot of myself when I was young – I used to play jokes on my own older sister all the time, some comical, others perhaps a bit less fun (for her, anyway!).  So I loved that she was not at all put off by this potentially scary image – she thought it was hilarious, and very fitting for her.  Yesterday evening I was sitting on the couch and caught a glimpse of her doing the “Devil prance” in the other room.  I think she liked the Devil card a little TOO much, haha…

Isabella picked the 7 of Wands, which features a girl running along a path in a wood at night.  She seems anxious and has her hands up as if in defense.  There’s almost a feeling that she’s lost in a forest, except that she’s moving onward on a clear, bright path that keeps her from truly losing her way.  The traditional meaning relates to having to defend your position, stand firm in your ideas, and know that, even though at times there may be a lot of obstacles in the path ahead, with effort and determination comes success.

Deviant Moon Tarot - 7 of Wands
Patrick Valenza, US Games 2008

So I told Isa that one of her teachers may ask her an unexpected question that would put her on the spot, but that she’d probably find herself able to answer the question when all was said and done.  She said, “Good to know!” and went to bed.

Yesterday afternoon when she got home from school she was so excited to tell me that in science class her instructor had suddenly picked on her randomly to explain the benefits of “green” energy to the rest of the class.  She was nervous and surprised, but gathered her thoughts and gave the best answer she could.  When she finished, her teacher said, “That was a great reply – almost textbook!”  So she was relieved and also very pleased that she was able to perform well under pressure.  Above all, she was excited that her card draw from the evening before had been so relevant to her day.  It made me smile, too ☺

7 comments:

  1. What a lovely way to introduce your daughters to the tarot. My youngest is interested in the cards, my eldest thinks is a nice hobby although she sees the psychological value.

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    1. Yeah, my youngest daughter (she is 6) has already instructed me that when she's older she wants to have a copy of the Halloween Tarot. She is so funny… I let her try looking at the Paulina Tarot the other day but she didn't like all the little details each card is filled with. She said "The Halloween Tarot is a lot easier for me to read!" Haha… it was awesome :)

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    2. I can imagine the Paulina tarot being to overwhelming for a six year old girl

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    3. Yeah, it seems so. I thought she would really like the images which are so ethereal, playful, kind of fairy-like. She did like that part of it, but there are just so many little "bits." Too many, really. Plus, Halloween suits her personality :)

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  2. It's fascinating that you picked up on the teacher asking a question, I might have seen it as having to defend herself from other kids and their ideas. Probably says a lot about how I perceived school ;) I hope one day to introduce the cards to my kids, too...

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    1. Good point! Yeah for some reason it struck me in that moment as her defending her ideas, like you might do if you have to present an essay or thesis (except she is in middle school so there isn't much of that) :) I love sharing this art with the girls, and I can't wait to see what my son does with them when he's older. He's only 2 now, so mostly he just tries to sabotage my readings by throwing the cards around the room (yikes!) :)

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    2. Yeah, that's pretty much where my son is for the moment, too ;) I hope one day he'll see more than somehting to chuck around!

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