The Beauty of the Spread

Twice in the last week I’ve laid out cards for a reading and just sat there marveling at the beauty before me. Not just the meanings, or the flow of energy, but the images themselves, how they relate to each other, the story I see in how they connect, in their positions. Last night was one of these moments. I was doing a reading for a friend (who gave permission for me to blog about it) because he recently found that the trip he’d wanted to take to visit his mother next month might not work out due to some sudden financial obstacles. He was really counting on this trip, and wanted to know if it would be possible to make it work after all.  I drew three cards and also considered the card at the bottom of the deck for additional influences. I inquired about the energies surrounding the possibility of the trip happening and pulled:

5 Pentacles – 8 Pentacles – Sun reversed (Moon was the bottom card)

I used my new/old Mythic Tarot (Juliet Sharman-Burke, Tricia Newell, Liz Greene) which was a huge pleasure for me!

Mythic Tarot
Juliet Sharman-Burke, Tricia Newell, Liz Greene

When I lay out three cards without positions, the center card is always the “theme” for me, and the flanking cards give me extra information about the surrounding issues.  So looking at this spread I noticed that while my friend is feeling the pain of these new problematic developments, there is a chance that he’ll be able to work something out in the end.

The 5 of Pentacles speaks of feeling isolated, or closed-off. In this case it held double meaning as my friend was very keenly experiencing the separation from his mother (who lives in a different country), coupled with the deep sense of responsibility to visit her and help provide support for her. At the same time it represents the financial obstacles that were getting in the way of his plans. Suddenly he felt the wealth being stripped from him and held at a distance.

The Sun reversed felt like muted hope – things were suddenly muddled and unclear, the joy at the potential trip sort of started to flicker like a flame in the wind. I sensed a deep dampening of his spirit due to this new obstacle- not simply a momentary annoyance, but something deeper; a longer-term frustration at not being able to fully find joy in a new country without his mother, but also being unable to provide the kind of support for her that he has so often desired.  So the 5 of Pentacles really connected to the Sun reversed, the lack of resources and isolation mirroring the lack of joy bordering on mild depression.

Meanwhile the Moon shone above, lighting the rest of the cards with uncertainty and confusion…. All except for the 8 of Pentacles in the middle.

I love how the 8 of Pentacles forms the heart of the spread. It says to me that my friend can make his desire come true through hard work, perhaps some small sacrifices, a lot of dedication, and long-term vision. The man in this card is entirely concentrated on the task before him – he is disregarding the confusion, uncertainty, fears, and material lack. He knows that he can manifest his own wealth through focus, patience, and foresight. In fact the very same man wandering through the night in tattered robes in the 5 of Pentacles is featured on the 8 of Pentacles, creating his own way ahead.

Visually I love how the center card, the 8 of Pentacles, shines out from within the triangle of tribulations: the Moon sits above, the Sun to the right, turned on its head, the 5 of Pentacles sits to the left. The Moon card is reflected in the sky in the 5 of Pentacles – the moon shines down its illusion upon the poor wandering fellow.  The Sun and Moon are two celestial cards, and the Moon also reflects the light of the Sun. So I see a lot of mirroring going on here, where the lack of resources influences the sense of let-down and depression, which reflects back upon itself in the Moon, enhancing and perpetuating the difficult cycle.

And yet, back to the center card, the sky is bright, the man appears entirely unbothered by worries –  perhaps inside he carries a sense of anxiety, but he knows that only through perseverance and hard work will he reach his goal, and he won’t be deterred from the work at hand.  I love that focused, earthy core.

To me this is part of the absolute beauty of Tarot.  The cards carry meaning, but the images and positions provide so many layers to the story, that can be woven together, intersected and overlapped to create an almost painfully lovely response to the seeker’s question.

(Update: it was difficult, it required a lot of attention and creativity, but he was in the end able to visit his mother in March 2014)

The Tarot Told Me So

I do casual readings often, for myself or for my loved ones, on many evenings during my "down time." The other night I decided to do a short reading on whether or not I could look forward to a promotion in my "day job" any time soon.  To give some back story, I have a great teaching position, the work is interesting, I enjoy helping my students improve their language proficiency, and I enjoy being involved in the wider campus community working on events or collaborating with other departments.  My department manager has given me great reviews, and has told me that she'd love to be able to give me a more senior position at some point... the thing is, "some point" is pretty vague.  I know that the economy isn't great, and last year the school placed a temporary hold on new hires for that reason. In addition, the recent government shut-down meant that a lot of students didn't have access to their financial aid, and the number of newly enrolled students for last semester decreased dramatically.  So I haven't been overly optimistic about the possibility of "movin' on up," despite the energy I'm investing, and the projects I'm involved with.  Nevertheless...why not take a look and see what the cards have to say?

I used my Halloween deck (Karin Lee, Kipling West; U.S. Games), and this is what I received:

The summary of the message: "Yeahhhhhhhhhh.....no.  Ain't gonna happen, sorry!"

The 7 of Imps acknowledges that I've been putting in a lot of effort to improve my department, expand and develop projects, get involved cross-departmentally, etc.  I also get the sense from this card of my colleagues all standing in a line, trudging along.  I'm going with them, fumbling our way towards some imprecise goal (the house in the distance).  But I'm trying to go beyond that, to see the big vision for what we're trying to do, and sometimes I kind of feel like I don't "fit in" in various ways. Also, intra-departmental communication has been a challenge over the past year, and I often feel that I'm swimming against the current.

The 8 of Pumpkins reversed.....yeah, so basically I'm putting a lot of dedication and time into something that may not provide the ultimate rewards and benefits that I hope to see.  I do enjoy the work I'm doing, but there may not be the ability for forward movement in the near future.  I've spent a lot of energy creating new levels of our tiered program, developing new courses, improving my own understanding of my field along the way...and all of that is good, but it may not imply that all of that will bear the fruit I'd like to see.  One example is that a colleague and I were accepted to present at an international conference, very high-profile in our field.  It would be a wonderful way to show others what we're doing, and to get some attention for our department's projects, but our school doesn't support its faculty in attending and presenting at any conferences...which does seem counterproductive...and yet there's nothing that I can really do to change that, as it's very institutionalized.

The 6 of Imps reversed is the anti-money card.  In its upright position this is often the "You will get a promotion or raise" card.  So it's extremely fitting that I should see it in this spread, and receive the news that it's not likely to occur any time soon! :)

So it's nice to have the confirmation that what I've felt to be the likely path of things is probably going to indeed head in that direction.  The benefit is that it encourages me to consider my current position, and what my future goals are.  Where do I want to be in a few years' time?  Will this particular job continue to fulfill me over the long-term?  Will the lack of upward movement end up being a detriment, or will I be able to work with it?  All good food for thought :)

8 Pentacles: Improving Your Craft

When I first started down the Tarot path I did a 3-card reading for myself regarding the potential to turn my craft into a career some day.  I pulled: The Queen of Pentacles, the Princess of Pentacles, and the 8 of Pentacles.  I found it a beautiful and very encouraging sign that I was walking down the right path - it was a lovely confirmation from the universe.

The 8 of Pentacles is about taking your talent or passion and working hard to turn it into your life.  It's about understanding that success isn't immediate, and you have to dedicate yourself to your task and to your craft in order to improve it.  Taking a class, reading books, practicing, networking, studying, the list goes on.  And if you truly understand what learning is all about, you realize that you never "know it all" - there are always more layers to unfold, and ways to go deeper.

So I decided to sign up for a course (as mentioned in yesterday's post) on "intuitive" Tarot. The title of the course was funny to me, since all Tarot is intuitive (though I suppose there are "cold readers" who may not engage their intuition as much, but I digress).  But I'd been curious about the instructor, a local psychic-medium who seemed very down-to-earth and wise.  I thought she'd be a wonderful person to work with and learn from.  Well, my other 3-card reading (about whether I should take the course - I got Hanged Man, Queen of Cups, 6 Wands) told me to go for it, and I went for it, and after my first evening I was not disappointed.  The instructor is the very embodiment of the Queen of Cups, and the focus is on really going into the cards - not the traditional meanings we all know and understand, but what each card "says" to you, even if that may stray from more intellectual understandings.  That is precisely what I was hoping for.

Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot
(US Games)

Cards speak deeply and loudly, most especially if the deck you're working with is the right fit for you.  If the images mesh with your soul, you get a lot more out of readings.  My most intuitive, in-depth readings have been with the DruidCraft and Wildwood Tarot, whose themes and artwork resonate with me at a fundamental level.  Don't get me wrong - I love my other decks, and enjoy reading with them.  The Rider Waite and Morgan Greer are great working decks, and have a special place in my heart.  But for those moments that leave the ordinary and venture into psychic-land, I find the tool that helps bring me there are those two aforementioned decks.

So last night, after spending quite a while "going into the cards" we did short readings for each other.  The woman who read for me was great.  She is just beginning her journey, and has not formulated strong associations with any of the cards yet.  I chose three cards and when she turned them over they were: 5 Pentacles, 10 Pentacles, 8 Pentacles.  Ah, the lovely 8 Pentacles makes an appearance again, at the precise setting that the original 8 of Pentacles had pushed me toward!  What I loved most was her interpretation of 5 Pentacles.  This can often be kind of a downer card - yes, there is light coming through the window, and the understanding that all things are temporary, etc.  But the main focus is on being shut out, not having enough (attention or money), struggling to make ends meet, etc.  Not having these associations, her interpretation was based solely on the images on her fairy-themed deck.  She said "I think this card is saying that in the past you had a lot of resources around you, but you didn't see them or recognize that they were there for you."  Brilliant.  The materials were always there, you just didn't see them, or know how to tap into them.  It was a beautiful take on a challenging card.

So 8 Pentacles.  The journey never stops.  All of us are eternal students, and taking advantage of opportunities to deepen and expand our craft is not only good practice professionally, but makes our experience richer and more profound and rewarding as well.