Tag: boxes

Button Sunday

In a conversation with a longtime friend who hasn’t worked with tarot cards in many years, she wondered if I was doing so on the regular as my blog seemed to indicate. Not at all. I’d gone years without doing readings for anyone, even longer since I did them for myself.

I think one reason I recently pulled out any decks at all is because in my next saga (if this one ever comes to a close and right now its title seems to be 1974 Lasted a Century), there’s a character who has always intrigued me because she’s a young woman of contradictions. I’d been thinking of her (the second series is connected to this first one) and trying to recall things about her. And I remembered that she’s artistic and had once created her own tarot deck and there was a little story activity around that.

Then: I’ve occasionally featured some of my boxes on here, and that’s where most of the decks live, in wooden boxes. Then in September, I did the Idol Challenge with Dennis Wilson as my subject, and a couple of times I’ve shown the Dennis box I made, and it holds tarot cards.

Then: For fun, I did readings for a fictional character or two (not the one I’m speaking of above) and realized random cards could actually offer fiction writing prompts for my characters if I feel stuck.

Then: I had some writing challenges last year, so since I’ve been looking at the decks, I decided to see if pulling a few cards would help me better organize my thoughts on writing and not let other people make me doubt myself.

Then: I am always thinking about muses and I love the corvids, so the Muse and Crow decks jumped out at me. I always figure there’s a reason (beyond just, I AM IN A DAMN PANDEMIC AND ISOLATING AT HOME I MISS MY FRIENDS LET ME SPEND A LITTLE MONEY ON MORE STUFF SO I CAN DIVERT MYSELF–apparently my inner voice is an uppercase one, maybe even cursive, who knows) so I go with it, figuring it’ll be clear at a later point.

In other words, several things converged, and when Mark asked me how many decks I have, I figured why not do a regular Thursday post with tarot cards as the subject, because they both start with “T,” and though this blog has many random subjects, which is how I like it, that randomness may be a foolish idea because without focusing on anything, I’m not reaching a readership that wants that one thing, whatever that one thing is. Then again, you know what else I’m not reaching? Trolls who wander through people’s social media accounts to say hateful things to them or their readers/commenters. So…all good.

The blog’s just a gander at whatever pings my brain at any given time, and designating certain days (Button Sundays, Mood Mondays, Tiny Tuesdays, Tarot Thursdays, Photo Fridays) keeps me from having to think too hard of a subject. That was most helpful when I was employed and working 16-hour days, and now it’s helpful when I try to manage my creative time better. Fiction writing comes first, and by imposing a little structure on my blog, I don’t have to use a lot of energy trying to figure out what to post about and can spend my blog time actually writing text and finding photos.

If that all makes sense.

If there’s anything at all that I ponder or reflect on or wonder about, especially whether my muse or my higher self or my subconscious is trying to get through to me, it’s the random music–from a vast repertoire of music I own or remember or love or connect to people, places, and times of my life–that pops into my head.

But I have to confess, I have NO DAMN IDEA why “My Wild Love” is in my brain right now. I haven’t been listening to The Doors or thinking of The Doors or thinking of Jim Morrison. It’s my ear worm for no apparent reason. Which is how I came to choose today’s buttons from my own personal collection, and I may or may not have used them here before.

So yeah, sure, hi Jim Morrison, hi Doors, hi the friend who’s part of my personal zeitgeist that includes The Doors. Happy to have you visit my brain.

Tarot Etc. Thursday No. 5


This beautiful new box I picked up sometime after Christmas at a Tuesday Morning store now holds five different decks. The deck I’m choosing to feature today is The Akashic Tarot, a 2017 set created by Sharon Anne Klingler and Sandra Anne Taylor.


The box it came in reads: The Akashic Tarot is an astoundingly accurate tool for predicting the future, unveiling hidden insights, and unleashing new powers. That description would likely not have made me buy this deck last year, because the only part that grabs me is the “hidden insights.” Your mileage may vary if you work with Tarot cards in a different way from me.

Many, many years ago I had a fascinating dream which I won’t share because it involves someone I knew personally and loved (still love) very much. She died in 1978, and I had this dream in the 1990s, and in the dream, I said to myself, “I’m in the Hall of Akashic Records, and it is nothing like I was led to believe.” Had I heard the term before? Possibly from Princess Patti. But my mind on the subject was a blank slate, and the sentence was so sure and so specific that I never forgot it. From that day, I’ve questioned people who have a lot of experience with and interest in metaphysics about the concept.

As simply as I can state it, theory has it that the Hall of Records is actually three physical places located on the planet where stored records explain the history of the origin of humans and how we arrived on Earth. Accessing the contents of these records helps predict where humans are going.

The Hall of Akashic Records, on the other hand, is an ever-changing and shifting energy dimension that contains all the experiences of every living being across time and throughout the Universe. Someone who accesses these records can see the past, present, and future, and every individual can see her/his own records for past, present, and future if s/he accesses the subconscious.

Do I believe all that? As with all things, I have a healthy sense of skepticism. The way my mind works, there is no way to know, and no one way of thinking disproves or proves another. There are people who do believe in one or both concepts, or who hold entirely different spiritual beliefs, and in that regard, all I’d say about any individual’s or group’s actions is that they are best done with the highest intentions for the good of all concerned, without will to manipulate an outcome or another human, and with a commitment to do no harm. The things I value most highly are compassion, honesty, freedom, justice, and loyalty. What runs afoul of those, I want no part of.

The dream that remains with me is why I bought the deck, and it’s quite beautiful. I shared the “Destiny” card on here back in October because it made me think of past lives, and that had come up in the novel(s) I’m working on. The deck has differences from other Tarot decks in not only the Major Arcana, but in the numbered cards and the people. The authors say their choices are rooted in “Numerology, theories of karma, the Druidic mysteries, Quantum Physics, Natural Law, religious symbolism, Buddhist traditions, and mythologies and beliefs from around the world.” That’s a lot!

The deck’s creators also provide different spreads for how to lay out and read the cards. I haven’t ever done a reading with this deck for myself, another person, or characters. If the time becomes right, I know I will. However, I was very intrigued to find that this is yet another deck with a Muse card. Since the deck’s creators suggest that a reader allow each card to create a mental movie, I offer the Muse if you’d like to see what movie you visualize. (It’s not necessary to share your movie in the comments unless you’d like to.)


Right now, I have a strong desire to pop some corn and watch this movie. I’m almost positive characters will be involved.

Tarot Etc. Thursday No. 4

Today I decided to mix it up a little. I’d chosen what cards to put in the sunflower box I showed on here recently, but it’s not a Tarot deck. It’s a deck called Karma Cards and it was created by Monte Farber, who was part of the husband-and-wife team of the Enchanted Tarot that I featured in an earlier post (that deck has since been moved to a different box, by the way, and I put the Muse Tarot in the “Dennis” box =), which seemed appropriate). This edition of Karma Cards was published in 1991, but it was first published in 1988.

The system used in this deck is a little too complicated to explain in full, but the form of the questions to ask, as suggested by the author, are: “What will be the outcome (of any situation)…” “What should I do (about, because of, with, to) (any situation)…” or “What should I keep in mind when I…” and “What kind of situation/mood/atmosphere can I expect to encounter or prepare for…?”

The answers come by drawing one each from three shuffled piles of cards labeled Planets, Signs, and Houses. As the front cover says, this is a deck that uses astrology as a guide. The concepts of both astrology and karma are always intriguing to me, so I can see why I wanted this deck. I’d have guessed I bought the deck sometime in the late 1990s, but there’s a sheet of paper in the book that has several questions I asked that could only have been in 1994.

To know the outcome of a question, you read the words in a line from card to card in the blue panels. To know what action you should take, you read the words in a line from card to card in the red panels. The top row of either reading is your spiritual guidance; the middle row is your mental guidance; and the bottom row is your physical guidance.

Confused? Here’s my example taken from that sheet of paper of one of the questions I asked among many related to a certain situation.

“What does [name of a specific friend] need from me?”
I turned up Mercury in Sagittarius in the 2nd House. I was looking for guidance on what action I should take, so I read the red panels.

My spiritual answer was “Communicate your highest ideals patiently.”
My mental answer was “Analyze the rules of what you want.”
My physical answer was, “Let your mind tell you how to get it out into the world and get what you need.”

Looking at this NOW, the most important message comes from the first two answers. This was not about what I wanted or about my will to take action. This was about what this person needed from me. But at that time… I was so desperate to do what *I* thought was best for this person that I depended on the advice and actions of two well-meaning friends to help me get the outcome I needed (the third message). It worked, in the short term. In the long term, I’d have been better off also heeding the wisdom of those first two answers.

I think this is a good (if painful) example of letting one’s will/ego/desire make a person see the answer she wants to see, as I warned about in a different post. Though one positive outcome of what turned out to be an emotionally harrowing experience is that when faced with a similar choice in any number of situations like this one or even unlike it since then, I tend to consider all THREE answers in a healthier way. So while I didn’t remember this reading at all and was surprised to find the piece of paper in the book, I internalized some good lessons from both the reading and my subsequent actions:

  • Don’t pay attention only to the parts that say what you’d hoped to hear.
  • What was best for the person and what was best for me turned out to be the same thing: Leave it alone. Be patient.
  • Figure out what the “rules” are and don’t automatically resist them. How does their wisdom best protect the highest good of all concerned?

Tarot Etc. Thursday No. 3

I’ve acquired a few new boxes and have been shifting cards around between them all. This is another box designed as a book.


I liked it because it looks like a painting, and the kind of painting I’m drawn to.

It’s now the home of what must be one of my earliest decks, if not the first one I bought. At that time, my friend Princess Patti introduced me to Tarot cards when she did a few readings for me. I liked the way the readings made me think about things, and still see Tarot more as a means for discerning what we want and need, where we are and where we want to be, and how past events have shaped us, much more than as a tool for predicting the future or delving into the intentions of other people, which is how some people use it.

Because of Patti, I also learned that a good card reader helps you avoid the trap of seeing only what you want to see in a reading. Sometimes the hardest cards are the best ones. I’m also a believer that when you want an answer to be YES, but you get a NO, and you immediately reject it, that’s another kind of answer. You intend to do what you want to do, and only time will tell if your instinct served you well.

Ego, will, and desire are strong adversaries to the advice we get from people. Why would advice from cards be any different?


I can’t be sure, but I think the deck Patti used was the Rider Waite Tarot. It’s been around since the early 1900s and is one of the most popular. It is very likely why I bought this one. It’s a reliable deck and one I still enjoy using. It was also the deck used in the book shown below, which helped me learn a lot more about doing readings.

Since I wouldn’t share readings I do for myself, I thought it would be interesting to do one for a character. She’s at a pivotal point in her life in which she is resistant to new relationships. There are three men who might like to change her mind: her estranged husband, a potential creative partner, and a new friend.

I decided to pull three cards, and let each card represent one of the men in the order above. I’ll put more behind the cut, if you’re interested. I’m relying heavily on the little book that came with the cards for descriptions of the cards themselves.

Continue reading “Tarot Etc. Thursday No. 3”

Tarot Etc. Thursday No. 1

I’ve been feeling a little “off” this week: tired, mild recurring sinus headaches, aching gums. I think this is due to seasonal allergies and weather shifts. No big deal. It isn’t great for writing, but my mind is TEEMING with ideas that I will write. It’s messed with my sleep a little and consequently led to a few strange and disturbing dreams, but also, I’ve dreamed this week about John Hamm, and he was really nice to me. I’ll never disregard a handsome man who’s courteous; he likely represents a minor fictional character who has me preoccupied even if I’m not writing him at this time.

After my recent posts on the Enchanted Tarot and the Crow Tarot, Mark asked if I have many decks. I thought it would be fun to feature one occasionally until I’ve run through them so I’ll have an accurate count.

This week, I chose the Egipcios Kier deck, or the Egyptian Tarot. This deck was published in 1984, and I think I bought mine in 1992. I may have used it a few times to do readings for myself, so I could get comfortable with the cards, but I remember almost nothing about the deck.

It’s currently in this wooden box which I painted not long after we moved to The Compound in 1995. After I painted the box, I used a stamp to put the sunflower on it, and then I painted the sunflower. It has all faded quite a bit over time.

I bought the deck because a friend, Geof, felt a deep connection to ancient Egypt and, as an artist, was no doubt influenced by Egyptian history and art. I used the deck to do readings for him, including one a few hours after our friend Steve R died. That was a long time ago, and regardless, when I did readings for people, I urged them to write things down because I clear my mind afterward of the reading and whatever discussion we had.


This is the title card and a love song that were included with the deck.

Because this isn’t a deck that resonates with me, I shuffled the cards and pulled three at random without asking any kind of question or thinking of anyone at all (including myself). They were just pulled to give examples of card appearance.

The book was not with the deck, so I thought I’d be hopeless to say any more, but then I found that book and several others in a different box. Who knows what organizational whim prompted that. In this deck, there are 22 Major Arcana cards, and 56 Minor Arcana cards, but those are not divided into the standard suits [swords, cups, wands, and coins (or pentacles)], nor are they divided into court and pip cards. Each Minor Arcana card has its own meaning and symbols, similar to the Major Arcana cards.

Above, the images and symbols of the 36 Initiation card of the Minor Arcana are related to childbirth and the power, empowerment, or protection of women, as well as inspiration (the birth of a new idea), pain that leads to growth, or a nest egg yielding interest.

The divinatory meanings of the images and symbols of the 59 Revelation card of the Minor Arcana include the unexpected help of a woman in a difficult situation, medical discovery, and childhood illness that passes safely.

The 13 Immortality card of the Major Arcana uses images related to Osiris, the Egyptian god of grain. Divinatory meanings of the images and symbols include transformation, the old giving way to the new, unexpected change, loss, failure, alteration. It can mean an abrupt change of the old self, financial loss, or illness.

Thinking

Monday I did a reading for myself from a beautiful new deck, the Crow Tarot, mostly to acquaint myself with the deck.


I asked for insight on a past/present/future question and drew the 10 of Wands (past), the Wheel of Fortune (present), and the Hermit (future).

I got this deck to go along with a Christmas gift, the Urban Crow Oracle cards. Since I wanted more clarification on the subtleties of the present and future as they related to my question, I drew an Oracle card at random and got… Insight.

It all gave me a lot to think about, and though I can’t really share that, I did at least want to show some of these beautiful cards. I have such a fascination with corvids, especially crows, ravens, and magpies, to the point that they’re finding their way into what I write.

I did write for several hours yesterday (Wednesday), but not what I intended to. Possibly due to a crow.

If you want me to summarize what the accompanying guides for these decks say about any of these four cards, please ask.

Wednesday Wisdom

A few days back, when I went to get my book on dreams for Photo Friday, I realized how disorganized that bookcase was. The books range from philosophy to religion, anatomy, various body and energy work modalities, aromatherapy, feng shui and space clearing, animal totems and guides, crystals and stones, astrology, and several Tarot decks and books, as well as other decks like oracle and relaxation cards, and a set of rune stones with their book. It’s eclectic and reflects many of my interests and activities through the decades.

I took some time to put everything in better order and to shift some of the Tarot decks between the boxes where they’re stored. I decided to take this lovely deck that I’ve had since 1990, The Enchanted Tarot, and put it in my Dennis Box, wrapped in a different fabric.

The Dennis Box is one I painted around 1990, the same year I got the deck. This is why it has that name: the inside of the top of the box. It offers a bit of Muse magic.

Here’s the inside of the box, and the back of the cards, though they are kept wrapped in a piece of black silk, the edges hemmed with gold thread, that was donated to me by Lynne in the early ’90s from a favorite old shirt of hers.

Here’s a partial look at the top of the box with a card I pulled this evening in a one-card reading looking for specific guidance on a specific question I was thinking about.

This was an extremely helpful card for this reading, a major arcana card chosen at random from a full, face-down deck after I shuffled it.

The Enchanted Tarot is described by its creators as a story of hope and faith born of the truth of the human spirit eternally seeking to know itself and its power. It’s meant to help the reader or questioner gain insight into the workings of the world and how to best harmonize with it [one’s] activities of both a spiritual and physical kind.

Each card in the deck has a description in the book broken into The Dream, The Awakening, and The Enchantment. For The Enchantment, I followed very specific instructions at the end of the reading using the following items:

The card, with items representing the four elements: a white candle, a cup of water, a crystal (I chose amethyst), and a knife (a beautiful old knife that belonged to my father) were placed on a red cloth, and I used a stick of incense to complete the enchantment. This has nothing to do with trying to control the future (it is not spell-casting, for example, which I have never done and will never do) or even to predict the future. It’s a means to feel confident in the card’s description and the path forward I want to set.

As a creative person putting a lot of energy into what I’m working on, I can always use more confidence. This was a quiet, reflective time well spent.

Fortunes

It’s funny, but putting this post together led me to check when the Cochrane Lambert novel Three Fortunes in One Cookie was published (is it bad I couldn’t remember?). I stuck the title in Google and it took me first to the Amazon page. I don’t think I ever read but maybe a couple of the reviews, and it was heartening that the ones there are positive.

Timothy and I did the research in Mississippi in 2004, the book came out on September 1, 2005, just after Hurricane Katrina wiped out the coastal towns, homes, and businesses we used in the novel. I always felt like we captured a place that vanished and wish the novel had been marketed better because of the time of its release.

All that aside, I’ve posted this box before.

It’s overflowing with fortunes.

Always happy to pull one for any of you and share the front and back.

I got another Piccadilly book.

It had this task in it: Go to various Chinese restaurants and ask for fortune cookies. Then tape all the fortunes you collect to these pages.

We rarely went to Chinese restaurants even before the pandemic because we love Chinese takeout. I found a few fortunes from past meals that were dropped in a basket in the kitchen. So I used them to begin this task. Let me know in comments if you can’t read any of the fortunes or the numbers–and want the numbers to play the lottery.

That last one says, “You will be spending some time on the water soon.” No, thanks, really. During hurricane season, that doesn’t sound at all appealing.

ETA: Added to my Numbers Photo Series as No. 9.

Magical Faces


I probably painted this box sometime between 25 and 30 years ago. It’s one of several boxes that contain Tarot cards. I’m never positive which deck is in which box, so it’s always fun to randomly pull a box from the shelf and open it.

This one holds Matt Myers’s Art Nouveau Tarot, which I likely have had longer than the box. My box says it was copyrighted in 1989, though I found an online publication date of 1987, so maybe it’s been around that long.

I always thought the human faces on it looked like music video stars of the 1980s. I haven’t done a reading for myself in a while, so maybe when I take a writing break today, I’ll ask the deck something about my work in progress.

The books I’m writing now involve one set of characters. In future books, the next set of characters are different but somewhat connected to that first set. In the second group, one of my characters who has many talents illustrates her own Tarot deck. The deck contains a romantic mystery that even she doesn’t understand.