An Aries Knows (this site is more fun when people read and comment)
I found this lovely box designed to look like a book. I can’t resist sunflowers.
Here, I shot it with a pencil inside to give you an idea of its dimensions and depth. Tiny!
I have no idea what will end up inside it, though I probably have some cards of one type or another that may find it a nice home.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Here’s another beautiful box that
1. I don’t know where it came from.
2. I don’t remember what’s in it.
So I opened it, and man oh man, I don’t know if that was a piece of soap in it or part of a candle, but it had melted and resolidified and it smelled SO GOOD.
On the inside of the lid, were these instructions:
Think of only today
Light a cone of sandalwood incense
Center yourself with deep breathing
Surround yourself with white light
Take any heart and apply it to today’s situation
Trust yourself
I pulled a random heart for you.
It says, “Balance brings healing.”
I have a few wooden boxes I’ve collected over the years. Some of them I remember where and when I got them, or from whom. Others, I can’t remember the source. The box above belonged to Tom’s late paternal grandfather, and Tom’s parents gave it to him.
Another thing I’ll forget over the years is what may be inside the box. Let’s take a look.
On the left, a 100 percent cotton handmade Guatemalan bag. On the right, scented soap.
I’m not sure how long it’s been in there, but it still smells nice.
And what’s in the bag?
I’m not sure which of the visits I’ve made to Yellow Springs, OH is the one when I got these. Sadly, the wonderful little La Llama Place shop is now closed. I really love Yellow Springs.
Here are the six dolls from the bag. Maybe I should be using these to treat my current flare-up of insomnia. Not sure six dolls are enough!
Looking forward to sharing next week’s surprise. =)
Lynne, her sister Liz, and I were avid Yahtzee players. Sometimes we could draw others into this dark art, but even if it were only the three of us, competition was intense.
In later years, this became the go-to game when Debby and her friends Dottie and Connie visited. Once again, competition was fierce.
Along with many other sayings and habits that came to accompany the game was one we called “Assume the Position.” This was derived from what I thought was a Yahtzee box photo of a family watching with excitement as a player was rolling the third time for YAHTZEE (which if you don’t play, means all five dice come up with the same number, so five threes, five sixes, etc.).
So while opposing players might have been thinking, Don’t you dare roll a Yahtzee, you jerk, we would get delighted looks on our faces and hold our hands up with faux excitement.
My current Yahtzee game does not have this picture on it, so I went looking for photos of older versions online.
This is not it. Clearly what’s happening here is a family who’s pretending all is well while coping with explaining the game for the umpteenth time to Grandma. Grandma is probably thinking, I could wipe the floor with your asses at Mah Jongg.
I can barely even see these kids, but I don’t think they have quite the enthusiasm required. Clearly, they’re being forced to play inside on a rainy day instead of getting up to whatever nefarious things they usually do in the wild.
This group comes closest, although I never had this box or played this version of the game, so I’m not sure I ever saw it. Hell, maybe the family I’m remembering was on a Parcheesi box. A group of us used to play that game like it was a death match.
My NON-writing project for the rest of the year is undertaking this behemoth. That box o’ elephants has a few years worth of mementos that need to go in my scrap books. (My scrap books used to be photo albums/scrap books, but I stopped getting printed photos, and boy, a flood and three computer losses later, that was a bad choice.)
Most of the stuff on the desk goes into Moleskines/journals.
There will be purging, organizing, and completing these piles before the end of the year. I enjoy organizing and having the time to do it.
But writing comes first, so back to it. Current national events have frozen me for days. I’m disconnecting for a while to get a character out of limbo.