Tag: metaphysical-tarot

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. 2

The Muse Tarot, published in 2020, is a new-to-me deck. If you read here, you know the concepts of the Muse, and muses, are important to me as a writer and a creative person in general. I won’t belabor this; it’s my own system that works for me around inspiration, imagination, and action. It might have nothing to do with traditional stories of muses or anyone else’s perception of what a Muse or muses are.

Some of the struggles I experienced with writing in 2021 were on my mind when I left the Hall to pick up a box of nag champa incense to replenish my supply. And I knew, I just knew, I needed to go to Body Mind and Soul to do it. When I went inside, my first goal had me picking up their lone box of my brand of incense, which felt fortuitous.

As I walked toward the cash wrap, I spotted a display of kyanite, a favorite stone, and among many, I picked up the one pictured under my incense holder/burner in the photo. I knew it was supposed to come home with me. Kyanite has a high vibration, making it an amplifier of only the positive, and it corresponds to the throat chakra, which has to do with communication and using one’s voice. Writing is my voice, so kyanite is a good helper. Kyanite also helps with sleep and dreams, so at night, it now rests with several other stones on the table next to the bed.

Then I glanced toward the shelves with all the various decks of cards, including their tarot decks, and there it sat: The Muse Tarot. There may have been two there, I don’t remember, but all I had to see was “Muse” to know I was getting the deck. Thank you, Christmas cash and gift card givers. =) Also, the staffer who checked me out was a highpoint of the visit; when he struck the three-toned chime as part of the ritual of clearing the shopping bag with my purchases before handing it to me, his eyes and mine widened with surprised delight at the tones we heard.

The Muse deck is a little different from more standard decks. For one thing, in the suits, there are no Kings. Those have been replaced by Muse cards as the highest card of the suit. Also, in place of Pentacles are Materials, and in the other suits, Wands have become Inspiration, Cups have become Emotions, and Swords are Voices.

The author/artist does not provide the traditional Tarot spreads in the guide, assuming a user will know those or can easily find them. I rarely lay out any of the more detailed spreads; again, I use a system that seems better suited for what I want to contemplate with the cards’ help. I shuffled the deck and pulled three cards face down. Before seeing them, I had a specific question for each card (no need to blare my questions to the Internet).


The Major Arcana card the Magician was there for my first question. Briefly: She’s a reminder to bring one’s desires into form, in a way that creates something healing for others and is rooted in love. The guide also explains some of the other symbolic significance of the art on the card.

For my second question, I pulled the Knight of Materials. The Knight is the third highest in the suite, indicating I may be far along on this particular question. The keywords attributed to the card include productivity and diligence paying off, determination, and planting and tending seeds for the future.

Even without reading about the card, pulling the Muse of Materials for my last question was visually a resounding answer to the either/or question I asked. The Muse sends a message about manifesting and abundance. Please note that for both of these cards for which I drew Materials, I wasn’t asking questions about money or worldly success but about something more intangible. So while keywords include prosperity and wealth, more relevant to my question are the keywords gratitude, health, comfort, and happiness.

I see the Muse Tarot as being a great deck for creative people or for anyone needing guidance about any journey or choice, really, whether related to vocation, spirituality, or relationships.

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.

Destiny

Do you believe that people can be destined to meet or come into one another’s lives? Not only lovers, but others?

Fate? Kismet? Karma? Past lives? Soul mates? How do you think of such meetings? Can there be multiple people in one’s life who are meant to be?

Are they always good for us? Are they meant to teach us lessons? To heal us? To right a past wrong or fulfill a promise? Or are we meant to do those things for them?

Do we sometimes have them only for a time and then let them go? Does not letting them go (whether physically or emotionally) cause more suffering than their absence would bring us?

These questions have always intrigued me.

Tiny Tuesday!


A strange path led me to adopt/rehome a High School Musical “Troy” doll. Most Ken fashion dolls are 12 inches tall (in human terms, six feet, as they’re 1:6 scale). The HSM dolls are 10.5 inches (a human five feet, three inches tall). I am enchanted by the smallness and have him representing a character in the Neverending Saga (the second set of characters–in fact, he’s the twin brother of the character who creates her own Tarot cards, as mentioned in a previous post).

I had some smaller male doll clothes I could dress him in, and the original Ken dolls’ shoes will fit him okay (new Ken shoes are HUGE on him). I got him dressed and photographed for Instagram.

As a personal aside… In 2008, when we had my mother’s memorial service in Alabama, all of her grandchildren and all but one of her great-grandchildren were there. At that time, three of the “greats” were in the six- to seven-year-old range. They absolutely lit up my life with their energy and fun. They’d brought High School Musical DVDs with them, and danced and sang together while they watched them. It’s a great memory to have, so it tickled me to get the HSM “Troy” doll.


Little did I know that a second High School Musical “Troy” doll (different facial features and hair from the first one) would be joining us. There were no Ken clothes that seemed right for him, so I began looking at some of the designs I sewed for Runway Monday challenges (thinking the female dolls I used as models might have better-sized clothes for him). What he’s wearing is Dupioni silk fabric that I hand-painted. I then wrote the first lines of my work in progress on the fabric before I cut it. This was in 2012, and I STILL have not written that novel.


The uncut fabric after I painted and wrote on it. You can see the entire post here should you wish to go down memory lane.

When I put the outfit on the doll to see if it would work, I thought instantly of Eddie Van Halen’s many colorful concert outfits and that amazing smile of his that never quit. That’s how this doll ended up with EVH’s Frankenstein guitar.


Eddie, Ed, Edward, and my preferred, EVH


He’s a little bit country. He’s a little bit rock and roll.

Button Sunday

Yesterday, I mentioned that since I had a deck of Tarot cards out, I might do a reading related to the novels I’m working on. I followed through on that. It may be one of the most informative and accurate readings I’ve ever done on my own behalf.

Some of the negative influences on my writing showed up strong. But equally strong were the people who support and influence me. My instincts in 2021 have led me in the right direction.

I used to do readings for other people without charge. I no longer do. If it helps to understand why, some of my readings took up to three hours. That’s too long, and I know people wouldn’t ask for that kind of time if they were paying for it. But I don’t have the expertise and card knowledge to charge for readings. There are excellent card readers available in the world, and I deeply appreciate Princess Patti (ETA: who also no longer reads cards, I recently learned) for sparking my interest in Tarot.

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.

Happy Independence Day!

The Renaissance-inspired Medieval Scapini Tarot by Luigi Scapini is one of the first Tarot decks I ever bought, oh… nearly thirty years ago? My friend Princess Patti told me decks should be wrapped in silk, and Lynne donated that silk Oleg Cassini scarf to the cause. The wooden box is one I handpainted, and it and the scarf have always been the permanent home of this deck.

It really is a lovely deck to look at–I’m honestly not much of a Tarot card reader, though I like to have mine read, and I have often read for my friend Big Hair Lisa, though not from this deck, and have also read for Debby, Geof, Geraldine, and my Four Princes (they being James, Timothy, Timmy, and Jim). If I never read for my friend Steve C, I should have, because he likes to analyze things and Tarot certainly lends itself to that.

Of course, when I opened this today, I pulled the Fool. Not at all surprised and one of my favorite cards. From our ever helpful Internet:

To be the Fool is exhilarating, so freeing.

Although The Fool is often depicted carrying a tote over his shoulder, The Fool has barely enough room for a toothbrush and maybe a sandwich for his next meal inside his tote. He has made no plans for his journey, he is joyously anticipating whatever comes next. Preparedness is not in his vocabulary or mindset. Think about it, if you were going off on an adventure you would probably plan for it weeks ahead of time, scheduling every move in advance. In general we don’t like to be confronted with the unexpected. Whereas The Fool, begins his circular journey at the zero point, full of anticipation and without worries or expectation. Zero is a very good starting point. The Fool offers opportunity to shed your emotional baggage, heal past hurts, and begin anew.

Anyway, the scarf is red, white, and blue, a reminder for me to wish you a happy, safe, and for your animals, fireworks-free Independence Day. May you always enjoy the abundance of freedoms our founders meant for us to have and our forebears fought for more than once.

Courage, citizens!