Something weird has been happening to me...

I have been reading the cards! I mean, the cards, really. Not the books. Not the 'meanings'. The cards themselves!

Yes, I know what you are thinking. "So what?" or "Geez, take her to the psychiatric ward NOW!", but let me explain myself first.

Lately I've been reading... in such a carefree way (when I read for others - I haven't been reading for myself). I'm not sure if it's because I've been going through one of the most difficult times of my life... and suddenly doing "perfect" readings just doesn't matter so much any more. I don't care so much for accuracy. The message works in mysterious ways, doesn't it?

So I just read. What I see in the cards.

I don't look for meaning clues in the images any more, like I used to. I don't fret trying to remember every book I have read on the subject. Or trying to make astrological/mythological associations - these things come to me naturally if they have to. I see the image, and suddenly it tells me something. And it makes sense. It tells a story, and I can listen to it.

I know many people have been doing it for a long time, but it's totally new to me. Only I know how much I have tormented myself because I had "no intuition whatsoever", and i'm not sure if this is intuition, but it's different. I'm not suddenly filled with confidence, but I'm suddenly not so worried about reading and getting it right or wrong. And it's... freeing.

Some decks are better for this than others. Some decks will immediately tell me their wordless story, while others will make think "book-book-book-book". So I've been trying to stick to the ones who will talk for themselves, at least for the time being, like the Mythic Tarot and the Playing Card Oracles, my favorite oracle deck ever.

I'm not sure where this is taking me, but it's a silver lining in these dark days. I'm trying to enjoy the ride.

I always thought that breakthrough came with bells and fireworks and the best times of our lives, not when we are about to hit rock bottom... life remains a mystery.

Rider Waite Smith Tarot: Centennial Edition © US Games Systems, Inc.

Book Review: The Teacher Within by Ana Cortez

I received a link from Ana Cortez (one of the authors of of The Playing Card Oracles), with a preview of her newest book: The Teacher Within: Enraptured Ranting and Other Tales.

As soon as I started reading it, Ana's at once poetic and vibrant writing trapped my attention, and I was hooked. The preview only had 44 pages, so when I finished it, I wanted more.

I ended up buying the e-book, so I didn't have to wait for a printed version (if it ever comes out). I still haven't finished reading it yet, but there are a few things I can already see. First, as with The Playing Card Oracles, this isn't your run-of-the-mill spirituality book. It's not going to give you five easy steps to contact your grandma's spirit, or teach you ready recipes on how to find inner peace. The Teacher Within is more like a journey - Ana's journey - that you get to witness and learn from. It's a chaotic but rich journey through the realms of self-discovery: the inner realms, in which you can find your Teacher.

I don't think this a book for the occasional spiritual dabbler, because most of people, in my experience,  just want easy answers. But Ana's book doesn't handle you anything on a silver plate. In fact, its very language - at times symbolic and dream-like - shows that the book is not even meant to give you exact instructions on how to contact your "teacher within". Actually, I get a feeling that it is meant to put you in a state of mind that will allow you to find this source inside and to open yourself to it. Ana wants you to stop wondering about the future or clinging to the past and focus on the now, the moment in which time itself is being woven, and her words are meant to help you to focus so you can fly.

From a oyster bothered by a grain of sand, to a mermaid with legs, passing through a rock under her foot (that is her companion during the journey), Ana uses many unique tales to help expand your spiritual horizons... and all that by only using the power of the words, and the sensations they create inside the reader. She's not just writing instructions to you, she's talking to you. Sharing something special.

Here is an excerpt that I particularly liked:

When the answer to any particular question was not forthcoming, I realized that I had forgotten who was sitting next to me, and had instead sought to answer my own question, as was my habitual way. I had forgotten I was not alone.

All I needed do to remedy the not knowing was to not answer my own question. I realized that every time I attempted to answer my own question, not only was I guessing, I was making Teacher’s answer impossible to receive. Every time I asked and allowed the wisdom of the sage on the stump to reveal itself, the solutions would unfold of their own accord, accompanied by the unencumbered sensation of knowing.

I haven't finished the book yet, so I cannot give a complete review right now. But I wanted to say that I think I'll enjoy this book a lot - even the parts in which I do not agree with the author or do not fully understand her. And the reason is very simple: Ana's writing makes you feel very close to her. You read her and you have the impression that she's right there, sitting beside you, drinking a cup of hot chocolate and eating a piece of cake, while pondering the mysteries of the universe.

The Teacher Within: Enraptured Ranting and Other Tales by Ana Cortez
Available on Amazon.com

PCO: Seven of Clubs & the power of word-bending

So... today I was watching Law and Order: SVU, one of my favorite TV shows. As usual, while watching TV, I kept shuffling my Playing Card Oracles deck. It's a force of habit. I started doing this to "break" the deck and making the handling easier. And now i just can't stop.

As soon as the episode began, and the victim appeared, I decided to do a "reading" about the perp. What were the killer's intention, how was he working. I do that with tarot cards too. I found it's a great way to explore the meanings of the cards beyond some boundaries - specially that ones that determine the so-called "bad cards" and "good cards".

I used what I consider the PCO's "standard" spread: pulled four cards, placed them vertically (one under the other) and assigned to each position one part of the body - head, throat, torso, foot.

The cards I got were:

Head (♦/Fire): 13♦

.

Throat (♣/Air): 7♣

.

Torso (♥/Water): 11♦

.

Feet (♠/Earth): 5♠

First I was a bit nonplussed. None of the cards were really terrible, and we were talking about a serious stalker. The 5 of Spades in the Foot position told me this person wanted to take something from another - probably from perceiving that the victim was taking something from him or her.

I was surprised that Livia, Queen of Diamonds, showed up in the first position. A nurturing woman, who cares for others and support them...the in Head position? First I thought "hum, the stalker must be a woman".  But the show didn't give any evidences - all their suspects were males.

Horseshoe Spreads

I wish I had known this spread when I started reading tarot, instead of a mind-boggling Celtic Cross. The Horseshoe spread is really great – to the point, non complicated and yet can reach some issues very deeply. Don’t be fooled because they look small and simple.

The two Horseshoes I use are the ones I learnt at Aeclectic Tarot Forum. They were posted there by Umbrae (Dan Pelletier). I’m not sure if he created this way of reading himself or if he got it from book (very unlikely), but I give him full credit for these two spreads.

Five Card Horseshoe/Small Horseshoe

1. Recent Past
2. Present
3. The Unexpected
4. Near Future
5. Further Future

(Near future = 2 weeks)

Seven Card Horseshoe/ Big Horseshoe
1. Recent Past
2. Present
3. Hopes and Fears
4. The Unexpected
5. The Gate
6. Near Future
7. Further Future

(Near future = 2 weeks, Further 4-6 weeks)

(Hopes and fears = Internal influence. Unexpected = hidden external influence. The Gate = that which must be experienced – the lesson)

RWS says... unsure about the future

I did this reading for a girl friend, who is at a turning point and feels unsure about her future. She has been studying to get a bachelor's degree in Social Communication, and now that she’s close to graduating, she realised she’s unhappy where she is. 

She told me she can't really name the problem - everything seems perfect, after all - so we did a quick three card reading, for enlightening purposes. I used the Universal RWS. It was a very direct reading!

HER FEELINGS - THE OBSTACLE - THE PATH

The disappointment is blatant, as shown by the 4 of Cups. The world seems to be standing still… the inner waters have stopped flowing. And she feels like, somehow, she has been cheated in the process. Shouldn't she be happy? She managed to get into a good university and is studying to become a professional. But no, she is not happy – she is bored. It seems to me that the area that she chose was not what she expected, like it doesn’t really move her emotionally or creatively.

However, giving it up to the higher powers isn’t the way. It is not time to feel paralyzed, she must do something about it. Her own inertia is being her enemy here. She thinks she cannot do anything, so she does not even try. 

But this is not going to happen. She must now look within herself, like the Hermit says, look for the truth in the darkest places of her mind and life. If she is not happy, she must try to figure out why and then do something about it. Overcome the inertia and the fear of changing by shedding some light on the very aspect that she fears. The fear of having made the wrong choice. The fear of not knowing what do to once she graduates. Only by facing what lies in the shadows she will find her way again.

Rider Waite Smith Tarot: Centennial Edition © US Games Systems, Inc.

Old experiment with the Playing Card Oracles: Reading without a question

I did this reading back in 2007 for my (then) 13 years old sister (she's now 15). Yeah, family has always been my Guinea pig. She didn’t want a reading, but I gave her the deck to shuffle and did it anyway. I wasn’t being much serious either, but turns out that the reading was fantastically accurate. And my sister isn’t a very open person – I knew nothing of this before the reading.

I used the Playing Card Oracles & the method is one taught by the PCO book. It’s called "The Bridge Layout". You put the card 6 ♣ (which is the Bridge card) in the midle, and then draw other four cards and place them around it. The layout for my sister’s reading was this one:

…2 ♥.

Jack ♥… 6 ♣…8 ♥…

…6 ♥

First thing I noticed, before I even tried to see what each position meant: too much water. Too much emotion, maybe? It crossed my mind that it might be the hormones…I don’t know why, maybe because they ‘mess’ with out inner waters…and everything else, actually.

Then i saw the numbers…all were even, except for the Jack of ♥, that’s 11. I saw a that she had a "Jack" (a yound boy, probably her age) that was knocking her over. Shehad been until now protected (maybe by the family – 6 ♥.), and now someting is breaking this protection. Slowly of course, since it’s only one card. Then I started interpreting the cards positions. The Jack ♥ is the past – I saw him as the one who started this big emotional storm that’s going inside her. But because of the other even numbers, I can see she’s still holding it back.

The 2 ♥ represents the gifts of the present and for me it meant obviously that this 'gift' was a feeling of 'love'…not really Romeo & Juliet undying kind of love, just an initial thing (the number is low), something she had never felt before. It made her excited.

The 6 ♥ was in the obstacles of the present position, and it seemed to me it was very hard for her to move on from the comfortable 'home' feeling of what she already knew to something more instable. Typical from this age, the difficulties of having to face the world and different experiences and feelings.

In the future position I saw the 8 ♥ as representing that maybe this would become more intense. Not necessarily the ‘love’ thing, but more the whole ‘emotion’ thing. The card, that is called The Garden, has a serpent in it…I thought that it might be related to a awakening sexuality.

I gave her the reading and she didn’t say anything. Days later, however, she confirmed that I was right, and that she was very surprised, since she hadn’t even asked the question out loud. It was interesting…my first reading without knowing what the other wanted to know. Great for practice!

Deck Review: The Playing Card Oracles

First of all: this is not tarot. Also, this is not your "usual" playing cards system with so-called "traditional" divinatory meanings. If you expect a book on traditional cartomancy or a tarot-like system, I'm sad to inform that The Playing Card Oracles may disappoint you.

That said, if you want a system that is innovative and different from everything you ever saw before, this is the book to get. Really. The Playing Card Oracles is one of the rare divinations decks & books that actually thinks outside the box. It teaches you things you didn't know. It doesn't recycle knowledge from other sources. It gives you something new.

The book is amazing - an interesting and rich mix of images, poetry, fairy tales (all original) and divination. Ana Cortez' writing style makes you feel as if you were talking to her. I must have read this book more than three times already and I never get tired of it. It always gives me food for thought. Also, the way it teaches you to read common playing card decks, usually used for games, is amazing. The meanings given by Ana Cortez are at the same time intuitive and complex. They bring together numbers, colours and images. And they even include Geomancy, which is a fantastic addition to the system.

It's not "Cartomancy for dummies". The PCO requires some proactivity... you need to read the book, be open to its different ideas, practise with the cards and see what works for your and what doesn't. Ana is not inflexible or bossy: she gives you the basic meanings, but you are encouraged to come up with your own. This book really explores the world of the playing cards - its legends, its mysterious history and its usage as an oracle. It's a complete system on it's own, and what you cannot learn from the book, you'll learn from the cards themselves.

As for the cards, they are very beautiful. Some pictures are, indeed, a bit disturbing, but that's what they are meant to be. It may take a while for you to get used to them. They are evocative. Many people have told me, while I read for them, how beautiful they found this deck to be - disturbing images and all. Don't get put off simply because it doesn't conform to the standard definition of beauty. Give it a chance and the deck will certainly grow on you.

But, if you still do no gel the card designed by C.J. Freeman (Ana Cortez's father), then you are fre to use a common deck of playing cards. The results are the same, for the system is designed to work with any 52-card playing card deck.

It's sad to see that some people misunderstood the purpose of this book, and rated it badly on Amazon and other sites because of what I see as being its greatest accomplishment: the fact that it's different from all other playing card books out there. The Playing Card Oracles as not made to be a pale companion to the tarot. On the contrary, it is a very interesting and unique system, and unfortunately, still a very underrated one.

Here are some of the cards:

The Playing Card Oracles © Ana Cortez & C.J. Freeman