PCO: Never trust the fire!

I did this reading for a friend, called A, and I am sharing it here with her permission. It's about relationship that is not quite a relationship yet.... just that initial arousal of the emotions. Her question was: "What should I expect of this relationship with T?"

Head (♦/Fire): 4 ♦ (South Wind)

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Throat (♣/Air): 12 ♣ (Leah)

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Torso (♥/Water): 6 ♦ (The Tower)

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Feet (♠/Earth): 5 ♦ (The Peddler's Ace)

This is not a balanced reading - all fire, fire and fire, and a bit of air, to feed it. No water, which for a relationship that intends to be more than a heated night of passion, is not good. There's much attraction, much fire, but no deep emotions involved yet.

The South Wind is the impish wind that brings confusion and chaos. This is very significant in this reading. This attraction began unexpectedly, and became hot very quickly. It is making the querent confused and restless. Leah, Queen of Clubs, is the air that feeds this fire, thanks to her tendency to nurture illusion and fantasise. The South Wind carries her higher, and the higher she gets, the more filled with fantasies her mind becomes, making the passionate emotions even stronger (even though they are not necessarily based on real feelings).

The Torso position is very important here, because this is the main position for relationship readings. Here we see a lonely tower, standing strong... but alone. A has been feeling lonely inside. The 6 of Diamonds also means boredom, monotony - her love life has been unexciting. It inspired her to look for excitement in the dangerous - and marvellous - fires of passion.

The feet, which shows the base of the relationship, shows another card that is not known for it's dependability. The 5 of Diamonds is called the Peddler's Ace, because what you see here is never quite what you get. I have the feeling that this "relationship" is based on nothing more than conversations and meaningless promises - things that sound pretty under the moonlight, but disappear when the day rises. The peddler offers A something beautiful, exactly what she needs, but it's not what she expects. The base of this relationship is weak - there's nothing "real" here.

The geomancy confirms what the reading says: Tristitia + Puella = Amissio 

 

Tristitia shows the sadness and emptiness that she felt before all this started. Then her femininity is awakened in Puella - a pleasant sensation, but lacking in depth. The result of it will be Amissio - loss. This entanglement might leave her even more empty then she was when it started.

Not the best love reading I ever did, but not all relationships are meant to be...

So I would have had him leave,

So I would have had her stand and grieve,

So he would have left

As the soul leaves the body torn and bruised,

As the mind deserts the body it has used.

I should find

Some way incomparably light and deft,

Some way we both should understand,

Simple and faithless as a smile and a shake of the hand.

~ La Figlia Che Piange - T.S. Eliot

The Alchemical Tarot says... something in language I cannot understand.

The challenge for tomorrow is the 2 of Wands - a card that is a challenge in itself. Funny, isn't it? I was about to post some LWB thoughts, but then I figured that my challenge may be to find out what this card means. It appeared in another reading this week. It wants to be understood. 

But this card always makes me think of something that is still and "burning" in it's own good ol' way, until something more chaotic or different (Mercury fire) comes and stirs everything up. Maybe my challenge is to perceive this influence, and allow it to play in my life?

In any case, the lesson can also work both ways. The High Priestess, with her book and her librarian face could be suggesting studying. Studying the card. Studying what it could possibly want to say.  Looking for it not only in books (her book is closer), but also inside... in the waters of the unconscious. And she could be telling me that whatever is the energy that is beginning to play in my life right now, I must try to perceive it in silence, in meditation. It's not time to share. It's something I must keep to myself, until I understand it.

I don't think I made any sense today... I like when my readings are objective, not when they sound like they belong in a newspaper horoscope... oh well. I'm having a bad tarot day, I guess. The inner fires... fighting, wanting to consume each other and consuming me in the process... don't let me concentrate. 

Hum... I think I'm beginning to understand the elusive 2 of Wands... 

The Alchemical Tarot © Robert M. Place

The Alchemical Tarot says... 10 swords beg for gracefulness!

It's official - I hate the 10 of Swords. And I don't care how much it's challenge may help me to grow as a human being, I don't like it, specially the day before I'm going to the eye doctor to see a problem in my left eye... that could be nothing. And that could be serious, as well.

But I guess this is the 10 of Swords already affecting me.

The challenge of the day is a guy laying on a pool of his own blood, with 10 swords piercing his chest in a way that make us think of Julius Caesar's death a peaceful. Hum... maybe not.  Beside him, there's an open book. I'm think that my challenge tomorrow is to face something unpleasant (probably what is in the book) without letting it destroy me. Or keep in mind that it isn't the end of the world. 

Easier said than done.

The Lady of Vessels is my lesson. She's is balancing a vessel on her head while walking on the water - tricky! - showing self-control and grace. I think this means dealing gracefully with the challenge given by the 10 of Swords... not losing your mind, not making a scandal. Keeping your balance. It also looks to me that she's walking towards the man in the 10 of Swords with a bottle of water (or wine) to clean his wounds... maybe I'll have to face some sort of treatment in the end.

Oh well... the Lady of Vessels definitely lightens up the reading a bit...

...but I still don't like the 10 of Swords.

The Alchemical Tarot © Robert M. Place

No Majors in Saturn...

For the last two weeks, I've been doing something I never did in my entire tarot journey: daily reads.

I know I didn't post all of them last week, but I did them. I even (tried) to meditate on the cards and all. The whole process is very natural to some people, but for me, it's a struggle sometimes. I'm too fickle for certain routines.

But so far, I've been successful - the Alchemical Tarot faithfully by my side, offering insights I sometimes don't understand, showing me a new way to see the cards and their meanings. I've been even enjoying this discovery.

One thing that I noticed, however, is that nearly no Majors have been showing up in my readings. I remember the Magician and the Hanged Man... and that's it. Two weeks. Seventy-eight cards. It's probability, you say... there's a bigger chance of minors appearing, since it's 56 minors and 22 majors, specially in such a short time-span.

But then, we'd be assuming that tarot is just about combinations and probabilities, and not something else. And it'd lose all magic.

The last two weeks were filled with new things - new job, driving lessons, problems with the driving lessons (I'll have to re-schedule them all), new routines... I'd have expected some Majors to show their faces. A bit of Death. A pinch of Tower. The shy light of a Star. The strictness of a Emperor. The suddenness of a Wheel. But except for the Magician and the Hanged man, none of them gave me the joy of their presence. The coins suit, on the other hand, abounded.

Why is that happening, I wondered this weekend. Hum... does that mean that my life is boring? That nothing important is going on? But how is that possible, when so many important things seem to be happening?

I can't say that I found a good answer for any of my questions - I'll believe I'll have to ponder harder. But the Minor Arcana is very related to the everyday things, the good and bad things that make life what it is. I'm thinking that the reason why the minor arcana has ben so present in my readings is because I have been focusing on the most trivial aspects of life... work, get money, learn to do it, learn to drive, wake up, take the bus, work, have lunch, work, go home, sleep, wake up... wow. It isn't bad... it's just pure and unadulterated life.

Even so, I do miss some Major Arcana action. I believe they will come... when I get closer to something meaningful. When I get closer to my own destiny, which is what I've been looking for... the Majors will come. For now, time to focus on more earthly issues. Let the coins keep coming, until I'm ready for something major.

I had often played with images of the future, I had dreamt of roles that might be meant for me, as a poet perhaps, or as a prophet, or as a painter or whatever else. That was all meaningless. I didn’t exist to write poetry, to preach sermons, to paint pictures; neither I nor anyone else existed for that purpose. All of that merely happened to a person along the way. Everyone had only one true vocation: to find himself. Let him wind up as a poet or a madman, as a prophet or a criminal – that wasn’t his business; in the long run, it was irrelevant. His business was to discover his own destiny, not just any destiny, and to live it out totally and undividedly. (from "Demian" by Hermann Hesse)

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

PCO: Watching as a reading unfolds...

Last weekend I did a playing cards reading regarding my job, because I thought my boss was coming back from her vacations. Monday came and she didn't come back, for reasons I didn't understand... until now.

This was the reading:

Head (♦/Fire):7♥ (Sword of Healing)

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Throat (♣/Air): 12♠ (Morgana)

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Torso (♥/Water): A♠ (Terra Incognita)

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Feet (♠/Earth): 11♥ (La Hire)

I'll not post my full interpretation because, frankly, I didn't understand the cards when I first got them. The two first cards puzzled me the most - Swords of Healing and Morgana? Somehow I immediately knew that Morgana was my boss, but had no idea what the 7 of Hearts was trying to tell me.

I knew it couldn't be too bad, because these cards complement each other - earth and water. But the Swords of Healing in the head position puzzled me completely. I wondered if it meant the prejudices I had about my boss (which I only met once, during the interview before they hired me) would be healed - I'd be able to see her in a better light.

It was not that. The week started and my boss never showed up. I forgot about the reading, but listening to my co-worker speak to the Big Boss (one of the guys who own the whole thing) yesterday, I came to know that my boss got an extra week of vacations due to health problems. Apparently quite unexpected ones. She's doing fine, but it was something scary - I don't know what, nobody talked about it to me.

And now the Sword of Healing + Morgana make sense - boss was dealing with health issues, and would not return, thus affecting my job. Also, no one talked about it - I found it weird that she started with one week of vacations and suddenly had three, but figured that maybe she deserved it. The secrecy of the situation could be represented by the Ace of Spades, a card that means secrets and hidden things. Also, it stands for the physical body, and like Morgana, it has the blade of the Sword of Healing turned towards it.

Most of the reading is making sense now, except for one card: La Hire. What is that Jack of Hearts doing in my reading again? He showed up in every reading I did about my job in the last few days, and I still can't figure out who is he or  what is he trying to tell me. The fact he is a man doesn't help either, since I work mostly with other girls! No young boys around! And in this particular case, he is in a very important position - the feet, which represents all things physical and material, such as work. He is someone who may influence my work, but he isn't completely reliable, or honest.

I guess I'll have to wait until the next chapters. Who is the Jack of Hearts? And what does he have to do with me? Hum... It's interesting to watch how the readings unfold in the real life, sometimes in the most unexpected ways!

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

The Alchemical Tarot says... you know the drill, girl.

Uh-oh! Traditionally, the Six of Staffs stands for victory... but this card looks for me as someone being given more things to do than they can handle. I see a busy day tomorrow, with more complex tasks and slightly higher stakes. It also has a bright side - having things to do and responsibilities also helps you to get recognition. To just do the easy stuff, while hiding quietly in your corner of isolation will just make you invisible. A challenging day, indeed.

The lesson is the same card of Tuesday, the Knight of Coins. As usual, this guy is all about working diligently, doing what must be done, keep yourself grounded. I have noticed that the cards have been giving me this message a lot - stay grounded. And indeed, it helps you to deal with tiring things such as repetitive jobs and things that you don't feel like doing. An interesting thing I just noticed is that this Knight looks a bit... detached... He is looking at the earth, his element, and at his shield, but there nothing passional about him. He realizes his mission, and is prepared to do do what he must, but he doesn't let it touch him too deeply. He doesn't take it too personal.

It's just a job. The artisan in the Six of Staffs, on the other hand, looks very bothered by all those burning sticks that are being thrust into his face...

The Alchemical Tarot © Robert M. Place

The Alchemical Tarot says... I think you didn't get it last time...

My challenge for tomorrow is, once again, the Ten of Staffs. The phoenix being reborn from the fire is something very Nietzchean card. Use your strength to rise above the difficulties... overcome yourself. I think it is also telling me to allow my previous ideas to be renewed - it may be related to the fact I'll start taking my practical driving lessons tomorrow. I hate cars and think it may be a disaster... well, time to let old idea burn and be reborn as something useful.

My lesson if the Four of Coins... first, I see this card telling me to stop spending money like crazy. Which is something I'm guilty of, unfortunately. But relating to the other card, I think it's telling me to conserve my resources... not burn way too much. Overcome my difficulties without exhausting myself in the process, or else everything will become too difficult. Ground yourself, it's telling me.

And interesting lessons, as I'm very bad at keeping myself grounded, and usually that means I end up wasting more energy than I should...

The interesting thing here is that the advice seem very similar to the one given last Thursday. Apparently I haven't understood it's message yet. Lets see if I can do it better tomorrow...


The Alchemical Tarot © Robert M. Place

The Alchemical Tarot says... skills. Use them. Trust them.

The challenge for the day is The Magician. In the Alchemical Tarot, he is represented by Hermes, the Greek god of communication, wisdom, magic, skills, travel and thieves. He knows how to use the elements and his own inner power - for good and evil. How to use my skills - that's my challenge. Will I use it well, with higher purposes? Or will I use it for lower things. None of these ways are wrong per se - but they bring us different results. Also, as the god of communication, I think this card is also challenging me to improve my communication with the people around me - specially at work, I think. My tendency there, as I am a newbie, is to “arrive mute and leave speechless”.

The lesson for the day is the Seven of Vessels. Again, this is about choice - the skill is inside me (The Magician), but alone it isn't enough. You need the right medium to show it well. This card is reinforcing the first one, telling me that I need to learn how to better use these skills. My inner voice will teach me, I must trust my intuition. As Robert Place himself said, "pick the right tool for the right job, the right path for the journey".


The Alchemical Tarot © Robert M. Place

The Alchemical Tarot says... don't burn alone.

The first card is beautiful and haunting. A phoenix is reborn from the very fire the consumes her. My challenge tomorrow is to find a way to keep going even when my energies seems to be low. To be reborn from my own ashes. It could also mean struggling to find a purpose amidst senseless work and obligations.

This card makes met think of the book Demian, one of my favorite book by Hermann Hesse:

"The bird is struggling out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever wants to be born must first destroy a world." 

In this case, the bird is struggling out of it's own ashes.

The second card is the lesson for the day, and it shows a boat carrying a bring staff floats towards a shore, in which two other burning staffs wait for it. I think the lesson here is to share the burden - don't burn alone. Let each staff carry a bit of the fire. I think it's related to my current situation at work - I have co-workers, they seem nice people, but because I'm new and kinda shy I don't feel like I can just talk to them... I feel like an outsider there. Maybe it's card is telling I need to think of it as team job - I am the floating boat. They are the shore that will give me more security.


The Alchemical Tarot © Robert M. Place

The Alchemical Tarot says... (try to) think positive.

Again, the challenge for the day is to focus on the practical issues (ie. work), but this time the approach should be a bit more gentle. Just working isn't enough - it's time to seek some joy in it, some pleasure. A hell of challenge. I can't see myself doing it. Also, the Queen of Coins looks at the Queen of Swords, as if looking for advice...

The Queen of Swords is the lesson for the day, the way to overcome the challenge. She offers a choice, between positive and negative thoughts - a consciously made choice. It's not that things get better, but you decide to face them as if they were better, or about to improve. Use the power of the mind to shape your reality. She's telling me that the only way to deal with the challenge is by having a change of mindset.

Oh well. Here we go again...


The Alchemical Tarot © Robert M. Place

The Alchemical Tarot says... endure.

Some readings make you feel like crap...

The challenge for tomorrow will be to... work. Yes, easy as that. To sit down and do what I must do with concentration and dignity, no matter how boring it might be. The Knight of Coins is me, dressed to work, trying to work hard, but looking hopelessly at the following card...

Ten of Spades. What a good lesson to learn. This is usually the "it cannot get any worse" card, which should be reassuring... but isn't. Because it's still bad. I'm working with book edition right now, and that there's an open book lying by the dead guy's body... creepy. My lesson for tomorrow is to let go of the self-pity attitude and just look at the work that needs to be done. Look at the book. Like the Knight is doing.

Even when it's a book that actually sucks. Even if the people around you are a bit hostile. Focus on your goals - see to the end of it.


The Alchemical Tarot © Robert M. Place

The Alchemical Tarot says... keep a low profile!

Tomorrow is my first day at the new job. I did a small reading to see what to expect from the day. I used Umbrae's Daily Spread. 

The Six of Swords is my challenge for the day, it shows a ship skillfully avoiding the six swords that float around it. It's being guided by the slow east wind. The challenge tomorrow will be to avoid the swords... I believe this refers to some of the people there. Ever since the first time I went there, I got the feeling that some of my future co-workers are not be happy with my arrival. Like the boat in the card, I have to maneuver through the things that are against me, and focus on my goal. The east wind is usually seen as unlucky and slow, so that's telling me that it'll be a slow journey that's just starting. Finding inner peace and patience is part of the test.

The second card is the Hanged Man, and he represents my lesson/ what the challenge brings me. Again, the message of patience is reinforced. Hanging a man by the feet was a form of humiliation... the lesson here is to let go of pride and ego in this situation, because they won't help. I have nothing to lose there, and I need to keep this in mind. Surrendering, for now, is necessary. 

It's interesting to see how to ship is sailing away from the Hanged Man. This "hanged man" situation won't last for too long - it's just the first part of the journey. This is reassuring, but still I see a difficult day ahead of me...

[Edited to Add] I should have also remembered that the Hanged Man + a card that has the East Wind should mean boredom. It was, indeed, a slow day to me.

The Alchemical Tarot © Robert M. Place

Of seeking and finding...

When someone is seeking... it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything... because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal.  (from "Siddharta" by Hermann Hesse)

I read this book by Hermann Hesse about five or six years ago. A friend of my mother gave it to me, and although I enjoyed it, I fear I never quite appreciated its wisdom... until now. But as I started reading the book again, I saw this quote, and it reminded me of the last cards of the Tarot:  Star, Moon, Sun, Judgement and World. 

Until the Tower we seek actively: we try, we do, we fail, we try again, and so on. That's why a lot of ego is involved, because we are seeking something. Then the Tower comes, all crumbles, including us and all we believed in. The Star appears as a small light, telling us that it hurts, but soon... soon the day will rise again. In this cards we see a woman releasing the waters into the nature - letting go. If we compare it to the Temperance card, we see that the angel in 14th card is controlling the water, passing it from one vessel to another, or mixing it with a different element. In the Star, she surrendered, allowed herself to go with the flow.

Then the night darkens, and the Moon appears ominously in the sky. The have to survive the Dark Night of the Soul, and what is it but a lesson on surrendering. Not giving up - there's a difference. When the world is covered in shadows, and everything is uncertain, it is sometimes wiser to let go, let the time pass, until everything seems clearer. Controlling everything in this stage may lead us into insanity - how can one control shadows and illusions?

The Sun rises, at last, and finally everything makes more sense. We feel once again warm, and ready to get up and find a new path. But not one filled with old pretensions and egocentric goals - usually the figures shows in the Sun are either children or naked people, symbolizing innocence, the release of ego. 

The Judgement will come and test our newfound wisdom - are we really ready to let go of the past? Accept things we claimed to be unacceptable in the past? Forgive the unforgivable? It'll call all the bodies we thought we had hidden carefully in our closets and force us to look at them, as ugly as they may be - can we finally put them to rest?

And if we pass this difficult test, we finally reach the World, the completion. The force that guides our destiny, that inspires us so we can live and create. In the end, we see that it's is no by pursuing crazily the completion that we find it... the secret lies in surrendering to it's greatness. To it's power. The World is everywhere, always around us, ready to be seen. It has always been there, hidden in plain sight. But we only find it when we are receptive and open, freed from our compulsion to control. Then we open our eyes - and then we find it.

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

Umbrae's Daily Spread

I was looking for a daily spread that was more simple than the one I created, but that gave me tools to use during my day. In one older post from Aeclectic Tarot, I found one created by Umbrae. It is interesting, so I'm sharing it here.

"Doing a daily draw of one or two cards a day is fine for yourself. I like a daily draw of two and only two cards. The first is the challenge or issue of the day. The second is what the challenge brings to you; your lesson or what you must do to overcome the challenge.

When folks are new, they have a tendency to 'over read'. If they do not like the reading, they do a second 'clarifying' reading, and then perhaps another 'clarify the clarification'…

The Shaman Zorya said, 'If we are too attached to a perceived outcome, we may miss opportunities, or what is truly meant for us'." ~ Umbrae

Interview with the Alchemical Tarot: Renewed

I decided to do my first deck interview. I interviewed the Alchemical Tarot: Renewed, created by Robert M. Place, which is a deck that attracts me and repels me at the same time.  I want to start using it for daily readings and the such, and thus I want to know more about it first.

It's also my first attempt at reading with it. An experiment, to see if I can get past it's complex imagery and listen to it's message.

1. Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic? ~ 7 of Vessels

I offer many different tools to work with. I have a plethora of symbols and images that can enhance your work with the tarot. I may be a bit confusing at first though - you may find it difficult to understand my message, because you won't know where to look for it. I may confuse you.

2. What are your strengths as a tarot deck? ~ 10 of Staffs

I renew the universe of the tarot, bringing a fresh perspective to cards that had a limited meanings. I help to let go of rigid concepts and fixed ideas regarding tarot and readings. I have a unique and impacting imagery.

3. What are your limits as a tarot deck? ~ Knight of Vessels

I can be a heavy deck, because of my look. I don't know how to swim on the surface, I always sink deep, because of my heavy armor. Also, I deliver the message too subtly sometimes, so it may be hard to notice it.

4. What are you here to teach us? ~ 10 of Coins

I am here to teach you how to devote yourself to study something, even though you cannot see the outcome of it right now. I'll help you to get more practical results from your work.

5. How can we best learn from and collaborate with you? ~ The Tower

Allow me to break the mold, and change your preconceptions regarding what tarot should be. I may seem a violent guide sometimes, but my goal is to change. Accept this - change with me.

6. What is the potential outcome of our working relationship? ~ 5 of Vessels

I may disappoint you sometimes, because of my disruptive tendencies. I look for change, and you may not like it appreciate this. But if you can accept this side of me, something beautiful will come from the most unexpected situations. We will fly together.


The Alchemical Tarot © Robert M. Place

The Deck Interview Spread

I found this is a very interesting spread that can be used for new decks or for decks you own but have never worked closely with. It's like an interview, a way to start using a deck you are unfamiliar with.

1. Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic?

2. What are your strengths as a tarot/oracle deck?

3. What are your limits as a tarot/oracle deck?

4. What are you here to teach me?

5. How can I best learn from and collaborate with you?

6. What is the potential outcome of our working relationship?