Of future, fate and divination

I see the pattern of life as a spider web - many different futures can be constructed from the same choice. It's not one thread that goes on and on in the same direction until we die, but rather a web with interconnected threads radiating in all directions, criss-crossing each other. And the threads of our lives are also connected to those of other people, influencing each other.

I do, however, believe in fate. But for me fate is not a power that predetermines your whole life from the beginning to the end of it. It's like "knots" that tie together the many threads of "life's cobweb"... things that you need to live, lessons that must be learnt, a task that must be accomplished in this lifetime, people that you have to meet in order to grow. It's a calling.

I believe that many people hear the calling and never follow it, or insistently deny it, and those are the people that always have the impression that they missed something important in their lives... that they did not fulfil something they were supposed to... they remain forever stuck in that knot.

Although fate can sometimes be a tidal wave that crashes and carry us away, most of the time we need to be prepared for it to fully seize the opportunity it gives us.

And that's where the divination comes it - it both helps us to make more informed choices, in order to build the future we want for ourselves, and it also offers us guidance when dealing with those "knots of fate". It makes us aware of them, and shows us how to surf on the sudden waves of destiny instead of being drowned by them! It helps us to choose, as well as to be prepared for the moments in which fate intervenes.

I know my view is a bit of a romantic one, but I admittedly am a romantic thinker. 

Who is that Pope?

The Hierophant, also known as the Pope, is a very underrated card. Perhaps it's because of the tidal wave of neo-paganism that washed over everything spiritual, combined with the declining popularity of the Catholic church, that made us regard the Pope with a bit of distrust.

The descriptions given to this card usually include terms such as "conservatism", "morality", "other people", "status quo", "tradition", "social convention" etc, even though it's the highest cards amongst the ranks of human society. This description, although correct, makes this card sound boring and massified, and makes you think of the unkind mob that frowns upon you whenever you try to be yourself or show any trait of originality.

Okay, perhaps it may be. Intolerance is the Pope at it's worst. But the if the Devil himself can be forgiven for being such an extreme fellow, why can't the Pope be seen in a better light as well?

I did not like the Pope myself... for me, it was the card of the fossilisation. Once the Pope got hold of you, it'd slowly suck any lively part of your personality until you became a rock shaped by social expectations and conventions. No longer a person, just a robot programed by the others.

I was unkind the poor Pope, I know. But then he started showing up in my readings - not once, not twice but in nearly every reading. And the worst: he specially enjoyed showing his face in the readings I did concerning my LOVE life. In my mind's eye I could see my inner fire being burried under tons of bricks of ennui and social expectations, while a choir of mindless robots sang "it's time you take your place in life. In life and in line! Da doo dee doo~"

Besides, the Pope in a love life question meant "no love life at all" to me. Or at least a very dull one. And I thought "where is that Devil-guy when you need him?".

But the Pope kept coming up, challenging me to decipher him. What was he trying to tell me? It took me a few days to go beyond the "oh noes I iz monotonous" thinking and have a truly enlightening TA-DA! moment.

Whether I agreed with it or not, the Pope was telling me to literally mind my business. Love is exciting, but are you really building the path that will take you to your love, or are you just daydreaming? 'Tis time to delve into the nitty-gritty of life, little cricket. And you know what? He is right. I was full of plans and ideas, but the point is that I need to gather resources before making anything come true. Both inner and outer resources. Both money and experience. I need to grow a bit, and mature. And I can only do this by focusing on what I what I have now - my job and my responsibilities - which will prepare me to follow my bliss later on.

The Pope says that, although we like to behave as if we were "too sexy" for our trivial lives, in reality they help us to pave the path towards our dreams. He reminds you that now is the time in which you need to play by the rules - to later have the conditions to challenge them. It is the fool taking his place in life and in line... while he plans his next adventure.

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

Deck Review: Magdalene Oracle by Toni Carmine Salerno

Toni Carmine Salerno is an known artist, that has turned many of his paintings into oracle decks. It seems that he doesn't paint for the oracles, but rather picks paintings he already has and turns them into oracle cards. His most known decks are the Universal Love Cards and the Universal Wisdom Cards. The Magdalene Oracle is another of his creations, this time focusing on some Christian icons.

This is the first deck I got from him, and I had only seen a couple of scans when I bought it. It interested me because I love anything concerning Mary Magdalene, and an oracle bearing her name definitely belongs in my collection. So there was no big expectations about it - in fact, from looking at Toni's other decks I expected it to be fluffy à-la Doreen Virtue, pretty art and a silly booklet.

I was surprised.

The deck has 45 colourful cards - BIG cards (9.5cm x 14cm or 3.74" x 5.51"). Not as big as the Oracle of the Grail Code (that one broke a record, methinks), but may still be uncomfortable for people with small hands because the card stock is think and a bit on the sticky side. It does soften with time though. They are nicely stored with the booklet inside a sturdy two-piece box.

The cards are VERY colourful, including the borders. Their colours are chosen to go with the predominant shade of the image in the centre, creating a nice effect in the card. Even so, these borers could be easily trimmed, because the title of the cards is at the bottom of the picture itself. The back has a non-reversible image that resembles a yellow/orange rose seen through a macro-lens.

Aesthetically, these cards are gorgeous. In his site, Toni says his art is intuitive - he does not plan what he's going to paint before hand. This can be both good or bad, depending on personal taste. His usage of colour is fantastic, the art is alive and jumps at you, which can be good for intuitive reading. However, his drawing, specially of human beings, is not perfect and is not stable (some cards are wonderfully well-drawn, other not so much) , and this may peeve more perfectionist people. In my opinion, this deck has a very feminine art, which may not attract male readers.

Anyway... onto the book. It's a small, saddle stapled book with a soft cover showing the same image we see on the back of the cards. It has 72 pages. The first chapter teaches you how to use the cards, how to ask the question and gives you some spreads to try, This part is not written by Toni Salerno, but by Denise Harradine and seems to be present in some of his other decks. The second chapter is a small reflection on Mary Magdalene and how she made her presence and objective known to him. And then the third chapter is all about the cards.

PCO: The North Wind says... the lazy days are over!

I did abandon my poor blog to the vultures, but now I'm back. Enough of lazying around!

I pulled a card to see what should I do about my blog, to keep it going and I got the 4 of Spades.

I like how the PCO is always challenging me - this is certainly not an obvious answer for my question, and being it a one-card reading, it makes the meaning a bit harder to grasp.

First of all, I think it relates to my sudden impulse to come back to the blog - the 4 of Spades often relates to unsettling energies that makes us act! As for what I should do, this card tells me to prepare for a challenge: probably the challenge of doing it even when I'm not inspired, the Spades suit talks about hard-work that's not always prompted by a creative energy.

But most of all, Spades is a "doer" suit, and the number four is about completing things in an organized manner, so above all I believe this card is telling me "Holiday's over! Time to get up and get going, m'dear".

Yes sir!

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