Pet Health Reading by Zanna Starr

Gizmo

For nearly a month I have been taking care of my 13-year-old cat, Gizmo, who has a serious eye condition. Our veterinarian and I have tried various approaches in an effort to determine the cause and potential cure. I decided to design a spread that would help me deal with this situation -- not to diagnose or prescribe treatment for my cat, but to gain insight into how I can best help him recover.

It seemed fitting that I use one of my cat-themed Tarot decks. I couldn't decide which one to use, so I'm using cards from five different decks (credits are provided at the end of this post).

Karma

Before I share the reading, I have to share a somewhat startling tidbit. As I prepared to draw the card for Position 3, one of my other cats (named Karma) jumped onto my desk and meowed conversationally. I asked her to select a card from the deck. I fanned the cards in front of her and she sniffed them all, then rubbed her jaw against one. I removed it from the deck and turned it over. The cat on the card looks exactly like Karma (well almost - Karma has green eyes, not gold).

Bear in mind that this same cat once knocked a Tea Leaf Fortune Card off my desk while I was trying to do a reading. I reached down and picked up the card. The title of the card was Karma. [Insert spooky music here.]

Now, on to the reading! Here are the layout and positional definitions:

Pet Illness or Injury Spread*

..........5...........
1.....2.....3.....4

(1) What I need to understand about my pet's health condition
(2) How long  the condition is likely to last
(3) Something I can do to help my pet recover
(4) Something I need to keep in mind at this time
(5) Best possible outcome

The Reading

(1) What I need to understand about my pet's health condition
SIX OF WANDS (from Tarot of the White Cats)

My first reaction to this card is that it is a very positive one to see in this position. It suggests success, triumph, victory -- all things I (and Gizmo!) would like to experience in this situation. This card tells me that the condition can be beat, that we can win over it through willpower and appropriate action (suit of Wands = Fire).

(2) How long  the condition is likely to last
TEN OF PENTACLES (from Tarot of the Cat People)

The Ten suggests that we have probably turned a corner in this situation. The suit of Pentacles relates to health and suggests a slow process (the condition began more than a month ago and  I have been treating it for almost a month). So the answer to "how long" is somewhere in there. I like the feeling this card conveys of progress being made, albeit slowly.

Karma's Choice

(3) Something I can do to help my pet recover
FIVE OF CLUBS (from Cats of the World Playing Cards)

I typically don't do cartomancy (readings with a deck of playing cards). However, I have some familiarity with basic interpretations of the cards. In one of the sources I use, the Five of Clubs represents "help from a friend or spouse." I can (and do) enlist the help of my spouse and of friends who have cats. I would include our vet in the group of people I can count on to "go to bat" for Gizmo.

I consider the suit of Clubs to be associated with elemental Fire (Wands, Rods, Batons). If we look at the Five of Wands from a traditional Tarot deck, we get a sense of competition, challenge, and fluctuation. It's about preparing an offense and/or defense and competing needs for resources.

This seems to apply quite well to my cat's situation. Interestingly, I have five different medications that I have to administer to him each day. Hopefully they don't "conflict" with each other, but getting them into and on the cat is definitely a challenge! He is really tired of all this (after 3 weeks, who wouldn't be?) and is inclined to struggle when I try to administer the medications. Nevertheless, I need to have the patience and determination to continue if I want to help Gizmo recover.

(4) Something I need to keep in mind at this time
KNIGHT OF PENTACLES (from The Baroque Bohemian Cats' Tarot)

I have my own keywords for this card across a wide range of decks, but I found it interesting and beneficial to take a look at Karen Mahony's comments about this card in the book that accompanies the deck:

"In Pentacles, the qualities of the Court Cards show themselves in a very down-to-earth way. . . In the Knight of Pentacles the enthusiasm of the Page gives way to a rather exaggerated sense of responsibility. For the Knight, projects have to be pursued with a dogged persistence." 

(I had to chuckle at the word "dogged" in this case.)

This knight is about being methodical, sensible, and patient -- almost to the point of obsession. In some situations, obsession would be an indisputably bad thing. However, keeping track of the timing and dosage of five different medications actually requires a touch of obsessiveness, don't you think?

(5) Best possible outcome
THE MOON (from Tarot for Cats)

Tarot for Cats is a Majors-only deck designed for and directed to cats themselves. The cat on the card looks exactly another one of my cats (Sofia).

To me, The Moon speaks of the unknown and unforeseen, of illusions, deception, and dreams. Oddly enough, the book that accompanies this deck uses the "health care" examples of a human disguising a pill in a "succulent tidbit of raw liver" and a cat carrier appearing to be "a cozy, soft box" when in reality, it carries you to the vet. LOL. In other words, things are not what they seem.

So how does The Moon translate as "best possible outcome"? Perhaps the best possible outcome is that we will finally get to the truth of the matter where Gizmo's condition is concerned. That which has been clouded or unclear will become clearer. Something that has not been seen  yet might become visible.  Another best possible outcome might be related to a message from my subconscious that can help improve the situation.

The other thing that strikes me is that the moon has phases and goes through cycles or stages. The best possible outcome may be that this condition is a phase that Gizmo is going through, and that it will end in due time.

Elements and Numbers

From an elemental standpoint, we have mostly Earth and Fire, with a Water card thrown in at the end. There is no Air. I could be way off base, but I see a connection to the fact that the treatments we have already tried would normally cure this problem but have not done so. In that sense, Gizmo's condition defies logic (Air). What the vet thought logically should solve the problem hasn't fixed it so far. Further analysis may or may not prove useful, but the cards don't seem to suggest that I do that.

Numerologically, we have a 6, 10, 5, 12 (Knight), and 18. Add these numbers together, and we get 51, which reduces to 6 (5+1). In my Tarot system, the number Six can represent integration, resolution of tensions (peace, harmony), and balance, including an understanding of what is real and what is illusion. If I were to choose a Quintessence card for this reading, I might choose Trump Six (The Lovers) or Trump 15 (The Devil). (Now I am chuckling because the cat on The Devil in the Tarot for Cats looks exactly like Karma, green eyes and all. . . The Devil. Perfect.)

The Lovers (Air) emphasizes making the right or best decisions in this situation. The Devil (Earth) alludes to an escape from narrow parameters or limitations, or freeing oneself from a perception that is neither helpful nor accurate. The Devil can also represent addiction or obsession. Off hand, I don't see a connection with Gizmo's situation, unless we are talking about the "healthy obsession" I described under the Knight of Pentacles (also Earth).

This reading has given me a lot to think about and consider. I welcome any comments or observations you care to make!

If you would like me (or Karma) to do a reading about your pet, please contact me. For the rest of November only, I am offering the reading described above for a fee of just $10.

* Please Note: This is an original spread by Zanna Starr (me). I am aware that other Tarotists may have designed similar spreads. However, to the best of my knowledge, I have not used material created by anyone else.

Credits:

• Tarot of the White Cats (published by Lo Scarabeo; artwork by Severino Baraldi; idea and graphics by Pietro Alligo; instructions by Sofia di Vincenzo)
• Tarot of the Cat People (published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.; instructions and designs by Karen Kuykendall)
• Cats of the World Playing Cards (published by Heritage Playing Card Company;
• The Baroque Bohemian Cats' Tarot (published by Magic Realist Press; designed by Karen Mahony and Alex Ukolov, Baba Studio, Prague)
• Tarot for Cats (published by Macmillan; by Regen Dennis; illustrated by Kipling West)