Interview with The Playing Card Oracles, Alchemy Edition

Today’s deck interview takes place in a large, open loft space – an artist’s studio – with flickering candles along the walls. The cards come forward to answer my questions by taking shape on large easels spaced around the room. I sit quietly in the center of the room, surrounded by the easels, waiting for the appearance of the card selected by the others to respond to my first question.

(1) How would you describe your essence or essential energy?

Slowly the canvas on the easel fills with shades of crimson and scarlet, blood red, wine red. A heart held in a hand. A golden falcon, a bird of prey, perches atop the heart. The heart opens one eye. The ACE OF HEARTS has arrived.

ACE OF HEARTS: “I would describe my essence or essential energy as Passion -- passion arising from memories that live within the deep subconscious of your feeling Self. My falcon, like your innermost feelings, is constantly on the hunt, seeking nourishment and sustenance. My open eye is your conscious existence; my closed eye is your unconscious existence. Within me lies all potential of love and devotion, passion, and compassion – but also obsession, fear, and compulsion. Draw from my well – the well of Agana, your inner Water source.”

(2) Which card do you feel reflects my essence or essential energy?

To the left of the Ace of Hearts, a dark shape takes form on the easel. Pale skin and auburn hair come forth to complete the image. It is Morgana, the QUEEN OF SPADES.

QUEEN OF SPADES / Morgana: “You were an Old Soul from the beginning, so I don’t worry about ‘insulting’ you when I say your essence or essential energy is that of advanced age. I also happen to know that you are fascinated by Morgana in Arthurian legend, that you have a strong Earth presence in your birth chart and often identify with the Queen of Pentacles in Tarot -- so there are many reasons for this choice. In you I see strength, independence, practicality, and attention to detail. There is also a secret sadness beneath your exterior and leanings toward the darker side of the craft. A part of you seeks to control, manipulate, or dominate people or circumstances – not because you are an egomaniac, but because you feel more secure if you can succeed in those efforts. Failure to do so generates anxiety and uncertainty, which is difficult if not impossible for you to tolerate.”

(3) What story do you hope to tell me?

On the easel beside Morgana’s, as if forming a clone of the Queen, another woman clothed in black appears. She is Terrene, the Lady (10) of Spades.

LADY (TEN) OF SPADES / Terrene: “I hope to tell you the story of my birth to Morgana and Mardoc, of how Morgana snatched me and took me back to the Spade abode, slung within her dark cloak. She left my twin brother in the wilderness, where we were born. In me, she recognized something of herself, and she imagined she could make me into a servant. I am a child of service. A common sense, sturdy girl, I am hardworking, yet my will is not yet my own. I hope to tell you the story of yourself, and how that story continues to evolve from the positive and negative aspects of who you are consciously, subconsciously, and unconsciously.”

(4) What should I not expect from you?

On a fourth easel, bright, flaming colors leap to life, swarming over the canvas like flames – and indeed they are flames, engulfing a woman tied to a stake, clearly in torment. Of all the cards, based on my early pases through the deck, this is one of the most disturbing to me. It is the EIGHT OF SPADES (The Curse). How interesting that it appears as what I should NOT expect from this deck.

EIGHT OF SPADES – The Curse: “Historically, I was considered a very unlucky card, indicating guilt, suppression, or persecution. However, you should NOT expect me to dwell on or emphasize these things in my relationship with you. That is not my purpose. I see no reason to remind you of failures, poor choices, or shortcomings in your life. When these things rise to the surface, as they inevitably do, my goal will be to help you to liberate yourself by facing your deepest fears, to take your arm as you ‘walk through the fire’ and emerge from it strengthened and renewed.”

(5) Which card most closely represents us as a team?

I already noticed that the suit of the card representing the deck’s energy (Hearts / Water) and the suit representing my energy (Spades / Earth) are compatible with each other. That seems to bode well, but I admit I am a bit nervous as I watch the fifth and final image come to life on the remaining empty canvas. A strange form takes shape… It is the ACE OF CLUBS, Dream Moth.

ACE OF CLUBS / Dream Moth: “As a team, we have great potential to connect and communicate – to speak or write about that which is unseen, unmanifest. We can tell of premonitions and prophecies, emergized by dreams, ideas, and creative impulses. We have the ability to detach and see a higher perspective and the ability to put ourselves in another’s shoes. Our challenges as a team are to avoid being impersonal, talking too much, and allowing our energies to be scattered.”

I study the five images, noting that the interview begins and ends with an Ace, which seems fitting. Even though the element Fire (Diamonds) is not represented as a suit, fire is seen in abundance on the Eight of Spades representing what I should NOT expect from this deck. I am not quite sure how to interpret this. Fire has many fine attributes, but it also can represent egoism, insensitivity or lack of awareness to others, greed, over-ambition, impatience, or temper. Unfortunately, those tendencies come quite naturally to me as a Sagittarius. My relationship with this deck may well be more productive without them, even if we also experience limitation of Fire’s better qualities.

To read my review of The Playing Cards Oracle, Alchemy Edition, click HERE.