Week at a Glance: 8 of Wands

The purpose of drawing a "Week at a Glance" card is to get a sense of the sort of energy, circumstances, or personal qualities I might need to be aware of during the upcoming week.

For the week of March 3, 2013 I am using the Elemental Tarot with artwork by Marco Turini (Lo Scarabeo).

My card is the EIGHT OF WANDS, reversed.

I associate the suit of Wands with the element Fire, representing inspiration, passion, will, optimism, and action. In my personal system, the number Eight is a number of ambition, achievement, and power. Certainly those qualities are evident in the illustration on the Eight of Wands in this deck! The Golden Dawn links this card with the placement of the planet Mercury in the zodiac sign Sagittarius, which makes a lot of sense to me.

With the card being drawn reversed, I have to look at the possibility of delays or obstacles related to the upright meaning of the card. I get a sense of being held back, lack of movement (at least temporarily), stalling out, or losing momentum. This could be due to my own internal state or to outside influences, or a combination of both.

If I don't like the idea of this happening, I need to be on the lookout for ways I can turn things around through my own actions and decisions. If delays or obstacles are coming from other people or events, I may just have to make the best of it for the time being. But looking again at this card, I can see that turning this guy on his head is not going to stop him in the long run. He is going to bounce back more determined than ever.

Week at a Glance: 2 of Deniers

The purpose of drawing a "Week at a Glance" card is to get a sense of the sort of energy, circumstances, or personal qualities I might need to be aware of during the upcoming week.

For the week of February 24, 2013 I am using the 1JJ Swiss Tarot published by AGMuller in Switzerland and distributed by U. S. Games. Versions of the 1JJ Swiss have existed for over a century. One was created by Swiss cardmaker Johann Georg Rauch circa 1831-1838. I owned this deck in the 1970s but was convinced to get rid of it by my then-husband. I later got rid of him, and picked up another set of the 1JJ Swiss cards.

My card is the TWO OF DENIERS
(also known as Pentacles, Coins)

A banner on the card reads "FABRIQUE DE CARTES A SCHAFFHOUSE" meaning "Cards made of/in Schaffhouse" [Switzerland]. 

As you may recall from last week's Week At A Glance post, my mother was hospitalized after a fall, while I was still trying to get over a bad cold/bronchitis. I am feeling much better. Mom has been transferred to a rehabilitation hospital, and the staff thinks she will be able to go home on Friday. She lives alone, so my siblings and I will be reconfiguring her house, getting it ready for her. We'll be making decisions about what sort of in-home care she needs, etc.

So... Two of Deniers. The 1JJ Swiss deck has "unillustrated" pips, meaning that there are no scenes or people on the pip cards. The image on the Two of Deniers communicates balance and harmony to me, with equally sized ornate disks at top and bottom, fitted into a graceful "S" shape. The number Two commonly suggests an emphasis on balancing polarities/dualities, choices, partnership, cooperation, union, and possible tension. The suit of Deniers is the suit of Earth, representing life in the physical, material world (including domestic activities, health, finances, property).

In Stuart Kaplan's illustrated guide to this deck (Tarot Cards for Fun and Fortune Telling / U.S. Games Systems, Inc.), he provides the following Divinatory Meanings:

• Upright Two of Deniers - difficulty in launching new projects. Difficult situations arising. New troubles.
• Reversed - Literary ability. Agility in handling matters. Simulated enjoyment. Enforced gaiety.

Taking all of this together, I can easily see how it would apply to the upcoming week. Cooperation will most certainly be required among my family and myself, not to mention my mother! Possible tension? Yes. Choices? Yes. The importance of keeping things balanced and harmonious is obvious.

REVIEW: I Know You Know

From time to time I hope to review Tarot or Astrology-related fiction that I enjoyed reading.

Below is my Goodreads review of Helen Howell's new novella, I Know You Know, in which a Tarot reader finds herself threatened by a particularly nasty client (I hate when that happens, don't you?)

Go on! Read it -- _paperback_ or _Kindle_. Enjoy!



I Know You Know by Helen A. Howell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I had the pleasure of reading this novella as it was being written and, believe me, I couldn't wait for each chapter to arrive! I Know You Know is a supernatural, paranormal thriller that you won't want to put down once you've started reading.

The internal conversations between Janice, the Tarot reader, and her deceased grandmother are entertaining, even as Janice's menacing client, Edgar Kipp, keeps the reader on high alert.

From the very start, we are drawn completely into Janice's world and Edgar Kipp's as well (not a very nice place at all). We know that Gran is right -- Janice is in danger -- but who will protect her? Detective Inspector Rob Tate eventually realizes what's going on -- but he may be too late to prevent Kipp from carrying out his deadly mission.

Go ahead. Read it. You Know You Want To.

Week at a Glance: Knight of Pentacles, Rx

The purpose of drawing a "Week at a Glance" card is to get a sense of the sort of energy, circumstances, or personal qualities I might need to be aware of during the upcoming week.

Well, last week's card (_2 of Cups_) sure didn't seem to suggest a major event involving my 91-year-old mother. I visited my doctor on Monday for the cold I mentioned in my February 10th post. That afternoon my mother was rushed to the hospital after a bad fall in which she fractured a pelvic bone, scraped her head, and banged her elbow. Once hospitalized, she was told that an irregular heartbeat may have contributed to her fall. A pacemaker was recommended and inserted. She developed pneumonia, so she's being treated for that. Next on the schedule: a 1 to 2 week stay at a rehab facility to get her back up on her feet as the pelvic fracture heals.

Now, I will say that through all of this my husband has been a rock, traveling to the hospital with me and looking out for me. He finally insisted that I stay home for a couple days, as I continue to cough and blow my nose repeatedly. So the connection I made with the Two of Cups in my post still has a bearing -- but I sure didn't feel like I got a "heads up" about my mom from the cards!

For the week of February 17, 2013 I am using Tarot of the Cat People by Karen Kuykendall (U.S. Games Systems, Inc.)

My card is the
KNIGHT OF PENTACLES, reversed

Hmmm... my typical interpretation for this card is something along the lines of slow and steady, organized, determined, self-disciplined, reliable. So in the reversed position, I get a vibe of stagnation or inertia, no forward progress, an irresponsible approach, impatience, neglect, lack of direction. 

My first instinct is to see this as a caution about my health and the fact that if I do not take better care, I'm simply going to stay in this coughing-nose blowing rut another week, without improvement. The question is: What needs to be done to prevent this? Do I need an antibiotic? Should I go back to the doctor? Do I just need to stay home and rest? My mother is going to need my help or at least my presence at least some of the time this week. My sister is here, but works full time, so she can't do it all.

Perhaps the message is that I need to protect (not neglect) my health this week, and make health-conscious decisions -- because if I don't, I will only get sicker and be unable to help others who need me.