Week at a Glance: Honeysuckle

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 24, 2013 I am using the Celtic Tree Oracle by Liz and Colin Murray, illustrataed by Vanessa Card (St. Martin's Press).

My card is UILLEAND (Honeysuckle).

The ogham symbol for Uilleand, as shown on the Celtic Tree Oracle card, looks like this:

Also shown on the card is a lapwing (or peewit), which the Murrays tell us is connected to Uilleand.

The keyphrase provided for Uilleand in this deck is "hidden secret." Specifically, we are talking about "the labyrinth of inner knowledge. . . where the fertile secrets of the soul lie waiting." (Murray)

This week I need to be aware of the potential for discovering inner truths and distinguishing false from true on my spiritual journey. The Murrays write that these "hidden secrets" are not as difficult to understand as I might think, once I develop the ability to pick them out "from the background noise."

Lenormand Line of Five and Tarot Cards

I found out about this fascinating spread over at Inner Whispers, where Chloe directed me to the Seer Pathways site and Lisa Frideborg Lloyd's "Who Am I" spread. From there I traveled over to Neopagan Priestess to see what Kerry did with it.

Now I am ready to try it myself!

I am using the French Cartomancy deck (published by Lo Scarabeo) with the Shapeshifter Tarot by D.J. Conway and Sirona Knight, with illustrations by Lisa Hunt (Llewellyn Publications). The Shapeshifter deck is one of my oldest and dearest friends, and I wanted to see what it would say about me!

In the future, I will try to develop my own "Lennie and Tarot" spread, but for now, I am going to use Lisa's "Who Am I" spread, with the five Lenormand cards representing my personality and the two Tarot cards representing "Lesson to Learn" and "Soul Card."


Personality:
COFFIN (8) ~ TOWER (19) ~ MOON (32) ~ GARDEN (20) ~ DOG (18)

All of these cards seem to have a lonely or moody tone to them. Even the typically gregarious Dog is alone on his card. I do see two people on the Garden, peering into the fountain.

Coffin suggests "death" to me, which can either mean the need to let something "die" (let it go) or perhaps the "death" of an expectation, hope, or dream. Both of these interpretations resonate with me.

Tower suggests that I need to face and accept the truth, even if it is unpleasant. Coffin plus Tower gives us "morgue, hospice, prison" according to Sylvie Steinbach (The Secrets of the Lenormand Oracle). This makes a lot of sense to me in a figurative sense. All three of these have to do with deprivation, restriction, or punishment.  I get a mental image of being confined in a coffin inside a tower. Talk about being closed off! I admit that in many ways I have a depressed or repressed personality (I was clinically diagnosed with depression 20 years ago). I tend to bottle up or suppress things. I dislike confrontation so much that I often choose not to express myself when I am hurt or disappointed.

I feel that Moon represents the importance of intuition, dreams, and illusions (for better or worse) in my life. Interestingly, Tower plus Moon can be seen as a reference to the entertainment industry -- and the fact is, I do like to entertain (maybe that doesn't make sense for a depressed personality, but then again, a positive audience response to an effort to entertain can certainly improve one's mood).  All my life I have enjoyed acting in plays and performing music (singing, guitar, piano).

Garden suggests planting and nurturing, encouraging things to grow. Moon plus Garden makes me think of a garden party in the moonlight, surrounded by flowers and trees bathed in soft light. In general, this is a joyful combination. The keyword "entertainment" comes up again here (Steinbach).

Dog is often about trusted friends, loyalty, and support. Garden plus Dog is a card of celebration, reunion, and gatherings (Steinbach). I do maintain links to my past, with people and places I care about and value. I enjoy revisiting these people and places (reunion), blending past and present into a rich tapestry of memories and emotions. I value my family and friends who have stood by me during difficult times.

Lesson to Learn:
WARRIOR OF AIR (12)

In this deck, the Warrior of Air is comparable to the Knight of Wands. He is represented by Taliesin, the Celtic Welsh bard of legend and history. The card focuses on guidance, changes, movement, and creative inspiration. Taliesin knows that all of this comes from the spiritual plane, and that is the lesson I am meant to learn. This applies whether I seek deep wisdom, magic, or growth and expansion in any area of my life.

Soul Card:
TEN OF CUPS / Happiness (10)

It's hard for me to imagine a more appropriate Soul Card for myself. In addition to representing contentment, success, and happiness, this card relates to spiritual energy and psychic talents. I am somewhat amused to see that the woman on this card is shapeshifting into a lizard. I personally don't feel particularly drawn to lizards on the physical plane, but I do feel a connection to dragons and lizards at some level, and that has come out in much of my writing.

Lots to think about here! Thank you, Chloe, for calling my attention to this spread -- and thank you, Lisa, for creating it!

High Priestess Necklace

As many of you know, when I'm not reading Tarot, doing Astrology, or writing books, I design and make jewelry. Every now and then, I am inspired by a Tarot card to create a special piece of jewelry, which I share on this blog.

Way back in 2011 (has it really been that long ago?) I created a necklace that was inspired by _The Emperor_ from Ciro Marchetti's Legacy of the Divine deck (Llewellyn).

Today I'm sharing a necklace inspired by The High Priestess from the Crystal Visions Tarot by Jennifer Galasso (U.S. Games Systems, Inc.):

For the necklace, I chose oval and round glass pearls and pearlescent white seed beads to represent the Moon. I then picked up the lovely blue-periwinkle color in the gown of this particular High Priestess, which also serves as a reference to the element Water. I chose an antiqued silver bail, bead cones, spacers, and bead caps to simulate glimmering silver moonlight and stars. To see more pictures or to purchase this High Priestess inspired necklace, visit my _Etsy Shop_, _ArtFire Shop_, or _Jewelry blog_.

Week at a Glance: King of Wands, 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.

For the week of March 17, 2013 I am using the Dragons Tarot by Manfredi Toraldo, with artwork by Severino Baraldi (Lo Scarabeo).

My card is the KING OF WANDS, reversed.  

In this deck, the King of Wands is "a great Masai chief of the past, unknown but powerful...a chief between legend and reality." The card is said to represent "fulfilled commitment."

But note that it was drawn reversed. To me, this usually suggests delays or obstacles that block the energy represented by the upright card. Frankly, I'm getting a little annoyed by the predominance of reversed cards in my Week at a Glance. When do I get a week that's all sunshine and flowers?

Oh well. It looks like I'm going to experience some turbulence again this week with the reversed King of Wands. First of all, Kings represent authority, command, control, and that sort of thing. There may be something taking place this week that I cannot control, over which I do not have authority or command. The suit of Wands, to me, represents will, action, creativity, and career matters (among other things). So perhaps the delay/obstacle relates to that area of life.

With Court Cards, I often like to consult _Kate Warwick-Smith_ and her archetypal patterns. Here's what she has for the King of Wands:

• Supporter: Spiritual Elder
• Detractor: Zealot
• Resource: Spiritual Vision
• Challenge: Illusion

At the risk of oversimplifying, I am thinking the reversed position of my King of Wands suggests that I look closely at the "Detractor" and "Challenge" aspects of the card. Warwick-Smith writes: "Wand detractors create illusion and demonstrate how our ego can manipulate our sense of reality."

Taken all together, the vibes I get from the King of Wands, reversed, give me a sense of delayed or blocked achievement and control, along with possible delayed or blocked career advancement. I feel that I need to take this into account, but not let it deter me from pursuing my goals. I just may have to deal with some roadblocks or resistance along the way. And perhaps I will benefit from the reminder that I am not (and cannot be) in control at all times.