A Reading with the Ghost Tarot

I was just visiting the _Inner Whispers blog_, where Chloë shared a 3-card reading using the positions NOW, DO, and DON’T. So right away, of course, I had to do one for myself.

The Ghost Tarot by Davide Corsi (Lo Scarabeo) whispered its desire to do the reading with me, and I saw no reason to deny it the opportunity. So…

Now: EIGHT OF SWORDS
Swords is the suit of ideas, thoughts, the intellect, rationality, and communication (including self-communication). I am feeling trapped, restricted, or restrained in this area, but rather than making an effort to free myself, I accept or tolerate my perceived condition. Why? Am I intimidated, afraid to even try to break free? Or am I simply apathetic or lazy?

Do: THE EMPEROR
You won’t see The Emperor standing still for any sort of limitations or restrictions. His is the energy of “Ram tough” Aries – Fire and Force. I need to employ his take-charge attitude, enthusiasm, optimism, will power, and authority.

Don’t: KING OF WANDS
Wands is the suit of Fire, and the King seems similar to The Emperor in terms of status or authority. It almost seems as if the cards are giving me the same advice for “Do” and “Don’t.” However, let’s look at the less desirable characteristics sometimes ascribed to the King of Wands. He can be impulsive, quarrelsome, aggressive, destructive and proud (the King of Wands is linked with the sign Leo, known for its pride).

Basically, I think I am being advised to employ the positive traits of the top echelon of the Fire element and avoid the negative traits in order to successfully deal with my feelings of being trapped and restricted.

Thanks for the idea, Chloë!

Old English Tarot: 10 of Swords

In today's blog entry, Helen Howell continues her exploration of cards from the Old English Tarot by Maggie Kneen (U.S. Games Systems, Inc.)

Old English Tarot

10 of Swords

by Helen Howell

The Old English 10 of Swords just like the Rider Waite card, leaves us in no doubt that something is coming to an end. Both cards show us an image that we cannot mistake the meaning of. However, the images do tell a slightly differing story. Let’s take a look at the more traditional Rider Waite card first.

Rider-Waite Tarot (US Games)

In this image we see a man that lies face down with ten swords sticking into his back - you could say he is pinned down by some sort of personal pain. But it is worth noting that the fingers on his visible hand appear to be held in the sign of forgiveness/blessing (benediction). This indicates, at least to me, that in order to move on from this situation, and allow this ending to take place, one has to realise that it is over, finished with, etc. Because this is a number 10 card (1+0 = 1), it represents for us endings and beginnings all in one number.

The key element, I think, of the Rider Waite image is that whatever has caused one the pain, the only way to begin again is to forgive and move on. Because when we forgive what we do is actually free ourselves. So the image of the man shows us that he’s already been stabbed in the back. What else could happen? The worst is probably over, and now is the time to recover from it.

The Old English however, doesn’t appear to show us any recovery. What we get is a stormy sea and a sinking ship. I see no life boats, do you? How do you recover from that? What this card suggests to me is that some disaster has taken place. What was or is, has now come to an end. I get the sense that unlike the Rider Waite image, which tends to give me a sense of personal pain, the Old English image speaks more of some material loss – unless, of course, we put ourselves on the actual ship. But there is nothing to depict this. We are left in no doubt that this could foretell for us some sort of trouble or loss.

But wait! If we look closer at the image, we will see in the background there is land, and if we place ourselves in the ship then perhaps that is an indication that we can swim to safety. One just has to acknowledge they are on a sinking ship to get off in time to save themselves. So hidden in this image is the suggestion of recovery, and an ending and a beginning.

It appears then that the Old English has more in common with its traditional brother the Rider Waite than I first thought.

I think the fundamental message that both these cards bring home to us is that the worst is over and that we need to make an effort to bring it to its conclusion before a new beginning can be embarked on. How does one do that? By recognising that whatever it is, is over. The choice is always our own.

LWB: Ruin, desolation, trouble, sorrow.
Reversed: Benefit, temporary gain, passing success.

Sherlock Holmes Card of the Day - 9 of Observation

The Sherlock Holmes Card of the Day is:

NINE OF OBSERVATION

In The Sherlock Holmes Tarot by John Matthews and Wil Kinghan (Sterling Ethos), the suit of Observation (represented by an eye) is comparable to the suit of Swords. The quotation chosen to represent the entire suit of Observation is from The Red-Headed League: “This is a time for observation, not for talk.”

On the Nine of Observation, we see the body of the great Sherlock Holmes lying on the cobbles after being beaten almost to death by two “toughs” sent by the infamous Baron Gruner, a serial bigamist and murderer featured in The Illustrious Client. Watson is horrified to read in the newspaper that the detective is near death, but upon arriving at 221 Baker Street, he finds that Holmes has deliberately exaggerated his condition.

The Holmesian Wisdom for this card is “Now is the dramatic moment of fate” from The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Keys for this card, upright, are “suffering, cruelty, despair, depression, grave doubts, guilt, premonitions that weaken your resolve, inability to take responsibility for your own path.” Reversed, the card can suggest “gossip, shame, disgrace, ill-favoured rumour, struggle.”

The Emperor Times Four

This is the fifth entry in a series in which I share four versions of a particular Major Arcana card, and write a poem that takes us through all four versions. To read all of the poems to date, search “Times Four” in the blog search field.

To simplify the process for myself, I am going to go in alphabetic order by deck. In this post, representing The Emperor, we have the Tarot of Color by Leisa ReFalo (The Tarot Connection), the Chrysalis Tarot written by Toney Brooks with paintings by Holly Sierra (U. S. Games, Inc.), the Crystal Visions Tarot by Jennifer Galasso (U.S. Games, Inc.), and Tarot Draconis by Davide Corsi (Lo Scarabeo).

The Emperor

by Zanna Starr

Son of the Morning,

Chief Among the Mighty,

He is bold and fiery Aries,

A blazing Light, a purifying Flame.

Green Man,

Patriarch and Father,

He is balanced structure, 

Energy devoted to sustaining life.

The Emperor,

Guardian and Authority,

He is the Ram and the Eagle, 

A mighty protector and leader.

Inner Warrior,

Guide and King,

He is L’Imperatore and El Emperador,

L’Empereur and Der Herscher.

He is O Imperador.

The Emperor.

Son of the Morning.

Chief Among the Mighty.