I've been using the Celtic Cross mostly, but I found an interesting one called The Sacred Quest Spread in Rachel Pollack's book Complete Illustrated Guide to the Tarot.

1. What is your quest?
2. What path are you on?
3. Where does it lead?
4. What opposes you?
5. What aids you?
6. What must you sacrifice?
7. What will you become?

1. Strength
2. King of Coins
3. Four of Swords
4. The Star
5. Ace of Batons
6. Six of Swords
7. Three of Swords

Those darn Swords again.

I had seen it before, and loved the artwork, but the fact that the suits are renamed (Hearts for Cups, Leaves for Swords, Acorns for Wands, and Bells for Pentacles) and some of the Major Arcana are renamed as well (Justice is "The Dryad," The Stars are now "The Naiad," etc.) turned me off a bit, or, I guess, made me think it might be more difficult to read with. I wanted to be sure that the first decks I bought were ones that were fairly traditional, at least as far as the configuration of the suits was concerned.

Now that I've been studying the tarot for awhile, I'm familiar enough with the cards that I didn't think it would bother me, and I liked the idea of buying a deck that was small enough to carry around in my purse. And they are very cute.

trinity doughnuts tarot says:

When drawing the Moon, we can be sure that somewhere in our lives something is not being interpreted as it "really is". These "false" interpretations or identities may be stimulating for a time being – and freeing – but the feelings they engender cannot be compared to, or judged by the standards of, our “real lives”. And, vice versa. The energy of the Moon is full of imagination and fantasy, but also fosters apprehension and fear. It is everything in life that we do not understand, and yet by which we are entranced.

As a maintainer of the social structure the King represents authority, power, and judgement. He takes the mental energy of Air and uses it to uphold and rule the world with the keenness of his mind and the force of his personality. His crown is yellow, the colour of mental energy, while his mantle is purple, for wisdom. His cap . . . is red, the colour of action. The King's intellect does not exist for itself alone, but rather for what it can do, as a tool of authority.

- Rachel Pollack, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom

I was talking about the Tarot to Bob tonight, and trying to put my feelings about it into words. I told him that to me, it isn't really divination per se, but a way to tap into the things I already know, but that I may not want to confront, or which may not be in the forefront of my consciousness.

Every reading I've done has told me things that I already know, or validated feelings that I have. There haven't been any great revelations, but I didn't expect that. What I've found has been, I don't know, comforting, I guess. Made me pay attention sometimes, made me look at things that I would prefer to ignore, but on the whole just giving me things to think about. And I like that. Even the Five of Coins.

More info at Knitting Zen.

In the year after my trip to the ashram I lived in a garage and wandered from diner to cafe to club reading Tarot cards for five bucks. I made just enough to pay for whatever I was drinking or eating and enough to buy a book or two. I listened to my friends play music and danced daughters-of-Jah dancing with my new age sisters. Arms in the air. Birkenstocks shuffling. Hearts lifted to the sky.

Fatshadow :: This blog makes my ass look fair and balanced.

It's a great story. Tish's life was, I think, the life I wanted to be living back then, but didn't. I think I always felt I was playing at it. Am playing at it. Except that the cards seem to be talking to me in some very interesting ways, ways that I didn't expect. Or maybe I did, and that's why it took me so long to tune into them.

I'm taking it slow, trying to do it the right way, learn about it. Looking at it as an adventure.

The Rainer Maria Rilke Archive

My card for today was The Moon. The first Major Arcana card I've drawn in two weeks. I've gotten mostly swords, a few pentacles and wands. Which could be kind of discouraging, but isn't, really, because while the cards are somber, their message is very clear, and very suited to my mood and concerns lately. As is The Moon:

When drawing the Moon, we can be sure that somewhere in our lives something is not being interpreted as it "really is." These "false" interpretations or identities may be stimuating for a time being - and freeing - but the feeling they engender cannot be compared to, or judged by the standards of, our "real lives." And, vice versa. The energy of the Moon is full of imagination and fantasy, but also fosters apprehension and fear. It is everything in life that we do not understand, and yet by which we are entranced.

trinity doughnuts tarot