I found several tarot spreads that look like lovely ones to do for the New Year:

BellaOnline Sacred Days of Yule Spread: "This spread will help you to learn to apply the tarot to enjoy and enrich your passage through the twelve festive days from December 20th to 31st. The meaning of each card in the spread reflects the energy of the festivity associated with each of the twelve days."

Aeclectic Tarot Holiday Spreads: Spreads for holidays - Christmas, Halloween, New Year and Pagan holidays such as Beltane and Imbolc.

Tarot Passage's January 2006 Tarot Spread of the Month: New Year's Revolution Spread: "We often make New Year's resolutions on December 31st for the coming year...and often we break them sometime around January 5th...or 15th, if we're really motivated. That's because we forget to think about the repercussions these resolutions can have, or the deeper issues surrounding these "bad habits" or long-term inclinations. This spread is designed to bring about a personal New Year's Revolution in behavior."

I also created a new one (I'm sure I'm not the first to think of it): a Christmas 3-Card Spead - Christmas Past / Christmas Present / Christmas Future.

The one I did this morning:

What it says to me: That I'm making progress! Every year I say I'm going to start Christmas shopping early, that I'm not going to take it so seriously. Last year I told myself that I was going to make all my Christmas gifts. I did make things -- I knit scarves and made handmade soap, but I also bought things for almost everyone--unconvinced that my handmade gifts would be good enough, would be enough.

This year I originally thought that I was going to buy everyone gift cards, that I wasn't going to try to buy the perfect thing for everyone, but of course, when it came down to it, I bought things. I couldn't just give everyone gift cards, it didn't seem right. I think I did pretty well, though, in getting the right things for people, and I didn't spend too much money.

The Knight of Cups, however, is a bit more relaxed. He's a romantic--sensitive, poetic, dreamy. His horse is moving, but slowly, picking up his feet, but with his head down. The Knight is a bit passive, somewhat withdrawn. But I see the Cups suit, as a symbol of creativity and emotion, as being an improvement over the suit of Pentacles in this situation. Christmas shouldn't be practical or cautious, it should be filled with emotion and romance. Not as far as money goes, but in thought and word and deed.

The Page of Cups as a symbol of Christmas future says to be driven by love and emotion and intuition -- to focus more on the spirit of the season and less on practical things. To be more aware of "heart's desire" and less about how much money i spent. It's a goal, anyway.

As my nephew says, "Happy Merry Christmas!"

My friend Liora sent me a belated birthday gift this week -- The Tarot of the New Vision.

I haven't spent a lot of time with it yet, but it's very intriguing. The images show the normal Rider-Waite images, but from the back,, as if you were viewing the scene from behind. Certainly a different way of looking at things and, much like the Hanged Man, perhaps that different way will spark some new insights.

Got a really lovely, very positive reading for the upcoming week:

I didn't do a really in-depth interpretation of it, but just jotted some quick thoughts in my journal:

Six of Cups: Pleasure from the past, simple joys of childhood. A reminder to attempt to capture those feelings again. Innocence, simple contentment

Seven of Pentacles: Good return on investment, financial success. Growth and possibilities. Seeing the fruits of your labor. Taking a break to assess progress. Contemplation, reflection, considering options.

Ace of Swords: Victory. Mental power. Answers to questions. Great strength, powerful insight. Truth, justice (and the American Way?), fortitude.

I mentioned earlier that I wanted to talk about the different types of decks, specifically the more traditional ones. While I love the unusual ones--the more unusual, the better, sometimes--the one I use almost exclusively is a very traditional one, the Universal Tarot.

The first deck I bought was the Leonardo DaVinci one. I bought it because it was beautiful, but I figured out pretty early on that it wasn't any good for reading, for me, since I really didn't have any experience at all. When I went to look for a more traditional deck, I ended up buying the Radiant Rider-Waite. I opened it, and the bright colors seemed garish to me, and I took it back to the store. The next one I bought was the Universal, and it was love at first site.

The illustrator is Roberto DeAngelis; there are other tarots called Universal, but this is the one I use. It's very similar to the original Rider-Waite in symbolism, but the artwork appeals to me much more. The colors are softer than the Radiant Rider-Waite, and are more sophisticated than the original Rider-Waite. There's also one called the Universal Waite, which is different yet (cards from that deck are shown in this entry, below.

In any event, all of the ones I mention would be considered traditional, with more or less conventional imagery, making the cards easier to read.

I have a copy of the Fairy Tarot, and I did a reading with it this morning, but while the cards are beautiful, I can never remember what the suits mean. Instead of Wands, Coins, Cups and Swords, they are Acorns, Bells, Hearts, and Leaves. I suppose if I used them all the time, I would remember, but I don't. Nor do the cards carry the kind of imagery or symbolism that indicates the traditional meaning, so that makes them even harder to read.

I know that there are tarot readers who use non-traditional decks for readings, and are able to interpret them in perhaps non-traditional ways, but I'm not yet experienced enough (or intuitive enough) to do that. Maybe it will come in time, but for now, I'm very happy with the Universal. It's just different enough to please me, I think. After all, I can't be too traditional.

I got a promotional email from Mydomain.com this morning, offering five dollars off a domain name purchase. I took a look to see how much their price was, and it was only $8.50/year, so by using the $5.00 off coupon, it would have only been $3.50, so I bought rarepeacetarot.com. I used to own rarepeace.org, but a squatter has grabbed it, along with rarepeace.com, thus rarepeacetarot.com, which kind of pleases me, anyway.

I'm not hosting it anywhere, I'm just forwarding it to willa.com/rarepeace for now, but for $3.50, how could I resist?

I just did a Body-Mind-Spirit three card reading, and got:

1. Four of Cups
2. Nine of Swords
3. The Star

It's funny, because yesterday I was thinking about the cards that I find particularly intriguing, and the Four of Cups and Nine of Swords were two of them. I hadn't thought about The Star, but it is, of course, an interesting one.

I talked about the Four of Cups this morning; in general, I take it to mean that I'm inclined to concentrate on the wrong things, to look at my life as being commonplace or boring, and not realizing that there are other things being offered to me if I would only recognize them. In the "Body" position, perhaps this means that my body would feel better to me if I spent more time on it, fed it better, got more exercise, i.e., not just accepting the status quo, but taking the cup that is offered, realizing I could better my lot. That one probably merits more thought.

The Nine of Swords represents worry, guilt, anguish. It shows a woman sitting up in bed, head in hands, with the nine swords arrayed on the wall behind her. To me, it represents middle-of-the-night worry, those things that may not seem quite so awful in the daylight, but which take on terrible significance in the small hours. In LearnTarot.com, Joan Bunning says:

Needless to say, the Nine of Swords is not the most pleasant of cards, but it doesn't always indicate major distress. Often it is just a sign of some element of unhappiness or trouble - a vulnerable spot in your life. This card is often a warning from your Inner Guide that the path you are going down may be a difficult one. If you approach the Nine of Swords in this spirit - as a caution sign - you will be able to use it constructively. Examine your situation carefully to be sure you are making the best choices. Even a small change can make all the difference.

For me, it is completely apropos as representative of my mental state, I can't argue with it.

And The Star! Hope, inspiration, generosity, just the perfect card for "Spirit." And this (again, from Joan Bunning), is perfect:

In readings, the Star is most welcome when grief and despair have overwhelmed us. In our darkest moments, we need to know that there is hope, that there is light at the end of the tunnel. The Star is the opposite of the Devil who strips us of our faith in the future. Card 17 holds out the promise that we can eventually find peace of mind. The Star also reminds us to open our heart and release our fears and doubt. If you have been holding back in any way, now is the time to give generously.

When I checked out my Tarot.com horoscope this morning, I also noticed the tarot card of the day, which was the High Priestess from the Cosmic Tarot. It had been awhile since I looked at those cards, so I took a look at the deck there (they have pictures of all the cards of quite a few decks; you can do readings there, too, and choose any one of probably two dozen decks to use). This deck is really beautiful, and it might be one that I would like to have for my collection, but I'm not sure it would be one that I would use for readings.

The reviews at Amazon seem to indicate that a lot of people do use it for readings. It's just that the few cards that I looked at, while beautiful, didn't have the same imagery that I'm used to, the traditional imagery. For instance, I looked at the Four and Five of Cups, since I was writing about them last night.

Maybe if I was more of an expert at the cards, it wouldn't matter, but as you can see here, in the Four, all of the cups seem to have the same weight, i.e., in the traditional decks there are three cups in the foreground and one being offered separately, so the meaning (at least to me) is more clear. If you are familiar with the traditional meanings, I suppose it's obvious that the individual in the painting is experiencing apathy, but the position of the cups don't give any clues.

In the Five, the meaning is obviously grief, but all five cups are overturned. Certainly the traditional meaning could be applied, i.e., that once the immediacy of new grief has passed, there will still be things to look forward to, the basis for happiness still exists, but it's definitely not apparent in the card as it is in most decks, with three cups on their sides and two still standing.

Anyway, a beautiful deck, but I mention the differences for the benefit of new readers who may be considering various decks to purchase. For someone unfamiliar with the tarot, a good first deck is probably one of the more traditional ones, at least until the meanings are more firmly in your mind. I'll show some of those decks in an upcoming post.

As I was thinking of moving on from the Hanged Man, fascinating though he is, I thought of several cards that are particularly interesting to me. I mentioned before that I've never been especially interested in the Major Arcana; the Minor Arcana, with its "everyday" symbolism speaks to me much more.

One of those cards is the Four of Cups.

In Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom, Rachel Pollack says:

The three cups symbolize the person's past experience. Bored by what life has given him he does not recognize the new opportunities being offered to him by the fourth cup. The resemblance of that cup to the Ace suggests that the new possibilities can lead to happiness and satisfaction. In the main, however, the card shows a situation when everything in life has come to appear the same. The card sometimes shows apathy resulting from a dull, unstimulating environment.

Compare this card with the Five of Cups. Of the Five, Pollack says:

The picture depicts sorrow but also acceptance. Three cups lie spilled out, but two remain standing, even if at the moment the figure concentrates on the three.

. . .

She needs to accept that some happiness has suddenly vanished, been knocked over. She does not yet realize that something remains, for first she must understand and accept the loss. Has she herself knocked over the cups, either through recklessness or by taking them for granted?

. . .

With its deep evocation of regret the card forms another Gate, bringing us to that sense of spiritual loss and separation which all over the world has given rise to myths of a fall or an exile from Paradise.

Both of these cards indicate that your attention is focused on one thing, while another thing is waiting for you. In the Four, your attention is on the three cups in front of you, cups that you may be taking for granted, cups that represent your ordinary, day to day life, while you are being offered a fourth cup that you are ignoring.

The fourth cup could also be seen as something that you are wishing for, i.e., the three cups represent that same boring, day to day life, while you are wishing that something more exciting would be handed to you, or drop down out of the clouds. In either case, the card represents self-absorption, apathy, boredom, wishing that things were other than they are.

Learntarot.com says:

On this card, we see a man who is unaware of the cup being offered to him. He misses this gift because he's turned within. In readings, the Four of Cups can indicate that you are wrapped up for the moment in your own world.

Her interpretations tend to be very positive (which is why I like them). She goes on:

In some situations, you must focus on yourself. When life is too stressful, you need to devote time and energy to yourself or you will feel swamped. The Four of Cups can represent a positive period of self-reflection and renewal. By taking the time to go within to dream, muse and reflect, you restore your emotional balance.

The Four of Cups is sometimes a sign of apathy. You don't really care much about anything. Your life seems stale and flat because you've lost interest in the activities that used to bring you pleasure. You're not motivated to make much of an effort in any direction. At such times, the Four of Cups can show that you're stuck emotionally. You need something to focus on that will so engage your mind and heart that your path down river becomes clear again. Open yourself to your surroundings. Soon you will be on your way again.

The Fives in all of the suits represent struggle. Pollack says that "Cups show the emotional reaction to loss." The Five shows a figure in mourning, grieving for what is lost, be it tangible or intangible. The figure's back is turned away from the two cups that remain standing as he/she concentrates on the three that are overturned, but the general feeling is that once the loss is mourned and accepted, the two cups that are still standing will be there, waiting for when they can again be appreciated.

I found the greatest journal today. I was in Border's doing a little bit of Christmas shopping, and I looked at the section of blank journals. This store carries a large selection of Paperchase products. They had several big journals intended for planning various things--there was a gardening one, and a "beauty" one, I think it was. The one I bought is called the "Interiors" journal and is apparently intended for planning redecorating projects. This was the best image I could find of it.

It has several sections of lined pages, a section of graph paper and a section of blank sheets, but the best part is that these various sections are separated by clear propylene sleeves, some full sheet size and some divided into fours. I suppose they're intended for paint swatches or fabric samples, but I think they will be ideal to slip tarot cards into, i.e., the card of the day or week or month or whatever. There's also a full size zip pocket in the back.

Like most Paperchase journals, it closes with an elastic band. I also bought a small (4x6) one to carry with me. It's organized and outfitted the same way, only in a smaller form, plus it has several heavy paper dividers with pockets. I thought it would be nice to put in my bag to make notes in during the day. I will probably use the large one as a permanent record of the card interpretations that I'm collecting. I thought the graph paper secction would be especially good for drawing out spreads.

I thought it was very reasonably priced at $10.99, for something with so many features.

I love Half Price Books. I go there every couple of weeks or so to check out the tarot section. I almost always find a deck there; this weekend it was Tarot of the Cat People. This deck hasn't been on my wish list, but at $5.98, I couldn't resist. It was brand new, it looked like it hadn't even been shuffled. It was the complete set, with the book. I've also found the Victoria Regina deck there, and a brand-new Gilded Tarot still in the cellophane.

I'm always thrilled to find deals like this, of course, but it makes me wonder. They hardly pay you anything for books you sell to them, maybe a quarter or fifty cents. I can't imagine they pay much more than that for a deck of tarot cards, particularly if they sell them so cheaply. My gain, I guess, but it does seem odd.

Here's (of course) the Hanged Man from the Tarot of the Cat People

From Learning the Tarot, by Joan Bunning, in Appendix A, "The Fool's Journey." (Bunning's associated website is LearnTarot.com:

Undaunted, the Fool pushes on. He is determined to realize his vision, but he finds life is not so easily tamed. Sooner or later, he encounters his personal cross--an experience that seems too difficult to endure. the overwhelming challenge humbles him until he has no choice but to give up and let go.

At first, the Fool feels defeated and lost. He believes he has sacrified everything, but from the depths he learns an amazing truth. He finds that when he relinquishes his struggle for control, everything begins to work as it should. By becoming open and vulnerable, the Fool discovers the miraculous support of his Inner Self. He learns to surrender to his experiences, rather than fighting them. He feels a surprisingjoy and begins to flow with life.

The Fool feels suspended in a timeless moment, free of urgency and pressure. In truth his world has been turned upside-down. The Fool is the Hanged Man (12), apparently martyred, but actually serene and at peace.

I've been playing around with making an online bookstore using Amazon's "A" Store software. I filled it up with books that I've read recently, Christmas books, music and movies that I love, and a section devoted to tarot cards and books. I put in all of the decks that I own, the decks that I wish I owned, and the books that I've found to be most helpful. I intend to go through and describe each of them and why I like them; I'll be doing that over the next few days. Here's the link: Willa's Amazon Bookstore.

For some reason, I had a really hard time scanning the Hanged Man card from the Secret Tarot. The scanner kept cutting off one side or the other, even when I had it right in the middle of the scanner bed. So I fooled it by placing a magazine ad or something on top of it, then cropped it out. It still isn't a very good scan, but it will do for the moment.

Yes, I'm still studying the Hanged Man. There seems to be so much to learn about it, and so much that I can apply to my own life right now. Without going into something that's too personal to discuss here, taking some time to step back, wait, re-evaluate, "move forward by standing still" has been just what I needed to hear. I'm dedicating the month of December as my Month of the Hanged Man, a month to be patient and receptive, to break the patterns of the past, to look at things from a different perspective. I think that might be a good thing for me to do.

I did a couple of readings with the Secret Tarot tonight. One was called "Secrets, Lies and Promises," and I found it in Llewellyn's 2007 Tarot Reader. You draw four cards and they represent The Situation, A Secret (something you don't know), A Lie (something you believe, but it is not the truth), and A Promise (the Universe's Promise to You).

My cards were Judgement, Ace of Pentacles, Knave of Pentacles, and Nine of Chalices. I need to study this reading a little more, but I definitely love getting the Nine of Chalices as the Promise card. The Nine is sometimes referred to as the "Party Hearty" card -- it generally stands for a well deserved good time after a period of long hard work.

I'm beginning to think I should have the "Card of the Month" or something rather than the Card of the Day, since I'm spending so much time on this one card. But it's very interesting to me, and very pertinent to me right now, so I'm sticking with it until I've learned all I can. This is The Hanged Man from the Haindl Tarot.

From Biddy Tarot:

The Hanged Man also tells us that we can "move forward" by standing still. By suspending time, we can have all the time in the world. In readings, the Hanged Man reminds us that the best approach to a problem is not always the most obvious. When we most want to force our will on someone, that is when we should release. When we most want to have our own way, that is when we should sacrifice. When we most want to act, that is when we should wait. The irony is that by making these contradictory moves, we find what we are looking for.

From The Idiot's Guide to the Tarot ("The Personal Year and the Tarot"):

A year to listen to your inner self. It's a time of waiting and patience--suspended action, in other words, and you'll find the emphasis to be on receptivity. This year you may find yourself feeling a bit like a victim--definitely an old pattern to break. This is another karmic year where patterns from the past are dissolved.

From Moon Cat's Astrology:

The Hanged Man shows up whenever we stop what we're doing to attend to the needs of someone else, and especially when it is painful to give up that necessity, basic drive or comfort. In many ways, he is the exact opposite of the Devil - who serves only his own selfish needs. This archetype represents the power within us to completely surrender some part of self in order to fulfill what we perceive as something greater, or at least temporarily more important. The Devil gives up his soul for some material gain, and the Hanged Man gives up some material gain for his soul. Ultimately, who do you think wins? Certainly the Hanged Man - because he spurns the fleeting comforts of human existence - knowing that our souls go on forever.

In the Hanged Man card ("The Tree") in the Gaian Tarot, the "hanged man" is a woman in the yoga pose called The Tree--"right side up in an upside down world."

(Hanged Man card from the Bruegel Tarot)

I was scrolling down through the entries I made last month, and saw that I did one of those online tests, "What Tarot Card Are You," and the test said that I was The Hanged Man. The description was a nice one:

Self-sacrifice, Sacrifice, Devotion, Bound.

With the Hanged man there is often a sense of fatalism, waiting for something to happen. Or a fear of loss from a situation, rather than gain.

The Hanged Man is perhaps the most fascinating card in the deck. It reflects the story of Odin who offered himself as a sacrifice in order to gain knowledge. Hanging from the world tree, wounded by a spear, given no bread or mead, he hung for nine days. On the last day, he saw on the ground runes that had fallen from the tree, understood their meaning, and, coming down, scooped them up for his own. All knowledge is to be found in these runes.

The Hanged Man, in similar fashion, is a card about suspension, not life or death. It signifies selflessness, sacrifice and prophecy. You make yourself vulnerable and in doing so, gain illumination. You see the world differently, with almost mystical insights.

I think that the last line is pretty true--that I do see the world differently. I'm sure my husband would agree. I'm not sure about the "mystical insights," but I guess that's something that I aspire to, anyway.

I opened up my Tarot of White Cats this morning and pulled out The Hanged Cat Man card. This deck is very interesting--at first glance it's whimsical, childlike, maybe silly. But it's really very clever. The usual, traditional symbolism of the Rider-Waite deck is there, but rendered using cats instead of humans. A friend of mine bought this deck for me as a birthday present last year, and it was really a gift of love, because he doesn't care for (and actually, actively dislikes) any except the most traditional tarot cards. The Old English deck is about as far out as he's willing to go.

On the other hand, as far as I'm concerned, the weirder the better. Not necessarily for reading--my favorite deck for reading is still the De Angelis Universal Tarot--but I have a growing collection of odd and unusual--and some very beautiful--decks. The first deck I ever bought was the Da Vinci. I bought it because I thought it was beautiful--and it is--but it isn't very well suited for reading, at least for me.

As I learned more about tarot, I found that I liked decks that were based on the traditional tarot symbolism and meaning, but that express that symbolism in playful or otherwise different or unexpected ways. I also discovered that I preferred decks that kept the traditional suits for the minor arcana, i.e., Cups, Swords, Wands, and Pentacles (or Coins). In the decks that don't use this arrangement, I can never remember which symbols correspond to the traditional ones; The Tarot of the Dead, for instance, uses Pistols, Pens, Coffins and Reels (like movie reels), and I have no idea without looking at the book what they mean.

Another whimsical deck is the Halloween Tarot. I had to have that one, even though the suits are called Imps, Ghosts, Bats and Pumpkins. I never really intended to use that one for readings, I just loved it. Another one that I had to have was the Housewives Tarot. Another friend bought that for me; I keep it at work so that I always have a deck there, but one that's pretty non-threatening and not very esoteric, just in case anyone would find it unsettling.

In the White Cat deck, the Fool is, of course, a dog--getting ready to walk off the cliff, with a tabby cat clutching his ankle, trying to keep him on solid ground. The Ace of Wands is wonderful, too, showing a white cat using the wand as a scratching post. Another of my favorites is the Nine of Swords, with the cat in bed with his face in his hands.

Today's Card of the Day at Tarot.com was The Hanged Man. Their interpretation was:

Traditionally, the card known as the Hanged Man usually indicates a lack of ability to help oneself through independent action. This energy is arrested and awaiting judgment. With this card, there is no avenue for the will to regain control until the situation has passed.

This represents a good time to be philosophical, to study and meditate upon the position you find yourself in, and form resolutions for the moment you become free again. Only those who possess wisdom, patience and optimism will be able to see through limitations, including possible humiliation, to grasp the inspiring lesson one can gain from such an experience.

That makes sense -- a "suspension" (literal and figurative) of action either through inability or disinclination.