Monthly read - August

I know that I have promised to use a different deck each month, but then I went back home for a couple of months and took only my Jodo-Camoin deck... So here it goes, Tarot de Marseille again.

Atmosphere of the month: 10 of Coins

Health: Knight of Wands, IV Emperor

Family: 5 of Wands, 6 of Cups

Hobby: 5 of Coins, Page of Cups

Friends: XVII The Star

As opposed to lonely July, in August my husband joined me, so my dreams turned into flesh (10 of Cups).

My health will be more stable and I will be much more energetic (Knight/Wands, Emperor). I will be under protection of my family and surrounded by loving people (5/Wands, 6/Cups). As for my hobbies, maybe it will be a time for starting things that I liked anew (5/Coins, Page/Cups). Friends will be pouring to my place, visiting me :) (The Star).

Monthly read - July

Recently I'm working with Tarot de Marseille again, so I used it also for my monthly read. It's a Jodorowsky&Camoin deck.

My first experience with TdM was difficult - I couldn't find my way of reading it, didn't actually "hear" what it was saying. Recently however, after a long break, when I started all over again, something changed and I feel more from the cards. Also  I seem to need less cards to get a message. For example, for my monthly reads I used to pull three cards for every topic. When I pulled from TdM, one card was enough to tell me something (in this month's case, only the "family" part needed more explanation).

So...

Atmosphere of the month, important matters: XVI The Tower (again!)

Health: Knight of Coins

Family: 4 of Wands, 7 of Wands, 7 of Coins

Hobby: 2 of Wands

Friends: 4 of Coins

The Tower from TdM is different than from RWS style decks. It shows me some sort of liberation, being relieved. I'm under a lot of stress now and that may change in July, because I'm visiting my family and staying with them for a longer period.

My health will also improve (Knight/Coins).

My family will be supportive, but some frictions are also possible.

Hobby: is see knitting needles here!

My friends will be visiting me, they will surround me like the coins surround the rectangle in the center.

What's blocking my health - CC

For some time I've had numerous small problems with my health, seemingly not connected to one another, but in my opinion they must have the same root. Of course, I'm working very hard recently, so it's normal I'm having problems, but there are simply too many not to be suspicious. I wanted to search for a reason and made the Celtic Cross spread.

1. The situation - Knight of Wands.

2. What's blocking - 2 of Wands.

3. What's in my mind - 7 of Swords.

4. What's in my heart - Page of Cups.

5. Recent reason for the situation - VIII Justice.

6. Near future - Page of Swords.

7. My attitude towards the problem - Knight of Swords.

8. Influence of the environment - 9 of Cups.

9. My fears and hopes - Page of Pentacles.

10. Further future, result - 7 of Cups.

First of all, I was surprised, that a HALF of the cards were court cards! Not in the "environment" place, though.

Interpretation: I have to work hard, like "pulling the chariot of the Knight of Wands. The situation is very demanding, but I'm still not quite there, I don't feel prepared enough (2/Wands). In my mind I have many dark, depressive thoughts, slithering like snakes in my head (7/Swords). In my heart I'm still only a Page, not mature enough for the new situation (Page/Cups), I miss some of my freedom.

The cause of my situation: I was thrown out of balance (VIII Justice) by some revolutionary events. In near future I will be still asking questions (Page/Swords).

My attitude towards the problem: I want to cut it off as soon as possible (Knight/Swords). My environment is supporting me (9/Cups). My fears are that of an adolescent one (Page/Pentacles). In the end I'll find some emotional wisdom (Sphinx as a symbol of knowledge on 7/Cups).

By the way, I think Jolanda Tarot is an incredible deck, but looks really ugly with these purple frames. I can't trim it though, because I don't know the imagery by heart and it's far from being "classical".

Monthly read - June

Since I don't have much time now, I decided to read for myself at least once per month. Each time I'll use a different tarot deck. This time I chose Tarot of the Magic Forest.

Atmosphere of the month, important matters: XVI The Tower.

Health: 8 of Swords, XI Strength, XX The Judgement

Family: Ace of Pentacles, 7 of Swords, 10 of Cups

Hobbies and creative life: Page of Pentacles, Knight of Wands, XVIII The Moon

June will probably be exciting! The Tower promises a sudden change.

Health: I will struggle, feel trapped (8/Swords) (I already have some problems now), but the good result will be up my inner strength (XI) and I should be able to revive to full health (XX).

Family: my problem and tiredness (7/Swords) will be soothed by family's helping hand (Ace/Pents, 10/Cups).

Hobbies and creative life: contacts with some young people (Page, Knight), maybe some hopes, but vague.

Why the break

I didn't write here for quite a while. There were however reasons for it and I will present them with three tarot cards. I wonder if it is understandable :)
Anyhow, I don't know when will I have some time to write here. I hope soon!

Twelve Houses - an exercise

Le Stelle on her blog made a wonderful example of how to use the Twelve Houses spread, otherwise known as Astrological Wheel. She made the example on an imaginary client. This made me instantly want to make a similar exercise :) As my guinea pig I used a character from a story I wrote - I know mostly everything about him :D His name is Vri.

So this is my exercise done according to Le Stelle's:

1st House, Aries, Fire: psychic condition of the querent. XVIII The Moon

2nd House, Taurus, Earth: money, earthly goods. King of Cups

3rd House, Gemini, Air: people close to us (more distant relatives, friends), but not the family that lived with the querent. 5 of Pentacles

4th House, Cancer, Water: emotions, closest family. King of Wands

5th House, Leo, Fire: children and small pleasures in querent's life. IV The Emperor

6th House, Virgo, Earth: working place and environment. 7 of Wands

7th House, Libra, Air: relationships, atmosphere at home, partner of the querent. 9 of Swords

8th House, Scorpio, Water: things hidden, secrets, sexuality. 10 of Pentacles

9th House, Sagittarius, Fire: learning, exploring, traveling. Queen of Wands

10th House, Capricorn, Earth: career, social status. VI The Lovers

11th House, Aquarius, Air: people more distant to the querent, exchanging of thoughts. 3 of Wands

12th House, Pisces, Water: what the querent doesn't expect. 2 of Swords

Card in the middle: a summing up card. 3 of Swords

Le Stelle advises to read a card with cards next to it and the card on the opposite side of the Wheel.

1. The Moon, 2/Swords, King/Cups, 9/Swords.

Vri is in a very bad psychological condition. He just came back home and realised that a lot of things changed and his loved one doesn't feel the same about him, because he selfishly left her for so long. He now understands (King/Cups) he was delusional (The Moon), that he hurt her deeply (9/Swords) and she's not so likely to forgive him easily (2/Swords).

2. King/Cups, The Moon, 5/Pentacles, 10/Pentacles.

He doesn't eve think about money. He can loose everything (5/Pents), he can be wealthy (10/Pents) for he brought marvelous things from his travels, but he thinks more about emotions now (King/Cups, The Moon).

3. 5/Pents, King/Cups, King/Wands, Queen/Wands.

The triangle is very well shown here: a crisis (5/Pents) between him (King/Cups), his love (Queen/Wands) and her lawful husband (King/Wands).

4. King/Wands, 5/Pents, The Emperor, The Lovers.

He would like to regain his position (King/Wands) with his love, the queen (The Lovers), but her husband's position (The Emperor) is stronger than ever.

5. The Emperor, King/Wands, 7/Wands, 3/Wands.

Well, he just learned about a new child in his love's life and he also tries to be a father to his own son (The Emperor). He wants to fight for that (7/Wands) with his rival (King/Wands) and he'll do whatever he can (3/Wands).

6. 7/Wands, The Emperor, 9/Swords, 2/Swords.

Courtiers don't exactly know how to welcome him back at court (2/Swords), but they can see that he's not the queen's favourite anymore (7/Wands), the king (The Emperor) is stronger, so they allow themselves to be a bit nasty to him (9/Swords), especially in words.

7. 9/Swords, 7/Wands, 10/Pents, The Moon.

That's bad... There's grief and grudge (9/Swords), chaos (7/Wands) and distrust (The Moon), but the only light in that dark tunnel is 10/Pents: she didn't give up being family with him completely.

8. 10/Pents, 9/Swords, Queen/Wands, King/Cups.

He secretly wants a real home (10/Pents), but instead of that he keeps hurting (9/Swords) her (Queen/Wands) and well, he loves her in his own, weird way (King/Cups).

9. Queen/Wands, 10/Pents, The Lovers, 5/Pents.

He traveled selfishly, not thinking about other people (Queen/Pents), but that is going to stop (the Queen stumps on an Sagittarius' arrow), because from now on he's to create a more stable relationship (10/Pents) and she will probably forgive him in the end (The Lovers). 5/Pents added here looks like overcoming the crisis.

10. The Lovers, Queen/Wands, 3/Wands, King/Wands.

And he regains his position! (King/Wands, 3/Wands) thanks to the queen (Queen/Wands) loving him (The Lovers).

11. 3/Wands, The Lovers, 2/Swords, The Emperor.

The courtiers may not like him (2/Swords), but they can see that things changed (3/Wands) and it's time to respect him again, because of the influence he has on the queen (The Lovers, The Emperor).

12. 2/Swords, 3/Wands, The Moon, 7/Wands.

He doesn't expect that his not easily gained balance (2/Swords) will soon fall apart (7/Wands), it won't stay the same (3/Wands), because the destiny feared by his queen is approaching (The Moon).

Sum-up card: 3/Swords.

Vri caused a lot of havoc and pain, but that situation will change. His love will forgive him... but there won't be any happiness forever.

This was interesting! And fits the story so well! The next step you can make is to look at the triangles created by the elements (Fire as career, Earth as money and physical health, Swords as intellectual sphere and Cups for feelings), but I think I've quite exhausted the topic here, so I'll stop now :)

Three Kings' Eve - Part IV

APRIL: XX Judgement, X Wheel of Fortune, 6 of Wands

The Queen will receive some news, that will give her new energy (Judgement) and will cause a change in her life (Wheel of Fortune). She will find new goals and new strength to try and achieve those goals (6/Wands).