Two of Cups β€” Tarots Oreste Zevola

Sunday, March 18th, 2012

Artist: Oreste Zevola

 

Excellent! Two of Cups again. I admit, I still find this deck’s artwork slightly unnerving. My younger sister, who is still visiting, points out that that the cups are smiling and that it’s not their fault if they have pointy teeth. I don’t want her to leave, but I haven’t told her so. Perhaps she will only find out if she happens to read my blog. Before tomorrow. Morning. She is my Two of Cups buddy.

 

Connect
with anotherβ€”
in union
in friendship
in partnership
in working
in sharing
in helping
in seeing how
two are the same.

 

Make peace
in a relationship.
Opposites
are gone.
Agree
and forgive
and forget.

 

Bond.
Accept.
Drawn in.
Move forward
together.

 

 

 

 

Strength β€” Tarots Oreste Zevola

Friday, January 20th, 2012

Artist: Oreste Zevola

Β Tell me something about a little boy’s anger.

 

Upright: Strength, courage, patience, control, compassion

Reversed: Weakness, self-doubt, lack of self-discipline

 

This card represents not physical strength, but inner strength and the power of the spirit to overcome any obstacle.

 

Strength is great stamina and persistence, tempered by an underlying patience and inner calm which reveals great composure and maturity. Inside each of us is a passionate, reactionary side that sometimes shows its Beastly-face. It takes great Strength to bring instinctual reactions into balance with the greater good.

 

Strength does not act out in rage or hatred, but looks at the situation with love and compassion. Strength’s calm inner-voice is often drowned out by the hubbub of emotion and fear. The qualities of Strength appear once raw emotion is transcended; this creates a silence where spiritual wisdom and intuition may awaken. Strength is a higher level of awareness that allows one to take responsibility for the Self, master the Self, then let the Self be the master of its world.

 

Strength offers love and patience to tame the Beast. She gives space to the needs of others. She forgives imperfections. Thus, she creates a safe and trusting environment of gentle influence. Strength is the Beast Whisperer.

 

Strength says: Conquer your fears; control your impulses. Be strong, assertive, and persevering. Do not lose patience with yourself or what you are doing. There is no room for self-doubt. You have the strength to tame the beasts within yourself. If you are pushing too hard, withdraw and be patient. This time of trouble, too will end.

 

Tame yourself. Subdue the the Beast with love & peace.

Nine of Coins β€” Tarots Oreste Zevola

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

Artist: Oreste Zevola

 

The little white book that comes with the deck is all written in French and says nothing of the minor arcana.

 

I had Martin draw this card, so it is for him, not me. He speaks French, so he and the deck should get along, one would think. Except, his initial reaction upon looking at the card was, “Ooh, scary.” It’s not supposed to be scary. It’s just how the card looks, with what seems to be some horned zombie on the bottom with a lizard across its face and two dismembered arms and an upside-down, somewhat anatomically-correct heart. Or at least, this is what I see. No wonder this is not a terribly popular deck.

 

The artist’s interests lie in design and primitive art with a slightly surrealist bent. This is the angle from which he approached his deck. He has little interest in the deck as an occult tool of divination. This should not stop us from using his cards as divination tools: the first decks were meant only for gaming, and yet it is from these decks that the whole system of esoteric divination was devised. And although he seems slightly interested in the cards as a game, his deck design precludes using it as such: the cards are so awkwardly long they are impossible to shuffle.

 

So I return to divination and the occult and whatnot. The nine of coins is about enjoying the good life and harvesting the fruit of one’s labor. This is generally a pleasant card, I think, but that the small image on the bottom seems to show the harvest as one’s own arms and heart. Maybe this is the harvest, as everything we are successful at producing is product of our arms and heart. And sometimes, maybe, the harvest seems painful and heartbreaking, because afterward we have to let it go. But when the fruits of our labor are properly harvested, we should retain our arms and heart that we might go on to use them another season.

 

As Martin said, “Ooh, scary.”
As I said, no wonder this is not a terribly popular deck.