18. The Moon — Deviant Moon Tarot

Monday, January 30th, 2012

Artist: Patrick Valenzia

 

I was going to say, “Tell me something about the moon,” as this is the Deviant Moon Tarot. Then I thought, “That’s too demanding.” As I took the cards out of the box, I thought of asking, “Tell me something about Quebec.” One card stuck in the box: the Four of Blades: solitude. I took this as a hint and changed my question yet again, shuffled, and said “What am I afraid of?” I spread the cards, considered them, and drew The Moon, upright. I was back where I had started.

 

Interpretation:

Upright: Brainwashing. Dark influences. Trickery. Illusion. Subconscious control.

Upwrong: Avoiding reality. Strange forces. Delusional thoughts. Lies and despair.

“The deviant moon casts its powerful influence over the city, controlling minds like a puppeteer.”

 

The Moon says: Something is not as it appears to be.

 

The Moon shows itself to a traveler unsure of his destination or the path on which he journeys. This Moon is the light of intuition and of dream that leads to higher understanding of the veiled messages of the unconscious to reveal the way forward.

 

The Moon illuminates the shadow side in each of us, projecting silhouettes of past fears onto our present body. Repressed images, thoughts and feelings cause inner disturbances that overwhelm us with waves of fear and anxiety.

 

Vigilance through the dark night shows the edges of that which is hidden. No matter how one feel about a situation, good or bad, the Moon says: Open your eyes. See what it really going on. Illusion causes error in judgment.

 

Deep memory must be released and the soul dredged to let the shadow side of lingering, hidden truths be pulled to the surface. Let these truths no longer haunt like monsters of the night.

 

Something is not as it appears to be. Open your eyes. See what it really going on. Illusion causes error in judgment.

 

What am I afraid of? I am afraid of losing my mind, of being an only soul, alone upon the dark side of the Moon.

 

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The World — Dragon Tarot

Thursday, January 26th, 2012
Artist: Peter Pracownik

Designer: Terry Donaldson

 

Here I am back at the Dragon Tarot, where a slender dragon wraps it wings protectively around the world. The dragons in this deck seem to have all hatched from the same clutch of eggs. If I was going to draw a dragon tarot— which I won’t but if I did— one of my main goals would be to give the dragons all their own personality and unique features. After all, dragons are people, too. But I digress.

 

My mother is here visiting. We do typical mother-daughter activities such as walking the frozen wetlands of the nearby nature preserve and constructing built-in shelving so baby-to-be has some place to store its (her?) dozens of onesies. I know the shelving project will not be completed before she leaves: I will need to finish the drywall and painting. I have other unfinished drywall projects around the house. My best excuse for not finishing the other projects is that it is impossible to carry home an intact 8×4-foot sheet of drywall on top of a Toyota Corolla. Afraid of impending lethargy, I say to the deck— Tell me to finish the drywall! —Motivation comes easier with a foreman.

 

The deck hands me the World: a card of integration, completion, accomplishment, and travel— quite a powerful card for a seemingly simple request. Nonetheless. To integrate is defined as to combine one thing with another— such as to combine drywall with mud and tape— so that they become seamlessly whole. To complete is to finish a project. To accomplish something is to stand back and look at it with pride and say, “Well! That’s done.” To travel is to move on to the next thing. Despite how annoying I find the task of spackling, I don’t think my request was deserving of the World, which indicates there will be praise and celebration for my successful achievements. I won’t complain. I just have to do what the World has obligingly ordered me to do— ASAP.

 

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14 Temperance — New Age Tarot

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

Walter WegmĂĽller[Sometimes it seems really manipulative to ask a question. I wanted to see what this deck had to say without asking.]

 

Artist: Walter WegmĂĽller

 

Temperance is defined as moderation or self-restraint, especially in the realm of eating and drinking.

 

About this card: “This is the conscious aspect of every measure or dimension. Yardstick of all knowledge and all laws governing light and dark, inner and outer form, weights and distances, proportions. […] The balancing of opposites: man and woman, day and night, high and low, etc.”

 

Divinatory Meaning: “Organize your life and work differently. Define boundaries. Control and adjust dimensions. Justice. Determine the right amount of work you should be doing and the right [amount] of food and drugs you should be taking.”

 

This card reminds me I am having a hard time organizing and balancing my life right now. I am having an easy time staying in bed a large portion of the day, saying to myself: I am tired: rest is good. I am having a hard time motivating myself to exercise.

 

I am having an easy time procrastinating with household projects, instead spending time doing things such as browsing the internet for things I think I need or things I think I need to know or writing this silly blog— although this silly blog is just about the one activity I do with commitment.

 

I am having a hard time remembering to eat foods that are good for me (green! green! green!) and eat on a schedule and not to just eat everything in sight with the excuse that I am growing my baby— I am a bit old for this baby-having activity and would like to grow a healthy baby.

 

I am having a hard time finding balance. Will I ever feel balanced? Is life just one long, drawn-out balancing act? Is it ever easy?

 

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4. The Emperor — Napo Tarot

Saturday, January 21st, 2012

Created by Betty Lopez; Designed by Napo

 

Interpretation: This Emperor looks at the past with eyes that emanate light. He sees the structure on which the present is built: custom, history, and religion. His thoughts and concept of life are geometric and static. He is a paternal, chivalrous man whose actions have great impact on his people. Tho very respectful of tradition and customs, he is not necessarily open-minded and therefore often seems dominant and prejudiced.

 

I generally dislike the Emperor. He reflects rules and regulations. Although I enjoy a harmonious society, I sometimes have issues with structure and often question authority. Rules and regulations are necessary, but many rules and regulations are not necessarily the best. Nonetheless, there must be some basic social structure to prevent anarchy and chaos.

 

Tell me something about my trip to New York.

 

I am (I think) going to NY City for a weekend in February to take a yoga workshop at Baby Om Yoga to learn to do yoga with my up-coming baby and learn to teach others the same. There are no such classes in the area. The Emperor reminds me that the teachers I am going to learn from have a history of studying Iyengar yoga, whose structure and precision I adore. But workshops always cost a lot of money and I highly dislike driving. This results in cost/ benefit event-anxiety on my part. Over and over I ask myself:

 

Is it worth it? —Only time will tell.
Can I survive without it? —Of course!
Will I make use of my new knowledge? —Yes, at least for myself. But if it is only for myself, I could just learn and practice and innovate from their book; I do not need a teacher training. I do have a 500-hour certification with Ana Forrest and I have taught in the past, but I am terrible at marketing my vast store of abilities.
Could I be doing something better with my time? —Perhaps, but at the rate I’m accomplishing things, I probably won’t.

 

The Emperor has a strong desire to see ideas manifested on the physical plane in the form of material gain or accomplishment. He says to me— You know, you won’t have an opportunity to take such a workshop after your baby is born. You cannot learn structure in a void: you need to learn structure from others to provide structure for yourself. You have no experience with babies. Look at the past: learn from others.

 

I have a strong desire to feel as tho I have not wasted my time chasing some intangible golden goose. I say to the Emperor— Keep coming back to remind me you are here. I will keep pushing you away and desiring your return.

 

 

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Strength — Tarots Oreste Zevola

Friday, January 20th, 2012

Artist: Oreste Zevola

 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.

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10. La Ruota — Tarocchi dei Celti

Sunday, January 15th, 2012

Benito Jacovitti

Illustrator: Benito Jacovitti

 

The Wheel of Fortune can be interpreted very simply. Right-side-up= Good luck. Up-side-down= bad luck.

 

Yet again I am reading from a deck that is all Italian. This is the second of two majors-only decks of the same name. I much prefer the other: these images were illustrated by a humorist whose humor I don’t appreciate. I didn’t ask a question because I didn’t want to use this deck to be insightful in any manner. I’m not exactly sure what makes this a Celtic deck.

 

This Wheel [of Fortune] is lodged under the over-sized breasts of a very large woman. The sausage at her feet is a repeating theme throughout the deck, as are the dismembered fingers sticking up from the ground. Three-headed gods are not uncommon. They see the past, present and future: every way the wheel can roll. Someone has thrown a pot of coins and a die— common symbols of gambling— at the woman’s helmeted head. The pot empties out and the woman remains oblivious, laughing.

 

I guess I don’t ever have to look at this deck again. I got it for “free” when I ordered a bunch of other decks from Italy. It gives me the same-sort of grossed-out feeling as do movies with too much bodily-function comedy and too few brains.

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5. Dìan Cècht (il Sacerdote) — Tarocchi dei Celti

Saturday, January 14th, 2012

Giordano BertiArtist: Giordano Berti

 

This is a 22-card, majors-only deck. The little booklet that comes with it is all in Italian.

I asked the deck, “Show me something new.”

“Il Sacerdote” is the priest, or the hierophant.

 

Dìan Cècht is the physician-god of the Celtic tribe of Tuatha Dé Danann. Famously, he made a silver arm for King Nadua when the original got chopped off in the First Battle of Magh Tuiredh. (Bodily perfection was a requirement for kingship.) To prevent such mishaps during the Second Battle of Magh Tuireh, Dìan Cècht blessed a nearby well. Any of his tribe’s wounded warriors who bathed in the well would become whole and ready for battle again, unless they had been decapitated.

 

Dìan Cècht’s son Micah preferred to use herbs and direct touch and incantations rather than surgical and prosthetic procedures for healing. Some said it was because Dìan Cècht was jealous that his son was the better healer; Dìan Cècht said it was because Micah had been disrespectful— but when Micah replaced the silver arm of King Nadua with a flesh-&-blood arm, Dìan Cècht slew his son with a strike through the skull to the neck.

 

Dìan Cècht’s daughter Airmed mourned deeply. All the healing herbs of the world sprung from the ground as her tears fell on her brother Micah’s grave. Airmed catalogued the herbs and their properties. Unfortunately, Dìan Cècht was an angry, jealous father. He scattered the herbs, destroying the work of two children with one blow. Now no human will ever know the healing properties of all the herbs.

 

Meanwhile, Dìan Cècht’s other son went abroad, married well, and sired Dìan Cècht a grandson named Lugh. Lugh returned to Ireland to lead his father’s people in the Second Battle of Magh Tuiredh— the battle for which Dìan Cècht provided a magic well of regeneration for wounded soldiers. This time, King Nadua of the twice-replaced-arm was killed by Balor of the Poisonous Eye— Lugh’s other, foreign grandfather. Lugh then drove Balor’s eye out the back of his head with the stone from a sling-shot— or blinded him with a spear— or decapitated him— but either way Lugh got rid of his maternal grandfather, Balor of the Poisonous Eye, and won back the throne for his father’s tribe and the now-resurrected King Nadua of the twice-replaced-arm.*

 

Gods are human, too— but not too human.

*I think.

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18 The Moon — The Enchanted Tarot

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012

Art (collage, appliqué, direct dye, beading, color image transfer & cloth): Amy Zerner

Author: Monte Farber

 

Interpretation: “This is the darkness before dawn. You must separate illusion from reality. Even though the path may seem frightening and treacherous, you need not fear the mysterious unknown. Your intuition can guide you to hidden opportunities. Remember to save your energies for the challenges ahead and not to squander them with anxious worrying.”

 

This girl is me, woken up in a blue-black faraway dream where everything is cold and weary. I am very tired, which is unjustifible, as I have done nothing that should make me feel thus. I am not afraid. There is no anxious worrying. The path does not seem treacherous. The only illusion I held was that I could accomplish more than I am able. That has been smashed. The truth is, I don’t have to take anyone’s advice on how to interpret this image: I asked the deck for a sleepy card.

 

I look outside.

This night’s sky

bears its waning gibbous moon

for me to sleep beneath.

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Osho Transformation Tarot — 45. Living Totally

Monday, January 9th, 2012

Illustrations: Pujan

Commentary: Osho

 

I was rather bitter at being given The Tower yesterday. Today I am using the Osho Transformation Tarot— which is actually an oracle deck— because it always speaks to me in a kind voice. I said, “Give me some good advice.”

 

Osho replied with the tale of Alexander the Great meeting the sage Diogenes in India. It is a good story: Diogenes has nothing. Alexander admires him so completely that he wishes to be him in his next life. When asked what is preventing him from being Diogenes now, Alexander replies that he has to conquer the world, then he will rest. Diogenes replies that he himself is resting without having conquered the world; that something will always remain unconquered and Alexander will die in the middle of his journey. Which is exactly what happened. Then Osho said to me:

 

Those who say, “We are waiting for an opportunity,” are being deceptive, and they are not deceiving anybody but themselves. The opportunity is not going to come tomorrow. It has already arrived, it has always been here. It was here even when you were not here. Existence is an opportunity; to be is the opportunity.

 

Don’t say, “Tomorrow I will meditate, tomorrow I will love, tomorrow I will have a dancing relationship with existence.” Why tomorrow? Tomorrow never comes. Why not now? Why postpone? Postponement is a trick of the mind; it keeps you hoping, and meanwhile the opportunity is slipping by. And in the end you will come to the cul-de-sac— death— and there will be nothing left. And this has happened many times in the past. You are not new here, you have been born and you have died many, many times. And each time the mind has played the same trick, and you have not yet learned anything.

 

The saying “Never not put off until tomorrow what you can do today” may not mean “Go conquer the world— start now” but rather “Live the life you love.” The advice is not “do more, accomplish more, make more money,” but rather “be in love with your life; be happy.”

 

The hard part is taking the time to stop, stand back and ask, “What do I truly love? What is happiness?” The answer to this question will not come when the brain is full of thought and seeking. It will come as a revelation when the brain is relieved of the hindrance of thought.

 

Perhaps that is what The Tower was trying to tell me, yesterday. Perhaps I was too annoyed with it to listen.

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The Tower — Tarot of Prague

Sunday, January 8th, 2012

Illustrators & Authors: Karen Mahony & Alexandr Ukolov

 

Interpretation: “An earthquake in your life. You are  going through a huge upheaval and change. It may feel cataclysmic, or even catastrophic, but it’s important to realise that it isn’t all negative. Sometimes dramatic disruptions have to happen and, difficult as they are, they can lead to a release, or eventually the opportunity to stat anew. Even if it’s an uncomfortable time, don’t despair. When the dust settles there may be something positive that results, and useful lessons to learn.”

 

I asked, “Which king should I illustrate first?” I figured there was a 4 in 5 chance of drawing a suit card. My plan was to follow suit and garner a bit more information. But the tower? Useless! I despair!

 

The tower illustrates new-found freedom that comes as a bolt of lightning which blows us to rock bottom. It is an immediate change and can have rather disorienting effects. Awakening to this new reality, we are released from bondage. With any destruction there comes creation. Once you hit rock bottom, the choice is yours. You may find inspiration anywhere. Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose, says the prophet.*

 

Robert M. Pirsig writes in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, “If your mind is truly, profoundly stuck, then it might be much better off than when it was loaded with ideas.” I thought I was stuck because my mind was devoid of ideas. Why am I stuck? The moral of the story is: start anywhere; just start. Obviously, I have to make up my own mind. Useless! I despair!

 

*Prophet Kris Kristofferson sung through Janis Joplin’s soul

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