CARD OF THE WEEK: October 31-November 4, 2022

 

Water

Ancient Minchiate Etruria

a reproduction of a 1725 Florentine Minchiate oracle deck

Wishing all who celebrate a beautiful, blessed Samhain! For those of us who know there's really no "veil" to thin and really no grave danger from the "spirit world" to avoid--just a heightened awareness of our alignment with Spirit--let us acknowledge our ancestors/elder spirits/Mighty Dead and express gratitude for their ongoing guidance and care. For more on this concept, visit here.

October 31-November 4, 2022: Smack dab in the middle of a card dedicated to the element of Water is a vessel of transport over water. So, let's go with that dominant placement and consider this a message about expertly riding waves of change and changeability.

This ocean water looks choppy, but the elements of Earth (body of the ship) and Air (driving the sails) have a central role in this narrative. Purpose and direction. The sturdiness to endure and survive and brisk energy to keep going.

Consider how the symbolized properties of Earth and Air carry you safely over the challenges of times of major change.

And, if you get a chance this week, spend a little time in rest and contemplation in view of a river, lake, or ocean.

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CARD OF THE WEEKEND: October 29-30, 2022

 

Ace of Swords

Ancient Minchiate Etruria

a reproduction of a 1725 Florentine Minchiate oracle deck

October 29-30, 2022: Think back to Pamela Colman Smith's Ace of Swords (Rider-Waite Tarot) and how a sword-wielding hand emerges from a cloud. For this quite different Minchiate deck, the sword arrives via an equally mysterious figure--who is that hand and arm attached to?--but one more likely to be earthborn, not ethereal. And earthly power also appears in the form of a simple crown circling the point of that hoisted sword.

Introducing the mystical element of Air and, with the Ace, its most subtle and basic form--like a puff of air or a whisper--the Minchiate's Ace of Sword points towards the opportunity for high authority and power which may be earthly or intellectually expressive. The Aces can show us what can build or be built, in stages, if given sufficient attention and care.

Tending to your mental processes and to the fruits of thought will be key this weekend. Make notes on "things to keep in mind," for the mind will be a powerful tool. Meditation, journaling, freewriting, chanting, singing, channeling, and quiet conversations are especially favored and valuable.

Also keep in mind that this weekend carries the energy of Samhain, a time of heightened communication with the revered and beloved dead. It's an excellent time for tuning in to Spirit and downloading what you most need to know!

CONGRATS TO OUR RAFFLE WINNERS!

James 

and

Brittany

I will reach out to you soon to set up your Zoom readings!

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CARD OF THE WEEK: September 12-16, 2022

 

l'Eremita

Tarocchi di Vetro

Elisabetta Trevisan

September 12-16, 2022: It's useful to pay attention to whatever detail first draws your eye when you gaze at a card. For this week's card--Elisabetta Trevisan's l'Eremita, The Hermit--I am drawn to focus on the lamp held not aloft but near the middle of the hermit's body.

We see the hermit in a moment of stillness. If he were moving, he might hold that lamp up to cast light on his path. Instead, it nestles close to his humble robes, almost as if its natural state is to be a part of him. And, yes, imagine that light as part of him, central to the body. What does that tell you?

This image feels quiet, warm, and solemn--meditative. There's no hurry and no distractions. This wise man takes his time and tunes into himself, finding holy radiance within. You can do the same.

Take a moment out, with the spirit within, before you speak, before you act.

A steady force, this archetype counsels you to give yourself space to greet all the questions and encounters of your week with patience, attentiveness, and interior awareness.

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CARD OF THE DAY: March 7, 2022

 

Il Mondo (The World)

Tarocchi Dürer

by Giancinto Gaudenzi

 

March 7, 2022: Tarocchi Dürer, by Lo Scarabeo artist Giancinto Gaudenzi, is another of those fantastic Major Arcana decks that I'm thrilled to have but which sit untouched in their boxes or bags, unused for readings. Gaudenzi's intricate illustrations were inspired by the engravings of German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer, a favorite of mine, and I hear there's a later edition of Tarocchi Dürer that includes both the Major and the Minor Arcana.

If you do purchase a collector's deck of this nature, you can still learn from it and bond with it by selecting or randomly drawing a single card per day and propping it up in a location where, now and then, you might catch a glimpse of it. In those moments, let it speak to you.

Don't spend an inordinate amount of time straining to rationally interpret it. Rather, allow serendipitous moments of encounter to surface insights that even the most seasoned Tarotista might find refreshing and satisfying.

In creating this CARD OF THE DAY series on hummingwitch, my ultimate aim has been to inspire you to take charge of your own experience with Tarot and other divination tools, and I hope you're flowing along and taking those opportunities. This is way more than "What's my daily fortune?"

To that end, do see what comes to mind as you gaze at Gaudenzi's tender Il Mondo. As I've mentioned before, each artist can't help but put his, her or their spin on these familiar archetypes, and this one gives me a few ideas about The World card I had not previously considered.

What does it say to you?

******

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CARD OF THE DAY: February 22, 2022

 

Leone

Ancient Minchiate Etruria

a reproduction of a 1725 Florentine Minchiate oracle deck

 

February 22, 2022: It's hard to look at the rearing lion in this minchiate deck and not think back to the often subdued lion in Tarot's Strength card. Though cousins, for sure, these great cats inhabit very different moments in life. For Tarot artists, Strength's lion might be depicted either under someone's forceful control or in peaceful co-existence. Our lion, today, however, is ready to rumble, no lady or angelic handler in sight.

Let's be clear. Today will not be one for hanging back or just trying to muddle through. You're called upon to rise and roar, to take decisive and forceful action where needed. Find the Leo and the leonine within yourself. Silence and invisibility are not the way. Channel golden energy for your voice and your shine.

****** 

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CARD OF THE DAY: January 13, 2022

 

Seven of Chalices

from Ancient Minchiate Etruria,

a reproduction of a 1725 Florentine Minchiate oracle deck

January 13, 2022: Yesterday, after discussing a pair of cards from Neo Tarot, I briefly introduced one pip card from Lo Scarabeo's reproduction of the Ancient Minchiate Etruria (AME), a somewhat Tarot-like but actually non-Tarot oracle deck with 97-cards. Here's another image from the AME--the Seven of Chalices (Seven of Cups).

If Tarot is considered by some potential readers to be way too complex, Minchiate decks take that complexity to the max. But it's a story-filled beauty, and we can have fun and get something out of the getting-to-know-you process.

I've been hoping for an excuse to write about Tarot's Seven of Cups, anyway, as my interpretation for that card diverges from tradition.This is the sort of thing I promise will happen for you as well as you explore card divination more and more.You'll learn new things perhaps unseen before, land on meanings that are unusual and for you alone, blaze new trails in the forest. Spirit will get your attention and gently whisper: "Listen, when this card comes up, it means thus and so."

When these sorts of things happen, it means you're forging your own connection to the symbolism, and it's working with (and on) you. Hooray, you're really, really reading the cards now, not just relying on what you've seen in those Little White Books--or any book! You are your own book!

Anyway, back to Seven of Cups--or Chalices--as the AME would have it.

While more familiar Rider-Waite-Smith imagery suggests a plethora of cravings and distractions, another, more positive thought about the Seven might view it as a pause to consider and appreciate the variety of desires or options one has in a given situation. Or the variety of elements that make up the self that you are, each with its particular energy and purpose. Where does a recognition, acceptance, activation, and even celebration of that fluid multiplicity become the right move?

Looking at the relatively abstract AME pip, you're not...ahem...distracted by Rider-Waite-Smith imagery which shows you a heap of colorful baubles, laurel wreathes, a crouching dragon, and other illusory fantasies spilling enticingly out of golden goblets while a shadowy figure, back turned to the viewer, gazes in apparent longing, confusion, and indecisiveness. Oh, my! Which of these goblets to grab?

In doing a reading, should you wish to revert to traditional interpretations--because they accurately fit the question or situation--you certainly can do so. And this, again, is where being familiar with the basics and keeping them somewhere in your hip pocket to pull out as needed can be so helpful. But you're also free to make of the cards what you will, and read them as you need them. They are a language between you and Spirit.

Sure, it will take a dedicated time--with a combination of the basics and the creative--but this confidence will develop. You'll get to the point when you can feel in your bones when your unique way of looking at things is completely on target.

Trust yourself, trust Spirit, and you will know.

****** 

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CARDS OF THE DAY: January 12, 2022

 

 

Nine of Pentacles and Eight of Wands

from Neo Tarot

by Jerico Mandybur with art by Daiana Ruiz

 

January 12, 2022: Pip-pidee-do-dah! Today, two pip cards from Neo Tarot display two different ways of communicating a message.

IX of Pentacles brings us another of artist Daiana Ruiz's graceful human figures. Unlike some Nine of Pentacles images, this figure is moving, not so much smugly resting on their assets but actively enjoying them. A bird in the hand is a nifty symbol of all that is needed being reliably close at hand in the Nine's pleasing environment. It's a card of sufficiency and satisfaction.

VIII of Wands, like the classic Pamela Colman Smith pip on which it is loosely based, avoids human imagery altogether. Instead, it suggests turbulent, heavy weather in motion, an atmosphere ablaze with activity (wands equaling the element of fire in Tarot symbology). I often think of this card as the sign of lots of energy roiling around in either a literal or metaphoric environment--sometimes too much, much too much to handle. Things, thoughts, talk, tasks, challenges, people, what have you.

So, here are two cards again reminding us of the value of the basics to any Tarot study. As a Tarot newbie looking at the Nine, you're likely to figure out (no pun) a story to go with the figure that will work for your reading. Looking at the Eight, however, might prove more daunting. There's less here to go on, visually, and there are Tarot decks with pips that are even trickier to decipher--like the very early European ones and modern ones based on them that might show you merely a neat arrangement of six fancy pentacles or four elaborate cups.

Nine of Pentacles

from Ancient Minchiate Etruria,

a reproduction of a 1725 Florentine Minchiate oracle deck

 

That's when you need a clear understanding of what each of the suits are about--swords, pentacles, wands, and cups--and a grasp of how numerology can influence Tarot interpretation and storytelling.

One possible story arising from this particular encounter--Nine of Pentacles and Eight of Wands--is of sheltering with everything you need and staying out of the developing stormy weather. You'll know whether that message should be interpreted literally or metaphorically. It works either way.

An alternative story might show a past or current condition--call it Nine of Pentacles-hood, if you will--that is safe, secure, and even stodgy dramatically changing with a sudden wild infusion of new energy/weather! 

****** 

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CARD OF THE DAY: December 10, 2021

 

The Lovers

(top) from Lo Scarabeo's Antiche Minchiate Etruria

(bottom) from Universal Waite Tarot, art by Pamela Colman Smith, 

re-colored by Mary Hanson-Roberts

December 10, 2021: Ever have a classic Tarot archetype you've never really connected with? The Lovers is that card for me.

I could never warm up to its well-known Pamela Colman Smith image of an angel looming over bare-assed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Eve--Mother of Life and symbol of the lure of earthly things--stands by her fruitful, snake-coiled tree, the snake poised to hiss devilish temptation into her ear. Socially distanced at the other end of the image, Adam stands by a fire-blackened tree that bears only flaming branches.

The angel-- arms stretched wide, eyes closed in serene patience--appears to be waiting for the pending decision or choice that this card is supposed to predict or advise. Quite a drama.

Personally, I find The Lovers card in Lo Scarbeo's Antiche Minchiate Etruria to be a lot more fun. (It's the fifth--not sixth--Major Arcana card in this deck, which has many other anomalies.) Take a look at this image and where Cupid's bow is aimed! Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, indeed! At least, that's how I see it.

Talk about a card that screams "unintended consequences" and getting way more than you bargained for, and not in a good way.

What does this have to do with love/lovers/loving? Possibly nothing...unless, of course, it does. So, watch your situation--romantic or otherwise.

Are you sure you've set up the necessary conditions for a right, satisfying, and durable outcome? Maybe there's something that needs deeper examination or, even, overturn.

So, yes, you do have some super-smart decisions and/or choices to make. This is not the time to get lazy or scared and overlook or avoid them.