CARD OF THE WEEK: February 27-March 3, 2023

 

 Two of Swords

Universal Waite Tarot

 based on art by Pamela Colman Smith

with coloring by Mary Hanson-Roberts

 

February 27-March 3, 2023: That's a moon in flux (crescent) and a shifting body of water behind the Two of Swords figure firmly seated on a narrow stone bench and ground. Though blindfolded--or maybe because the sense of sight is not available--the swords bearer could be more finely sensitized to the environment than expected. I imagine sitting there and feeling the cold sweep of wind over water, hearing and feeling the rough roll of the water itself. The moon, itself, might whisper of changes in store.

Gripping a sword handle in each hand, the swords bearer takes a protective stance over chest and heart.

While the traditional interpretation of Two of Swords speaks of verbal or ideological conflict--not so much a meeting of the minds as a clashing of the minds--we can also consider new information about this image.

If the swords bearer's sensitivity detects large, powerful shifts in the environment, a protective stance could be understandable. Of course, all that bluster and resistance might be what faces you--not what you are doing.

In a reading, try to sense whether this refers to the querent or someone or something in the querent's experience. Nearby cards should help you determine that and whether Two of Swords represents a justified and positive response. As a card-of-the-week, though, consider how disturbances and disruptions should be handled, especially in terms of arguments or any verbal expression.

******

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ONE WORD/THREE CARDS: December 24-25, 2022

 

 Four of Chalices

Golden Tarot of Klimt

by  A. A. Atanassov

Below, Atanassov's

Queen of Wands

and 

King of Wands

 

 

One Word/Three Cards

 

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate this holiday!

And to all, may you enjoy this One Word/Three Cards feature for the weekend of December 24-25! It brings us a royal couple out of A. A. Atanassov's Golden Tarot of Klimt, a deck inspired by the artwork of Austrian Symbolist Gustav Klimt.

Our magnetic word today is RELATING, and let's first talk about the two royals--Queen and King of Wands--clearly drawn to be aligned (related) in this reading. And that's wonderful since it offers both a personal and earthly (king) and transpersonal, multidimensional (queen) take on things.

 

Both figures wield the wand of high energy and do so with utmost authority within their respective realms. Securing an audience with both of these archetypal royals and consulting with them on anything will give you the total picture!

So, why is that Four of Cups (called Chalices here) also on hand? And why depicted as an elder snake-handler? Conventional Four of Cups cards based on the Rider-Waite deck often show a figure seated on the ground near three goblets while seeming to resist Spirit's offer of a fourth.  See the Pamela Colman Smith model below:

 

Four of Cups

Rider-Waite Tarot

art by Pamela Colman Smith

By contrast Atanassov's Four of Cups figure has each of four vessels neatly tucked into the card's four corners. They have already been offered, received, sorted, and stashed away. Like parts of bordering columns, they frame the central figure. 

 

So, what seems to be of more immediate concern and importance? I think it's that snake.

 

I sense three elements of relating here--one that has to do with relating to one's historical past (king), the next, relating with all possible experiences of time and timelessness (queen), and the last, relating to the snake-handler's intuition and discernment. (Snakes often symbolize wisdom; their handlers, certain empathic skill and courage.) All three images here unite to represent a most effective way of situating yourself in your environs, within any situation, and within life itself.

Once connected with this larger, capacious sense of yourself--within and beyond the context of historical time--you're capable of addressing any challenge you face, any question you might have. This configuration gives you a true, dynamic picture of yourself.

******

VENMO ME: @Eva-YaaAsantewaa

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CARD OF THE WEEK: November 21-25, 2022

 

 King of Cups

Left: Morgan-Greer Tarot by Lloyd Morgan with art by Bill Greer

Right: Rider-Waite Tarot with art by Pamela Colman Smith

November 21-25, 2022:  Bill Greer's art for the Morgan-Greer Tarot reworks and zooms in on the faces and personalities of archetypal figures from Pamela Colman Smith's Rider-Waite Tarot. It helps to be drawn closer to these beings. In Greer's revision, the sensitive King of Cups just seems to have dropped in for a visit with you--or popped out from some recessed area of your consciousness. He is certainly not set up on an uncomfortable-looking and hard-to-approach marble throne rising from somewhere out there in the middle of the sea!

This will be a good week for a deep dive into your dream life, guided meditation, somatic practices, freewriting, and other methods of connecting with and mining the subconscious, particularly as the history it stores manifests in your physical body.

For me, Tarot's kings always signify some lesson out of history, some connection to the past and legacy, and that can be for better or for less than. They can be strengths or weaknesses, victories or failures. Often, they offer a chance to revisit, review, reconsider, and possibly revise where necessary. But they can also offer an opportunity to go back and gather what is genuinely worth reclaiming and carrying forward.

What do you most need now? Or, on the other hand, what should you spend time correcting? Have a quiet chat with the king about it. Kings will take you back, in linear time, to where you need to go.

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CARD OF THE WEEK: August 8-12, 2022

 

Above:

Four of Cups/Four of Hearts

Salvador Dalí Tarot

art by Salvador Dalí

Below:

Four of Cups

Rider-Waite Tarot

art by Pamela Colman Smith

August 8-12, 2022: Salvador Dalí's Tarot deck started off as a project for the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die. It combines Tarot and playing card conventions--quite handy--with the artist's dream-haunted collage work. This is one of my collector's items, never used in readings. But it serves an interesting purpose for our explorations here on hummingwitch.

Dalí's Tarot reminds us that, to represent or communicate with the inner dimensions of consciousness, Tarot imagery need not be conventional, literal, or even completely legible. Working with his cards, the busy conscious mind gets distracted by what??? and why???, while inner regions of the self have freedom to sail right ahead, ideally forging connections, processing meanings, and promoting changes.

With his Four of Cups/Four of Hearts, a lone dove perches in a treetop beside a golden goblet. The lad sitting on the ground in fetal position might be sleeping or curved over in despondency. Unlike Pamela Colman Smith's character, he might not be aware of the additional goblet offered by Spirit--at least, not consciously aware. Like Smith's character, though, his body appears closed off in refusal or protection. If he is to receive the spiritual boon of the fourth cup, it will need to be through esoteric, not mundane and obvious, means.

I wonder what your "fourth cup" might be. This week, meditate when you can and look around you for signs that there is one awaiting your notice. Will you accept it?

****** 

Do you have a particular Tarot or other oracle card that you'd like to me explore and write about in the hummingwitch way?

Just email a good, clear jpg photo of your card to:

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I'll incorporate its message, one way or another, into one of these posts. Let me know if you'd prefer your submission to be anonymous.

Thanks!

******

Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY/WEEK/WEEKEND posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2022/03/catch-up-with-any-featured-card-you.html

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CARD OF THE WEEKEND: July 30-31, 2022

 

Seven of Swords

Rider-Waite Tarot

Art by Pamela Colman Smith

July 30-31, 2022: The gracefulness of Pixie Smith's smiling thief! He charmed his way into your life, and now he's making off with five of your swords--a batch of your thoughts, your ideas, your defenses, your strengths--and confidently turns to look behind himself as he prances away. He's not even concerned about whether the blades will cut his hands, or if he'll run into something he doesn't see coming his way. He got what he came for.

Traditionally, Seven of Swords has been the sign of something or someone in, or approaching, your surroundings that cannot be trusted.

Let this be an advisory to spend some time in serious inner and outer cleansing as well as shoring up your inner and outer defenses. This especially applies to your own thinking and how you can be your own enemy. What have you stolen from yourself? Or how do you render your own self vulnerable to delusion and exploitation?

Notice this, though. You've still got two good swords left. What do they represent, and what do you intend to do with them?

****** 

Do you have a particular Tarot or other oracle card that you'd like to me explore and write about in the hummingwitch way?

Just email a good, clear jpg photo of your card to:

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I'll incorporate its message, one way or another, into one of these posts. Let me know if you'd prefer your submission to be anonymous.

Thanks!

******

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Chains off!

 

The Devil

Rider-Waite Tarot

art by Pamela Colman Smith

The Devil is a liar, a hypocrite. Take those chains from around your necks.

The majority of Americans support the right of all pregnant people to have legal access to abortion. This Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade feels like a disaster to us now, but we have the power this year to turn it into a resounding disaster for the Republican Party.

Let's band together and get it done.

READER REQUEST: 7 of Clubs

 7 of Clubs

Thank you, Denae Hannah, for sending this request for a look at the 7 of Clubs from a standard playing card deck.

Loosely connected to Tarot's Seven of Wands, the 7 of Clubs can represent a high level of energy--active, dynamic force--and having to be grounded and well prepared to meet all of the energy, good or not so good, coming your way. Otherwise, it can be a source of stress.

Seven of Wands

Left: Rider-Waite Tarot, art by Pamela Colman Smith

Right: Neo Tarot, art by Daiana Ruiz

On the other hand, old divination traditions associate the 7 of Clubs with money, the amount of which might vary, but certainly a current or currency flowing. Even a little money moving at a time is movement indeed. So, things might be parceled out carefully, perhaps slowly, but steadily, and that has to be good enough.

As with its Tarot cousin, the 7 of Clubs might inspire you to think about how other folks are involved in a venture around money or what money can buy--either by having joint control, joint responsibility, and/or being the ones reaping the benefits of this movement of currents/currency. If there are others involved, you all must be carefully organized. Planning, communication, and negotiation should be clear to each or all of the invested parties. 

You don't want the potential strife or even chaos that Tarot's Seven of Wands can warn against. You're counseled to take your time and get things properly sorted before they spin out of control.

Another caution might concern potential competitors or forces resisting the flow of your movement. The specific look of the 7 of Clubs suggests opposition--on one side, a mass of energy moving upward in a block, those five clubs; on the other, two clubs aligned in perfect balance. Of course, sometimes, we do need the disruptive force of the number 5 to break up something that is way too set, too balanced, and thought to be unchangeable.

Should the issue most on your mind not concern money directly, substitute energy and your uses of it, or think more generally about the nature and efficacy of how you are interacting and exchanging with others around some important matter. How do you stay centered and handle the potential for becoming overwhelmed?

So, clearly, there's a lot here, Denae! I hope this gives you a spectrum of possibilities as you consider the meaning 7 of Clubs has for you at this time. Thanks, again!

****** 

Do you have a particular Tarot or other oracle card that you'd like to me explore and write about in the hummingwitch way?

Just email a good, clear jpg photo of your card to:

hummingwitch@gmail.com

I'll incorporate its message, one way or another, into one of these posts. Let me know if you'd prefer your submission to be anonymous.

Thanks!

******

Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY/WEEK/WEEKEND posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2022/03/catch-up-with-any-featured-card-you.html

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CARD OF THE WEEK: June 20-24, 2022

 

Ace of Swords

Universal Waite Tarot

Art by Pamela Colman Smith with coloring by Mary Hanson-Roberts

June 20-24, 2022: Tarot folks who have practiced for years and decades don't need a deck in their hands to summon an appropriate image for the moment. Ask and you will receive. And that is the case with our CARD OF THE WEEK. I asked for a card, and Pamela Colman Smith's Ace of Swords rose up in my mind as if issued forth from a cloud!

Furthermore, the Ace of Swords--which is a card of swift thought--readily offered a self-interpretation I had never before considered: being knighted by the tap of that sword on one's shoulders. And the reason we don't see an actual royal anywhere to do the traditional knighting is that Spirit itself has taken that role.

So, from now on, when the Ace of Swords turns up in a draw or a layout, I will have an additional meaning to try out, depending on the situation at hand.

This week, turn your attention to the role of willing service in your life and work. It could be time to acknowledge how (and what) you have served, to reconsider it, if necessary, and/or to prepare for a new way in which you will serve.

Bear in mind that we can be of service to persons, places, things, ideas, ideals. We serve Spirit as well. To what have you committed (or are now ready to commit) your best?

If you are not happy about how you may have devoted your time and energy, you can map out how to redirect them based on your evolved understanding, values, and needs. A clear choice will lead to well-earned reward.

****** 

Do you have a particular Tarot or other oracle card that you'd like to me explore and write about in the hummingwitch way?

Just email a good, clear jpg photo of your card to:

hummingwitch@gmail.com

I'll incorporate its message, one way or another, into one of these posts. Let me know if you'd prefer your submission to be anonymous.

Thanks!

******

Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY/WEEK/WEEKEND posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2022/03/catch-up-with-any-featured-card-you.html

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CARD OF THE WEEKEND: April 30-May 1, 2022

Queen of Arrows

Greenwood Tarot

by Mark Ryan with art by Chesca Potter

April 30-May 1, 2022: Sometimes we stumble upon entirely different universes when we visit decks crafted by artists who see traditional Tarot archetypes in unique ways. Greenwood Tarot, created by artist Chesca Potter and writer Mark Ryan, has enough idiosyncrasies to make convention-bound Tarotistas throw their hands up, but it is l-o-v-e-l-y none the less and beloved by many.

Why is Tarot's Queen of Swords--here styled as Queen of Arrows--represented by a white doe resting on grass beneath a hectic sky of swirling yellow/orange spirals? Why do her antlers resemble lava erupting towards that sky and yet also perfectly embracing an airborne valentine? There's a red arrow stuck in the ground by her flank, but the doe seems completely unconcerned with it. 

Where is the austere, brainy, challenging Swords/Air Queen we've come to expect? Though, do notice, below, Pamela Colman Smith's own use of yellow, orange, and red. I believe I've talked about this before. Her strong Queen of Swords is not completely without passion.

Queen of Swords

Rider-Waite Tarot

art by Pamela Colman Smith

Reader, I beckon you into Potter and Ryan's world and suggest you ground yourself in what is. Look around and find out.

That sky blazes with the bright fires of Celtic and Wiccan holiday of Beltane (May 1) as does the doe's flaming antlers. Ryan and Potter associate the suit of Arrows (Swords) with the period from Beltane through Midsummer to Lammas (August 1). The appearance of this card on this Beltane weekend definitely has quite a lot of woo to it.

Our queenly doe has charm galore and might have a very special message for you at this particular moment. Sit with her and listen.

****** 

Do you have a particular Tarot or other oracle card that you'd like to me explore and write about in the hummingwitch way?

Just email a good, clear jpg photo of your card to hummingwitch@gmail.com, and I'll incorporate its message, one way or another, into one of these posts. Let me know if you'd prefer your submission to be anonymous.

Thanks!

******

Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2022/03/catch-up-with-any-featured-card-you.html

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READER REQUEST: RIDER-WAITE LOVERS and JUDGEMENT

 

The Lovers and Judgement

Rider-Waite Tarot

art by Pamela Colman Smith

 

Big thanks to hummingwitch reader Gloria Carol who sent a request for treatment of two Rider-Waite (Pamela Colman Smith) images--The Lovers and Judgement.

I don't know if Gloria deliberately chose this pair for their visual similarity, but you'll notice that an imposing angel presides over each scene. Both angels have scarlet wings so thick and lush, you know their arrival stirred up the whole of the environment. They signify an urgent intervention. They have broken through the sky with exhortations to humans below to unite (The Lovers) and rise back to life (Judgement).

Also, I absolutely covet the royal purple shawl The Lovers' angel is wearing...but I digress.

With its Adam-and-Eve imagery, The Lovers, in the context of this Major Arcana pairing, can indicate a beginning while Judgement brings us closer to the end--or perhaps the revival or high-level advancement--of a significant process.

One message coming through is: Remember your origins--remember the design, purity, connectedness, and hope--and now answer the call for transformation. 

The angels command us to raise the "dead" within ourselves and the "dead" out in our communities, societies, and world before it is too late.

What have you allowed to wither or die, to go without sun or nourishment? What have you denied because your environment, your society, denied it?

This is heavy recovery work, requiring determination, focus, courage, and stamina. Not every individual or collective of people will be up to the task. But, clearly, the time is now.

****** 

Do you have a particular Tarot or other oracle card that you'd like to me explore and write about in the hummingwitch way?

Just email a good, clear jpg photo of your card to hummingwitch@gmail.com, and I'll incorporate its message, one way or another, into one of these posts. Let me know if you'd prefer your submission to be anonymous.

Thanks!

******

Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2022/03/catch-up-with-any-featured-card-you.html

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CARD OF THE WEEK: April 18-22, 2022

 

Five of Pentacles

above: Morgan-Greer Tarot by Lloyd Morgan with art by Bill Greer

below: Rider-Waite Tarot with art by Pamela Colman Smith

 

April 18-22, 2022: In artist Bill Greer's conception, the hardships experienced by the Five of Pentacles figures have brought them closer together in compassionate embrace.

Whenever I see the very different Rider-Waite image, I'm struck by the way the stained glass window floats in the snowy air like an apparition representing...what? A church, perhaps, passed along the way, one in which the card's two bedraggled figures can expect no shelter or solace. The hint of a plain white building behind the tree of five yellow pentacles in the stained glass further suggests an institution--religious or otherwise--that remains remote from people and their needs.

And Pamela Colman Smith's figures for the Rider-Waite are clearly on the outside, trudging through a heavy snowfall. For all we know, Greer's figures might have made their way to shelter. There's nothing in Greer's warmer image--warmer in color and feeling--that indicates which side of that window they're on, and there's nothing illusory about this window or the sturdy, earthy wall surrounding it. In any case, they have one another, a different kind of shelter.

Compassion might be the watchword for this week--compassion towards yourself as well as others. What does (and what does not) offer compassion? How can you make a warm space for vulnerability and healing?

****** 

Do you have a particular Tarot or other oracle card that you'd like to me explore and write about in the hummingwitch way?

Just email a good, clear jpg photo of your card to hummingwitch@gmail.com, and I'll incorporate its message, one way or another, into one of these posts. Let me know if you'd prefer your submission to be anonymous.

Thanks!

******

Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2022/03/catch-up-with-any-featured-card-you.html

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CARD OF THE WEEKEND: April 9-10, 2022

 

 Wheel of Fortune

The Gill Tarot

by Elizabeth Josephine Gill

 

 Wheel of Fortune

Rider-Waite Tarot

by Pamela Colman Smith

 

April 9-10, 2022: Elizabeth Josephine Gill's Wheel of Fortune brings us not the four winged beings of biblical scripture--lion, ox, man, and eagle, as we would find in many conventional Tarot decks--but, instead, Tarot's four primal elements. Air/Swords, Water/Cups, Earth/Pentacles, and Fire/Wands unite to manifest and empower all dimensions of reality. Gill's wheel bears the colors of the rainbow--again, equal in length and space and firmly conjoined.

The Wheel of Fortune, as a Major Arcana card, can indicate pulling oneself together or, perhaps, pulling a larger system together in a profound, transformative, invincible way.

Ask yourself, then, what needs this level of unification, strengthening, and/or massive change?

What elements within yourself--or outside of you--require shoring up and/or reconnection to other elements so that the whole entity integrates, heals, and flourishes?

Moving away from an old idea of Wheel of Fortune indicating that some folks or things are up while others are down, can we look at this archetype in a way that encourages understanding of the necessary role each distinct part plays in the integrity and success of the whole?

With two mysterious eyes--one floating above the wheel and one at its very center, perhaps Gill is hinting at the importance of a unifying perception of self, life, and reality.

Take some time to meditate on all of this, and have an exhilarating weekend!

******

Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2022/03/catch-up-with-any-featured-card-you.html

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CARD OF THE DAY: February 14, 2022

 

Queen of Swords

Universal Waite Tarot

by Pamela Colman Smith

with recoloring by Mary Hanson-Roberts

 

February 14, 2022: Here's the Queen of Swords, her marble throne mounted on hilly, cloud-wrapped terrain. One of her hands grasps an absolutely no-nonsense sword straight up in a sign of authority. The other hand gestures as if the queen is in the midst of giving a speech to the masses. An austere, icy Sky Queen, she commands attention and respect.

But, as is often the case, Tarot will compel one's focus towards one detail or another, offering nuance.

Today, Pamela Colman Smith's Queen of Swords (in the recolored Universal Waite Tarot) wanted me to notice and focus on the warm colors of red, orange, and gold. She took my eyes to each manifestation of these colors and said, "The source of my strength."

Do not miss the necklace of chunky red stones resting over the queen's heart chakra. (Happy Valentine's Day💖, btw!)

I can almost hear her sword whoosh through the air or strike a rock or--as it might be doing now--simply vibrate its clear, formidable energy into the space around it.

Tarot's Swords/Air cards deal with thought, writing, speech, and any kind of vocalization. (And, yes, with conflict and arguments, where those are relevant to the story.) Even the golden butterflies, creatures of air that form her unusual crown, radiate a nobility and strength of mind.

Speak with strength, with fire, with force today, and never falter.

****** 

Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-good-weekend-to-catch-up-with-our.html

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And the CARD OF THE WEEK is...

Queen of Pentacles

from Universal Waite Tarot

art by Pamela Colman Smith with recoloring by Mary Hanson-Roberts

 

Here's a big thanks 💓 to those of you who played along to guess our CARD OF THE WEEK!

Unfortunately, not only did our humble, thoughtful, lovingly concerned Queen of Pentacles elude all of you, but you guessed neither a Queen of any suit nor any Pentacles card.

 

So...sorry to say...no winner. 😢

 

Not this time, at least. But I think I'll try this contest again in March. So, keep watch for another chance to win a reading!

In the meantime, for the rest of this week, do enjoy the Queen's practicality, steadiness, and nurturing energy. She is the monarch of all things necessary for secure, healthy material life and growth. She will remind you that you can find the power of care and resourcefulness within yourself. Like her, you will ground yourself within the beauty you find all around you--including that which you yourself have created or attracted to you. Enjoy this embodied moment we call life.

CARD OF THE WEEKEND: January 29-30, 2022

 

Six of Cups

Above: from Dragon Tarot by Peter Pracownik

under the direction of Terry Donaldson

Below: from Universal Waite Tarot, Pamela Colman Smith art for Rider-Waite Tarot,

recolored by Mary Hanson-Roberts

 

January 29-30, 2022: Dragon Tarot is best for folks who love dragons and dragon lore from cultures around the globe. As a reader's deck, though, it requires you to really know your Tarot structure and traditions as the images either do not show enough specific and relatable symbols to help a novice reader or are idiosyncratic. It's part of my collection--a review copy, if I recall--though I have never used it for readings for myself or others. I almost did not include it in this series.

Flipping through it, however, I deliberately chose, for this weekend, the Six of Cups, a card that actually has a specific, non-traditional meaning for me. Whenever this card comes up in a one-card draw or within a layout, it signifies the immediate loving, helpful, and protective presence of one or more spirits, ancestral or otherwise. This works for me, and it can sometimes prove relevant in readings for others.

As you see above, Peter Pracownik's Six of Cups differs dramatically from the bucolic setting of the Rider-Waite-Smith model. It's one of the deck's dreamier, more enjoyable images--a dragon ship, with its dragon herald, leading a fleet of others out to sea, their way lit by the full moon and stars.

Honestly, though, I don't know how any of that squares with what this deck's Little White Book (LWB) tells us about "learning to live in harmony with those around you," but that's in the nature of a lot of these tiny, inserted guidebooks which are best to ignore.

Maybe this dragon card can suggest a fleet of fierce and loving spirit guides coming to take care of you and navigate the way for you--a fun way to interpret it!

Have a wonderful weekend!

****** 

Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-good-weekend-to-catch-up-with-our.html

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CARD OF THE DAY: January 19, 2022

 

Five of Cups

(above) Universal Waite Tarot (Pamela Colman Smith, recolored by Mary Hanson-Roberts)

(below) Oriens Animal Tarot (Ambi Sun)

 

January 19, 2022: Periods of disappointment, regret, emptiness, and grieving come as natural parts of life.

Against a featureless, colorless, joyless sky, Pamela Colman Smith's classic Five of Cups offers an image of sorrowful resignation and reflection after loss. Though three goblets have tumbled, spilling precious contents, the river--life--though seemingly distant, flows on. Two shining goblets stand ready behind the shrouded figure. A future, though not initially recognized as such, is already within reach.

For the modern Oriens Animal Tarot, Ambi Sun's art re-imagines an ongoing, dynamic process that unites past, present and future. A small but representative "plague" of locusts munches on intertwined stems of ivy, this plant a symbol of forever-ness. A pair of crystal goblets has been turned upside down. Another goblet is now in the process of toppling. The final two--for now, at least--rest upright on their bases.

Tarot's Five of Cups offers us space to contemplate impermanence, release our clinging attachment to that which changes, and come to terms with the natural ebb and flow of all life and our place within it.

Even in times of plenty and satisfaction, practicing letting go can relieve the pain of expectations that things will always stay just the way we want and demand them to be.

Give the grief you're carrying its time, and know that joy will surely have its time as well.

******

Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-good-weekend-to-catch-up-with-our.html

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CARD OF THE DAY: January 18, 2022

 

 

The Devil

(above) from Universal Waite Tarot: art Pamela Colman Smith, recolored by Mary Hanson-Roberts

(below) from Neo Tarot: Jerico Mandybur with art by Daiana Ruiz

 

January 18, 2022: You knew it had to happen eventually: the appearance of one of Tarot's scariest cards, certainly part of the Tarot ecosystem. The Devil unnerves beginners and sends some would-be learners--mainly those influenced by mainstream religions--running as far away from Tarot as possible. So, what's to be done?

Kick that pedestal out from under!

Actually, both Pamela Colman Smith (in the Rider-Waite-Smith-based Universal Waite) and Daiana Ruiz (in the wonderfully contemporary Neo Tarot) offer an obvious solution though the answer escapes the two human figures at the forefront of each image.

Take those damn chains off your necks!

Look, folks, they're actually loose. They've always been loose. But you're so distracted by...whatever, that you don't have a clue.

In the case of the Neo, the chains, which issue from the monster's own head, aren't even locked around the humans' necks. They're vaguely attached to the backs of their heads, and I'm thinking they could probably be removed if only the pair would just reach around and yank them out.

The Devil's greatest weapon is our own propensity to be hoodwinked and manipulated.

The Devil card's relevance to the current climate in our society is profound. Is it not?

As is often said, the Devil is liar. And as is also often said, the truth shall set you free.

Arm yourself with the truth and give the Devil a good shove off that pedestal.

****** 

Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-good-weekend-to-catch-up-with-our.html

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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.

****** 

Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-good-weekend-to-catch-up-with-our.html

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CARD OF THE DAY: January 11, 2022

 Ace of Cups

Universal Waite Tarot

Art by Pamela Colman Smith recolored by Mary Hanson-Roberts

 

January 11, 2022: Tarot's Aces can be viewed, at times, as symbols of gifts from Spirit, right out of the blue--or out of a spirit hand extended from a cloud. Given quietly and with such subtlety that they might be overlooked if you are distracted--as you tend to be--by mundane matters and worries. So small, sometimes, that you can tuck them away in your pocket, or in your subconscious, or in a patch of fertile ground that will prove perfect for their nurturing and future growth. Secreted away where they can't be discovered and stolen from you. But don't forget they're there to be retrieved and activated when the time is right. The key that turns the lock. A dash of the secret ingredient in your great-granny's  recipe, passed down the generations.

From the Universal Waite Tarot, I was gifted the Ace of Cups for you today. Since we're talking a Rider-Waite-Colman image, you'll notice more than a hint of Christian mysticism here--the golden chalice from which springs holy waters of life and to which a white dove descends, bearing a communion host--the Body of Christ--in its bill.

Such a gentle, peaceful card. And yet, the thought that was also gifted to my mind right before I drew this card was about 'breaking the mold" and "upending the order of things." There are Tarot archetypes that speak more directly to those themes.

I will leave it to you radical social justice Christians--and I know you're out there--to take this Ace of Cups in the obvious, quite justifiable direction. But from a different perspective, in which Tarot can speak to one of any or no faith, I want to argue for the power of the element of water as a force that can go from the subtlety of the tiniest teardrop to the mystery, depth, and ferocious power of a wind-whipped ocean.

Don't sleep on the power of the drop. Enough of them over enough time, and they'll wear away stone and create new channels for their movement. They will break the mold. They will upend the order of things.

How does this tiny, heartfelt, powerful gift manifest in your life today? What does it make possible tomorrow?

****** 

Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-good-weekend-to-catch-up-with-our.html

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CARD OF THE DAY: January 10, 2022

 

 

 The Fool

from The Tarot 

by Hoi Polloi, Inc.

January 20, 2022: My first Tarot deck was The Tarot, a brightly-colored Rider-Waite-Smith interpretation created and marketed in 1972 by the game company Hoi Polloi. They called it, simply, The Tarot. With its vibrant, super-clear imagery, it ushered me into a world of symbolism that never ever seemed daunting. I adored everything about it.

"Don't fear!" the Hoi Polloi deck seemed to say, cheerfully. "Tarot really is for you!"

The Hoi Polloi, I see now, is out of print and rare, and one is currently going for $300 on Etsy! I'm sorry I no longer own mine, having long ago passed it along to an eager student.

For more on the history of Hoi Polloi's Tarot,

click here.

When some people tell me they find Tarot an overly complex, intimidating system--or, even, a somewhat frightening one--I understand, but I'm always a bit sad, remembering my time with Hoi Polloi's deck.

Working with Tarot was never something alien to me but a natural outgrowth of my early interest in the occult and psychological and spiritual matters. Connecting the myriad, intricate symbols of Tarot and applying them to people, places, and situations was a stimulating game that challenged my intelligence and creativity. I could not get enough of it. Still can't!

As you can tell from my posts here on hummingwitch, I love many types of decks within and outside of Tarot, and I do believe readers should go with the decks that speak to their personal interests, values, and aesthetics. There are so many from which to choose and from which to learn.

 

The Fool

from Universal Waite Tarot

Art by Pamela Colman Smith with coloring by Mary Hanson Roberts

 

Universal Waite Tarot (from Stuart B. Kaplan's U.S. Games Systems with Pamela Colman Smith imagery recolored by Mary Hanson-Roberts) has played the same role for me that Hoi Polloi's Tarot once played. It takes me--and my clients, when I choose to consult it for them--back to useful basics. This imagery can serve as a launching pad for a journey of knowledge and skill development that need never end for any reader or be limited to the world and symbol system of Arthur E. Waite's Golden Dawn.

Our Card of the Day--The Fool--definitely symbolizes going back to basics and beginning a journey. The journey requires courage (even foolhardiness, if you will, in a positive sense) and faith. The Fool's little satchel contains the basics. You don't have to have much to get started. But The Fool's wreath of laurels declares that our Fool--despite being a beginner or, perhaps, because of it--is already a hero. The very first step on the path is, in itself, a victory.

The last time I listened to someone say that Tarot was way, way too complicated to study, I bit my tongue. That person's experience, their choice, is their own; let them speak. Later, I humbly remembered I had chosen to stay away from studying astrology for the very same reason!

But what I thought of saying to this person--and might yet say, if given a chance--is this: Just start small. Even if you notice one thing--one detail that catches your eye, stirs a memory, makes a connection, makes some useful sense--you're on your way.

Try it out, step by step, and let it teach you. Tarot has a way of guiding you and giving you gifts all along the way. It's so worth it. At any level of ability, Tarot can bring you something valuable and so often amazing!

With all the renewed interest in Tarot and other oracle cards, I'm sure you can find or form a wonderful support group of like-minded beginners. Or connect with a Tarot coach--like me!--to support you as you go!

****** 

Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-good-weekend-to-catch-up-with-our.html

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