Weekend with a few Kings

I have been tardy in posting here but I taken some time out to get to know a new deck, the Dame Fortune’s Wheel by Paul Huson. The Majors are based on the TdM but not a clone in any way, For example is the Magician not out alone in the desert but rather performing his tricks to an audience.

The Minors are based on Etteilla. Now I always been interested in getting an Etteilla deck and learn more about them as I am a total novice. I do think it is refreshing with a deck that is not a RWS or a Thoth clone. It plays it’s own kind of music. The courts except for the Knights are named but are not meant to be seen as the actual historical persons but as their mythical selves.

My first card from saturday was King of Batons – Caesar. The thing I noticed right away was the bundle of wands tied with the axe. The same symbol is on the Sheridan-Douglas card. It makes me think of something very strong but also something very rigid, a tool that is really not practical any longer. What outdated tools do I cling on to? Is my way of using the Tarot one of them? Perhaps it is time to loosen up a little.

My next card was another King – King of Swords that is pictured as David. He looks so stern and then by his feet is the harp. A very double image. The man in full armor and sword pointing up brings to mind David as a King of Justice and the harp brings to mind the young boy soothing others with his calm music. Perhaps it just goes to show that in order to be righteous and just we must not forget to have a heart and to show tenderness and mercy.

One cup short – or am I?

Today’s card was 9 of Cups from the amazing Sheridan-Douglas tarot, a new favorite. A woman is sitting naked, holding a cup and 8 other beneath her. Her eyes closed as if in deep thought and her hair a wild mess of thought-tentacles. She is yellow (intellect) and the cups are blue (emotion) As a 9 I see her as connected with IX The Hermit. She is solitary but I wouldn’t say lonely. She is one cup away from the ‘perfection’  in the 10 of cups. But is she really? This card today makes me think a lot of the social norm that a family is the goal of life and that therefor a 9 of cups lady HAS to secretly wish for the fulfillment of that last piece of the puzzle. A lot of us do fall outside of that norm though and we are not even yearning for family-bliss.

Today I am happy in my own skin and happy in my own company.

Flitting through…

I have been lax in updating. These cards show pretty much how I felt lately. The Knight of Cups is holding his cup to his heart, not yet offering it up for others. The 6 of coins are laying them out though, but these coins are just the mundane life, the flotsam of an ordinary life. Not much to see really.

I been dreaming a lot, long complex architectural skyscrapers with post-war concrete bunkers or dreams. Something is stirring. Been working through a lot of that ‘oh pity me’ feelings and I must say I am proud to have conquered them without submitting to the temptation to broadcast them. I keep my feelings much to myself – but lay out the mundane cause that is all I can give for now.

I will be back with deck of the week next week since for now I am full of tarot and I need to empty my cup before taking more in. Expect random tarot posts here though.

Oh let me finish with this photo from my balcony just a few days ago. It may be end of April – but it is still winter here:

 

Mothers

Me and my mother got a complex relationship, but don’t we all? The other day she came over for coffee and a chat though and we really connected and could touch even on those painful spots we so often do anything to avoid. I got to say that I love her and respect her and that I forgiven and moved on. As I said it I could feel myself heal and I think she did too. It was a good talk. She is not a perfect mom, whatever that is, just as I am no perfect daughter. But we are enough.

This morning I was sick and feverish due to an infected tooth (going to the dentist monday) and still in bed when she came by with a bunch of cream-coloured roses. It sure made this day change direction. I got up from bed, put on coffee, started preparing dinner, opened the balcony door, got properly dressed and tuned in the World. I got a feeling if she didn’t bring me those roses, I would still lie in bed and feel sorry for myself. Thanks Mom!

Today’s card don’t need a tarot professional to read. It’s MOM! In her best aspect and also me in my best. Calm and beautiful, offering/receiving a cup filled with water from the heart. I also pulled 3 cards from Melissa Lenormand – second edition. And at least the last two are clear as day. Flowers + Lady. Not too sure on the Fish yet. I try to not read Lenormand as Tarot cause then I would focus on the stamps and the ‘gift’ aspect of that image.

Tell a tale

They are being busy telling each other tales, enjoying the warm fire, something to drink and starry night. They got their swords, no need to concern them selves over others stuff, right? Yet they are set to guard. As we all should be set to keep an eye out for each other.

I am reminded today of some pretty gruesome stories in media, about gang-rape, abuse, violence. And always someone saying: I didn’t do it, wasn’t me, I wasn’t watching, I didn’t see a thing. If we don’t keep vigil over each others rights – we will soon lose our own.

 

Steam!

My first thought when I pulled this card was that I suddenly felt thirsty. So off I went to get some coffee. And then when I finally decided that perhaps I should take a picture and blog a little today it hit me that this card could have been sponsored by Pepsi!

If the fiery lion is lust – then this prim lady in the hat is trying her best to put a damper on it. Sublimation as my friend Patrik would have said. This card looks more like Temperance then Temperance looks like Temperance. I try to see it the other way around though, that the fire is not being tempered – but drawn upon, not dampened but conjured. I had a rather wild dream last night about 6 babies and de-frosting hockey rinks and living on a train and I won’t bore you all with the details, but to sum it up, it was really all about my need to find new ways to express myself and to harness my creative flame. Water on Fire creates a good deal of steam and I am like a choo-choo-train – steaming full ahead now!  I am brimming with ideas and inspiration for the future.

Not just sloshing around

But creating ripples! This guy here is floating on his back in an ocean, above him clouds and birds creating patterns, the red sun is setting and the man is making some patterns of his own. Hearts radiating outwards, he is floating on a sea of Emotions. Yet again I see the swords as an emotional card, not just one for cerebral aspirations.

Swords in Malkuth, the lowest sphere on the Tree of Life, are always in distress. And this is one way of dealing with stress, to be the victim, to make a splash, to wish for rescue. We learn it as infants, cry and Mom comes and lifts us up, comforts us. As teens we perfect the ‘oh pity on me’ thing and sometimes even as adults we grasp for the passive-aggressive card when we are losing a fight. I know I got it down to a Tee myself. But I try to find other ways of coping these days.

I could slosh around in the ocean of Despair a week before anyone would report me missing so I might as well try other ways of creating ripples.

This deck is such a treat! These seemingly simple images are so vibrant and for me filled with emotions. Here are a few of my favorite cards. Maybe one of them will come up later this week but if not – here are a few goodies:

 

Just found this quote too:

“The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a
distance but live right in it, under its roof.”
— Barbara Kingsolver

Charlie is a great teacher, as all cats are, in living inside your hope. Napping on my pyjama t-shirt.

The dilemma of the tarot addict

This weeks deck is the groovy Sheridan-Douglas tarot. First created in the 70-ies and now re-released and easy to buy again. (Go to amazon.co.uk and not the american amazon though)

I picked this one up after seeing it and oh-ing and ah-ing over it at Bodhiseeds blog (she is guilty of a LOT of enabling) The cardstock is glossy and smooth and quite thick and the images somehow for some strange reason makes me think of Navigators of the mystic SEA. It is not the style of art or anything I can really put my finger on, just like a flavour in the back of my mouth. Perhaps it is just in my imagination. I do love the simplicity of this deck though, bold colours and lines. And it is not a RWS clone. It is outside the box in a lot of the cards.

Todays card pictures the dilemma of a tarot addict. That is me standing on the shoreline with my 6 (or 100+) cups (tarot-decks) my eyes and mind set on that elusive one that would complete my collection and indeed my life!

I am a bit of a hoarder. I now have 111 decks. And yes, this was my latest and I am happy (and satisfied for a week or a month)

Other daily news: Spring is well on it’s way, long days and pleasant nights to ya all 😀 and today Skellefteå AIK is in the hockey semi-finals. Go SAIK! Me and my brother are having a meatball sandwich TV dinner and cheering on.  Perhaps I should do a reading on the outcome!