World Tarot Day

Today is World Tarot Day. Most people have no idea what Tarot is actually about. It doesn't predict the future. It describes the potential energy in a situation. Even getting a reading can trigger changes in that moment. With a good tarot reader, one will be better informed as to how to change the state you are presently in for the better.

Tarot is a conversation between the conscious self and other aspects of the self and the reader. It should engage all parties.

I bought my first tarot deck when I was about fifteen, and haven't looked back since. That deck is sitting in the other room. I've taught classes on reading the cards intuitively, because people seem hung up on the little white book, and think that you have to memorize each card's list of keywords.

I have about forty decks, but only two or three are in circulation at a time. Each New Moon and Full Moon I pull an oracle card for a theme for meditation for that part of the cycle. Currently, the card is from an Animal Oracle, and is the Raven. Its a call to listen to my intuition, to consider how Mother Nature makes use of everything no matter how disgusting or surprising that might be.

One of the problems with working with tarot is figuring out what your limit might be, that is, how much is too much tarot. People get addicted to the illusion of certainty. And it is an illusion. It provides insight, not answers, and it is never certain.

We all have days when our intuition is off-kilter, when we aren't listening, when the answer we want just isn't there and we're ignoring what we see.

The best way to counter all that is to pay attention. Do a daily tarot pull, but pay attention to how connected and centered you feel when you are doing so. My own method of daily reading is thus:
I shuffle thoroughly after meditation, which helps me to be centered. Then I cut the deck three ways, and draw one card. I write down in my journal the date, the card and the first three things that come to mind when I'm looking at the card. Then I pull out my tarot journal that includes notes on that card and check the meanings there, writing down any that jump out at me for the entry of the day.
Having done all that, I look at the previous day's entry, and underline those terms and notes that seem to have actually occurred. Sometimes it is very accurate, and sometimes I only underline one term.

I don't do this if I'm sick, or haven't had adequate sleep, or if I'm distracted. Because then I know my reading isn't going to be worth crap.

Which is why my original plan for World Tarot Day isn't going to happen. I have many distractions going on right now, and I'll implement my surprise later for you, my what, three readers? :)

Woohoo! Three readers! Plus another who uses facebook to see what I'm saying.
Suffice to say that my plan involves offering a new service over at Wicket Icons, and that it involves Tarot. I hope to get it set up by next weekend.

In between that time, the shop will, sadly be closed while I do some very important things. :)

So, in simpler language. The shop will be closed: this Friday May 27, 2011 until June 3, 2011. At that point, I'll unveil my latest offering for you, my friends and customers.

I hope you have a blessed and beautiful week. Happy World Tarot Day!

Hymnal: The Grove of Poplars

As promised, a poem for Hekate:


Deep in the forest where few dare to tread
There stands a grove of poplars
Near a bubbling stream
There stands a Maiden
She waits there for me.

Her torches shimmer and shine in the night
Against the darkness of the trees.
A growling descends from the hills near and far
As I walk towards the crossroads
She waits there for me.

Deep in the forest where few dare to tread
There stands a grove of poplars
And the path is a crossroads
Whereon stands the Maiden
She waits there for me.

She knows all my secrets that I could not speak,
With her torches, the truth she reveals
The mysteries she guards for those who would seek
These span the heavens, the earth and the sea.

Deep in the forest where few dare to tread
There stands a grove of poplars,
and the moon shines brightly down
Where stands the Maiden
She waits there for me.

I have washed and dressed
I have carried forth the offering
to stand at the crossroads where she gave me the key
There in the darkness with torches so bright
A maiden waits there for me.

Deep in the forest where few dare to tread
There stands a grove of poplars.
Grown by Hekate's hand.
------
According to Walter Burkert, Black Poplars grown in the Underworld, and the Poplar and Fig were both understood to be signs of a nearby entrance to the Chthonic Realms.
This came to me while I was singing to my plants and folding laundry the other day as I was just starting to come under the weather. It will probably get sorted and tweaked for a while longer, and I need to sit down with my lap harp and work on the music that it will be set with to be played. Here's hoping I can remember how to do music notation! :)

Overdoing It

In preparing for The Rite of Her Sacred Fires, I made an altar cloth, designed and crafted bookmarks for the guests (I invited about ten, and we had six participants), finished an offering for Hekate, cooked a decent amount of food, and did half a dozen smaller tasks that included finishing my spring cleaning.

In my enthusiasm, I totally overdid it. My allergies kicked in, my throat inflamed, and I've now spent two days in bed. I don't do so well at sitting still, truth be told, and I get a bit grumpy when my body insists that I stop for rest.

That doesn't mean that I just lie down and take it, of course. I'm a fan of shifting my diet to kick my immune system into gear, and even using the occasional healing spell. I thought about talking about how to use sex magic to heal the body, but even that brief mention makes me blush.

I did promise that I would post at least once a week, however, and I wanted to at least try to make good. Neglecting to fulfill one's promises is a fantastic way to sabotage your trust in your own Will!

The ritual and then getting ill means that I haven't done much in terms of art. I wrote a poem for Hekate for the Full Moon, however, and will share it shortly, after some minor editing to improve its cadence.

In the meantime, I'm going to go back to dozing in bed with my dog and my cats, and my hot cup of tea. I hope you all have a lovely week.