Looking Back, Looking Forward

Hello, friends;

Not online most of the day today, so the "daily draw" didn't happen first thing in the morning. So tonight we have an interesting phenomenon--the "wtf" draw (name of which was inspired by someone who had a reading recently and was asked what the topic of the reading was to be--"wtf!" was the answer!) But it doesn't only stand for its usual not-too-pretty abbreviation....this time, it actually means, "where to focus". Look back at the events that happened today for you, and look forward at the day to come, and here is a one-card draw that will give you a way to find the common thread in the day that has passed and the one that is to come...what is the Universe trying to show you, teach you, draw to your attention, and what do you do with that information?

And so... the single card that pulls together what happened today and what is going to come to you tomorrow is...






Don't completely freak out, now..."Death" in the Haindl Tarot is very much less terrifying and far less final than one might think. Look at the picture and you see the boat, which is perhaps the barge to the Summerlands or the craft of Charon, but might also be the bark bringing new life to the shore of the world. Indeed, that boat is the origin of the cradle in which one places a newborn. Look at the grass and plant life, the bones of the earth, the animals and birds, and the only human figure in the card, the ferryman. The peacock's eye regards you, the reader, as you must look at the truth of the situations which may be leaving your life or just entering it. All that you have is going to end at some time, and all that you lose will make space for that which is to come. Indeed, the rune on the card is Beorc, the Birch, new beginnings. So--what is leaving your life, (that might be yesterday's message), and what is to come with the new dawn, and how are they connected to one another, and what is the lesson for you?

FFF & F as you look at your own life and apply the symbolism. See you next card!

Aisling

Today's Draw: Yes and No Layout

Been a while, my friends, but the TarotWitch is back in business, and here's today's Daily Draw, a new "spread" (can you call it a spread if it's only two cards?) which I am terming the "Yes and No Draw". Basically, this draw can be interpreted one of two ways:

1) Look at both cards, and choose one to mean "Yes", and the other to mean "No", about whatever issues or circumstances you have on your mind today. This means that one of these cards represents, "Yes, this. I see that this energy is active today, and this is something I need to develop and focus upon." And the other card represents, "NO. No, not this feeling/action/response/path. I should NOT do this. Or think this. Or listen to this. NO."
2) Or---have a circumstance or situation already in your mind. Do focus on your desired, or not desired, course of action in this circumstance. And then, you tell yourself, with the first card, "If I say "yes" to this, THIS is what is going to be the result." And, of course, the second card is, "If I say "no" to this, THIS will be the outcome." And so, you decide, will you be saying "yes" or will you say "no"?

Today's draw uses the Tarot of the Old Path. Your cards for today are:

First card:  Five of Pentacles. This card depicts a couple who have obviously undergone some injuries, and are standing stunned in their bloody bandages trying to figure out what comes next. But right behind them is a "money tree" loaded with coins, which they are not able to see because it is not in their current view. This card says, "Change your perspective on the situation that may have hurt you, and look around for alternatives in order to heal. The situation might appear bleak, but there are always other choices, if you will just look."



Second Card: Six of Swords: In this card, the knight/sword-bearer is balanced precariously on uneven stepping stones, carrying one shining sword in either hand, and carefully journeying towards a lovely and peaceful islands. His path is guarded by the "Ladies of the Lake" holding swords to create a direction for his travel. The card represents the ways in which we may succeed in even the most precarious journeys if we have focus, if we guard ourselves and permit ourselves to be carefully directed when necessary, and if we "keep our balance" no matter how apparently daunting are the circumstances.



So--which of today's cards is your "Yes" and which is your "No"? How will you let your choice be your guardian in accord with the omens you are seeing? Have a safe and prosperous journey through your day, and this is your TarotWitch signing off. FFF & F, and see you tomorrow!

Tarot Blog Hop, Lughnassadh 2014: Channeling Your Inner Queen of Pentacles

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Blogger following me:  Joanne Sprott 

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Queen of Pentacles am I...
Balance, harmony, I scry
In the five points of the Star
Showing you just where you are...

Are you open to my Air?
New thoughts, ideas. Do you care?
Can you think your ideas through?
If not, I'll Inspire you!

Are you open to my Fire?
With your Will, do you aspire
To claim your Power, burning bright?
If not, I have for you a Light!

Are you open to my Water?
Do you flow, my Son, my Daughter,
Do you feel before you think?
If not, I'll help you--here's a Drink!

Are you open to my Earth?
Is every day, for you, rebirth?
Are you authentic? To your Self, true?
If not, I'll help. Now, You, meet You!

Are you open to my Spirit?
If not, I'll help you. See it, hear it,
Feel it, Be it. In my Cauldron, warm
And simmering, I'll transform. 

You see, I am the Ancient Queen
Of All That Is, Seen and Unseen.
I am the Mother of all Life,
Of Father, Mother, Husband, Wife.
At Lughnassadh I help you harvest
All you have planted. And you are best
Qualified to understand
Your Harvest, given by my Hand.
So here and now, I share with you
What you have done. What will you Do?

@Aisling the Bard, Lughnassadh 2014
All Rights Reserved


Blogger before me: Chloe  

Blogger following me:  Joanne Sprott 

Master List: Right Here

Tarot Blog Hop: Bealteine 2014--The Union of Opposites

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This festival is all about "Lovers" of many kinds, human, natural, spiritual, conceptual -- all those connections which bring us growth, fertility, and joy. And of course, that sometimes means we choose to connect with the Other--the person, or idea, or attitude, or cause, that might actually not be our own way of Being at all, but with whom we know we can create a successful and transcendent Whole with the Union of Opposites. And so today's Hop is going to be an exercise in uniting Tarot "oppositions"... Let's see what we end up with.

I think one of the major ways to evoke the energies of the Union of Opposites is to use the numerological method of discovering what are called "cognate opposites". Take one of the cards of the Major Arcana, and look at its number in your deck. Subtract that number from 78, reduce your answer to its lowest numerological form, and you have the philosophical opposition of your original card. For example: The Devil is traditionally number 13. 78-13=11. And 11 is "Strength"-- which is the tool needed to counter the machinations of the Devil, who represents bondage of the Self to that which harms the Self. The Devil cannot be defeated by fighting, because the fight is internal, and usually the more we exert violent opposition to the temptation, the more we are acting in the way the temptation leads us to do. But the more we cultivate the quiet Strength of holding the jaws of the lion closed, simply refusing to permit ourselves to fall into the morass of the Devil, the better we become at discovering what IS our own Strength, and what we need to do in order to make ourselves better able to do and become what is in harmony with our High Self, not with our baser impulses. And yet--speaking of the Union of Opposites... would we have been able to come to this realization without the Devil's machinations combined with the power of our inner Strength? Probably not.

Here's another example: Take the Hierophant, number 5. Subtract 5 from 78, and you get 73. Reduced numerologically, this is a 10, and gives us the Wheel of Fortune. So--here's a Union of Opposites for you; the opposition of the quiet teaching of the Hierophant, who takes things step by step in a logical manner to lead us to a reasoned and useful conclusion...and the random and chaotic turn of Fortune's Wheel, where we cling to the rim and don't have any idea where we are going to end up. BUT--if we do not have the chaos of the Wheel, we will never know where we are going to need to apply the teachings of the Hierophant; and if we never listen to the logic and philosophies and arcane knowledge of our multitude of teachers, we will never learn that the actual position we need to occupy to ride Fortune's Wheel is directly in the center, the vantage point from which each human being sees the You-niverse.

So--try the math of the cognate opposites, and see what you come up with. Whatever you begin with, the Union of Opposites is going to be your best way to a positive outcome. And as you Hop through the many entries in this Blog Hop, see all of them as a Union of many perspectives on one deep truth...And Blessings of Bealteine to you all!

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