How Appropriate...

January 26, 2012: Daughter of Cups, Haindl Tarot

It is the week before Imbolc, and today's draw gives us the Daughter of Cups, Brighid of Ireland, in the octave of Her feast day. Calm, serene, as eternal as the standing stones which surround Her, she is a reminder to us today of the persistence of the sacred. Every year, the festivals occur, the remembrance of ancestors, of great Truths, of Deities and Saints, of landmarks and milestones of human life. Today I will begin to think of Brighid, Goddess of Poetry, Smithcraft, and Healing. Today I will give thanks for Her gifts. Today I will begin to work towards my Imbolc celebration, honoring Her in my preparations. Today is a day to connect ourselves to the Eternal Persistence of Spirit. Today we all are connected. Reach out, share, focus on that which is sacred to you, make this day matter. The calm serene gaze of the Eternal is looking upon you with Love. Take joy...it is there for you.

Your World....

January 25, 2012: The World, Utah Maninni Tarot I

This card has the feel of eternity on it--she is the center of her own universe, thinking of her eternal marriage, in Utah, the center of the world...And of course, she's right. The Celts used to say it this way, "Where is the centre of the Earth? Right here, where I stand!" And for all of us today, this is the middle, this is the center of the earth, we are all there is. Today is the first day of the Waxing Moon of Rowan in the Celtic Tree calendar, the tree of protection and divine guidance. So--I can say it no better than the card does. Thou art God. Thou art Goddess. The world is yours...What are you going to do with it, today?

Drawing The Threads Together...

January 24, 2012: Eight of the Green Goddess, Utah Maninni Three Tarot

Well, your TarotWitch is intrigued. Random draws from five different decks produce my daily card for you, and twice in a row we have art and ideas from Taliesin. Maybe I better see how the laddie is doing...For now, though...

In this deck, which was themed, "The Goddess Utah", the suit of Earth was represented by "The Green Goddess". Tal chose one of our native Wolf Spiders to be his eight, and I like the right-angled Antelope Island view he placed it on (they're all over the place out there). Let's see what he tells us about it: 

Media: This card is created from photos I took from various educational web sites about the state of Utah. None of them is copyrighted. The background is Antelope Island at sunset, (I turned it 90 degrees) and the foreground is a native arachnid, the Antelope Island Wolf Spider.

Meaning: I love spiders, and their eight-leggedness, and the fact that wolf spiders live underground, seem to make them almost automatically represent the eight of earth. As far as the Goddess Utah goes, this is one of the most important ways She manifests, in native flora and fauna, especially spiders, which have their own "crafty" vibe. This card is about keeping the threads together, weaving for the future, and remembering the past.

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I'm a spider-person myself, and I love these guys, when I am not surprised by them. I think this card has a message of remembrance (and I don't think it's an accident that it made me think of Taliesin today.) Whom/what have you forgotten? What do you need to recall, whom do you need to call, how are you keeping the web together today?

Better Than Expected

January 23, 2012: Seven of Discs, Utah Maninni Two...

A bountiful harvest, indeed, all seven pumpkins glowing in their potential richness...This is a photo taken by Taliesin at Affleck Park and a card created by himself for this deck. So--here's what he had to say about it:

 

This is a picture of the Mabonfest altar. I added a few pumpkins and messed the photo around a bit with pen and ink. For me it is such an example of the Harvest and the stability of having food and family. Seven is one of those numbers that means that things are not anything like you expected them to be, but it might end up better than you thought, just different. I think the harvest is like that because any time you plant a garden, it's a crapshoot. You get what you get. But you need to be thankful for that, even if it isn't exactly what you expected.

Upright: You have paused in your work to regard the situation. It isn't necessarily the way you envisioned it but it might turn out better than you thought. Keep going. 

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This card reminds me of unexpected harvests. Seven is the next card after six, which represents the second level of a triad--something built on the foundation of body, mind, spirit. So I like the concept of the unexpected here, as Taliesin says--kind of like finding an extra coin in your pocket when you thought you had them all. So--what's the good news! 

Sometimes We Forget The Past...

January 22, 2012: Six of Cups, Utah Mannini Two Tarot

Six represents the evolution of three, and the threes are all the triad of beginnings, like the three legs of a cauldron, so sixes represent what has been built on that foundation. With cups, however, we have a tendency to forget that the vessel is actually containing and shaping the flow of water/emotion/transcendence/intuition, and that when we started, we needed to approach the raw materials of the situation when they were in their natural state, before putting them into the cup(s). So, I think the original description of this card as submitted by its creator, Sandy Elphin, will accurately reflect what this card is telling your Tarot Witch today:

"This is a simple cut-and-paste job of some images I found on a free site. I chose to use something that was pretty cut and dried, the cups all sitting in a formation, like most people probably think about their lives. We have a tendency to look back on the past a little too much and think of it as much better than the present is. The formation is quite regular, the cups all marching in an array behind the leader--all except the one at the base of the figure, which for sixes represents "number one". It's all spilt all over the place, but no one is paying attention. The convoy of cups is marching on, and leaving that stain on the tablecloth for someone else to worry about. The card is trying to show that number one, the past, is often pretty messy, but we forget about that, and number two, thinking too much about the past can even "leak" and make a mess of our present too. The card is a reminder that the important day is the one you are living right now."

There is only one place where I would disagree with Sandy's interpretation...well, maybe not disagree, exactly, but offer an additional perspective. I do agree that with the realm of emotion, dwelling on the past can be counterproductive. It is important to feel what you're actually feeling right now, and not to wallow in things that have "flowed" past you, out of your reach. BUT--I would definitely not leave that stain on the tablecloth, and why isn't someone helping that poor first cup to get up on its stem again and join the parade? Past emotions that involve other people are something for which we are responsible. Making amends, apologizing, setting things right, these are the things that make it possible for us to go on without drowning in a whirlpool of our own making. So, yes, concentrate on today's cup. Be here now, and do what you are feeling and thinking for today. Be present in the moment, drink from today's cup. But--clean up your mess first, 'k? Thanks!

Here Come Da Juuuuudge....!!!!

January 21, 2012: Judgment -- Utah Mannini One Tarot

This card was created in 2000, for the very first Utah Mannini Tarot Project. It is a view of Antelope Island from the shores of the Great Salt Lake, with a fustercluck of cherubim and seraphim fighting for position on the island. And that does bespeak the very heart of the way we use the word "Judgment" right now in our culture..."judgmental" is a nasty word, the idea of fundamentalism that people will be "judged" by an angry God for being gay, or atheists, or pro-choice, or many other things...yes, all that is there. And that is even more prevalent in Utah, where people often feel as if the LDS Church has everyone under a microscope, "judging" constantly, as is evidenced by the repeated forays of clean-cut young men to one's front door to "preach the Gospel", even after one has asked that they not come back.

So--Judgment...hmm....what kind of a message is THAT for today, ferpetesake? Didn't I have enough to do today without worrying about the Universe judging me?? Geeezzzzeee...

But wait just a minute....slow down. This is a Tarot Witchery site, so try thinking like a Witch. Don't fall into the lazy linguistic trap of giving this word, judgment, only one meaning. To judge, my dears, is to choose. It means to discriminate--another word that has gotten universal bad press over decades of common usage, but actually has quite a magical meaning. Judgment--discrimination--they both mean, to think, and to select, and to make decisions based on free choice. I choose this, and not that. I discriminate at the grocery store between those nice fresh smooth juicy-looking peaches and those that are overripe or still hard and green. And I look at the idea of judging others for their choices, and I realize that I myself have to choose how I will interpret that word, and this card. Everyone chooses. Everyone says, "this, not that." And the idea here is to do that with thought, and consideration, in a focused manner. This card, today, tells us that a choice will need to be made, and that we need to exercise the faculty of judgment in choosing. What do I choose in this instance, and why do I choose it? What do I judge will be the best choice for me and mine? If we exercise the faculty of "right judgment" when we make choices about our lives, we will be far too busy and focused to spend our time either 'judging' anyone else, or worrying about whether we are being 'judged'. Fact is--here come da Judge, and for your own life, dearie, that's you!! Get on with it, eh?

Hurry Up And Waite....I Know You, Rider... ;)

January 20, 2012: The Hanged Man--Rider-Waite Tarot

I ran across the folder for my old Rider-Waite deck yesterday, and it so wanted to be here, so here's today's draw. It's the beginning of the year, we're on the edge of Spring in some places, it's the beginning of tax season, it's the time when we begin looking at the yard and the house with an eye to spring cleaning--it's all beginning again, hurry hurry hurry let's get started.....NO.

The energy of the Hanged Man is contemplative, still, in a listening posture. Really think about it--do you think hanging upside down like that is comfortable? Of course not-- but it does radically alter your view of life, dunnit? The winter is passing, the cold and snow may be leaving, the holidays are over with their attendant glitter and glisten, and life is just becoming so daily again. So of course we want to hurry madly towards the next new thing. Spring, Easter, flowers, bunnies, grass, no more ice on the roads--hell yeah! But--not so fast....

Today's card is reminding us that there is no unimportant moment, no useless experience, nothing that 'doesn't matter'. Indeed, sometimes thinking something is insignificant makes us miss its real resonance. So, for today, in accord with this card--slow down. Stop. Think. Don't be in a hurry to get from here to there--just be here. Now. Be Here Now. Be in your present moment. What is important? What just happened? Why? What is going on RIGHT NOW? What might you be missing, if you don't Pay Attention?

There. Just hang there. Tomorrow is a dream. Yesterday is a memory. But today is a Gift. That's why they call it the Present. Odin got the runes, hanging there. What are you getting?