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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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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Bealteine 2014: Blog Hop Master List

Here is the Master List for the Tarot Blog Hop for Bealteine 2014. If you lose your way on the 'Hop, please come here to find the path again.

1. Olivia Destrades http://firstearthtarot.blogspot.com/2014/05/beltane-blog-hop-uniting-opposites.html
2. Robin B Wood   http://thequartzcafe.blogspot.com/2014/05/beltane-2014-tarot-blog-hop-essence-of.html
3. Joanne Sprott:  http://cosmicwhisperstarot.com/2014/05/01/power-of-opposites-beltane-tarot-blog-hop/
4. Aisling the Bard:  http://tarotwitchery.blogspot.com/2014/05/tarot-blog-hop-bealteine-2014-union-of.html
4a Louise Underhill: http://www.priestesstarot.co.uk/2014/05/tarot-blog-hop-opposites-attract
5. Arwen  http://tarotbyarwen.com/?p=17745
6. Christiana Gaudet http://tarottrends.com/content/beltaine-tarot-blog-hop-union-opposites
7. Joy Vernon http://joyvernon.com/Blog/the-union-of-opposites/ 
8. Chloe for TABI:  http://tabitarot.blogspot.com/2014/05/union-of-opposites.html
9.  Joanna Ash: http://sungoddesstarot.blogspot.com/2014/05/Beltane-Tarot-Blog-Hop-A-Union-Of-Opposites.html   
10. Deirdre Doran  http://thewillowpathtarot.com/2014/05/01/tarot-blog-hop-opposites/
11. Karen Sealey  http://pureblessedtarot.wordpress.com/2014/05/01/the-quadrille-dance-of-the-gene-genie
12. Chloe for Celtic Lenormand:  http://www.celticlenormand.com/2014/05/uniting-opposites-making-of-flowers.html
13. Bonnie Fernandes: http://www.tarotsalve.com
14: Shauna Aura Knight http://shaunaaura.wordpress.com/2014/05/01/beltane-and-the-union-of-opposites
15. Chloe:  http://innerwhisperscouk.blogspot.com/2014/05/beltane-blog-hop.html
16. Morgan Drake Eckstein  https://gleamingsfromthedawn.blogspot.com/2014/05/union-of-opposites.html
17. Ethony -  http://ethony.com/beltane-tarot-blog-hop-union-opposites/
18. Stella T'arot http://www.usgamesinc.com/tarotblog/oppositesdancetarot/
19. Bridgett Trejo - http://blessedpagan.blogspot.com/2014/05/beltane-2014-blog-hop.html

Tarot Blog Hop--Spring Has Sprung--Oestare 2014

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OK, folks, Winter is dead or dying and Spring, new life, new plans, fresh winds of Change, is being born even as we watch....So, how does the Tarot help us to blow out the old and spring into the new? Well--here's a pretty simple pattern that might be of assistance. We have a tendency to make "resolutions", or make plans for change, but we don't necessarily think about where we've come from, or where we actually ARE, when we're focused on where we're going. So this Spring, let's "spring" from the past, to the present, and then to the future, doing the "bunny hop" to remind ourselves of what has been, what is, and therefore get a better handle on what is to Be.

A simple three-card draw gives us our road map: Past, Present, Future...so, let's get hoppin'!

 Here's our first card, from the Tarot of the Old Path--the "Lone Man", known in other decks as the Hanged Man. He's not a prisoner, he's hanging there of his own free will and choice, surveying the scene--listening, not talking, and Paying Attention. So--what is there in the Past that calls to us, that says, "Slow down, STOP! This is important...this, that is part of the past, is the lesson for you to carry into the future!"  

And our card for the Present is the Six of Swords from the Haindl Tarot. It is a curious blend of the esoteric and the mundane, and the immediate message, using not only the word "Science" but the picture of the dying vines with just a hint of green, is about reminding us in the present moment to deal accurately and authentically with what is actually present in our lives, but remembering that what we hold and are learning at this very moment is the seed of growth in the future.

             

And so, what does that Future hold? What has been blown to us by the Winds of Change--what "Springs" into our lives at this time? Well, at first glance, we may not like it much...here is a thief, taking away the "Swords" which represent our thoughts, our plans, our ideas for the future. The grin of glee on his face makes us think he's really made a mess of our well-laid plans...BUT! WAIT!....



The "thief", dressed in the yellow which represents Air/Ideas and the red which represents Fire/Will, is the only person in the picture. And his arms are loaded with the four swords he has stolen, but he's looking back in frustration at the three he had to leave behind....and so, Dear One, here's your message for the future. The thief is your Self, working against your Self when you overload your Future with too many plans, too many ideas, total confusion where you can't do anything but "steal" time for this bit and that bit, and leave other bits behind. The message is...SLOW DOWN. Simplify. Look back at the Lone Man, contemplating. Remember the seeds of Science which have given you, in the present, plans for a productive future. You will have one, if you move more slowly, not "stealing" from your Self time for this and that, but carefully sheathing or using each of the Swords/Ideas/Thoughts in its own good time.

So--Hop along now, and see where there might be other ideas to help you Spring Forward in a way that brings you to a joyful future!

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