#major arcana significator

[wordspin-shares]

MAJOR ARCANA CHARACTER SIGNIFICATOR — DARIA BREZIN in THREAD OF TWILIGHT | THE GRISHAVERSE | [FFN | AO3]

Emotionally grounded and mature, the Major Arcana card that best represents Daria is the World card. She is a person who succeeds in her endeavors, not for the sake of success, but for the sake of the experience itself. She has seen much and gained a wide perspective on life.

[psd]

___ All OCs Taglist: @airwolf92, @arrthurpendragon, @bi-ologistofthehills, @foxesandmagic, @themaradwrites, @raith-way, @thecharmedburrowspn-files, @thedreadpiratevaldez (let me know if you want to be added or removed!)

ToT Taglist: @mariedemedicis, @moustache-bonnet (let me know if you want to be added or removed!)

[writtenbythe-stars]

Hi! If I'm able to request a reading for Nicholas Galitzine. Just his general personality and upcoming future endeavours for him. Thank you! ❤️❤️

thanks for your request, anon! since this was pretty vague, i did a pretty general past/present/future spread. it's not as detailed as a lot of my other spreads, just because it's hard to be too detailed without a more specific focus (and it seems like he keeps his personal life pretty under wraps - which makes so much sense given all the scorpio energy in his birth chart), but i hope you enjoy!

nicholas galitzine, 11.20.24

significator: knight of cups

so, starting with the significator, i chose the knight of cups. no chart i could find had his rising sign, and his sun is in libra (an air sign), but his moon is in cancer (a water sign, and also its area of rulership) and the rest of his chart is full of scorpio and cancer, so all of that water energy made the knight of cups feel like a good fit here.

past: VI of cups

first, we look at the past, and i pulled the vi of cups. so, the sixes all touch on themes of communication, transition, balance - related to the Lovers in the major arcana. in the cups, moving out of the grief we see in the v of cups, in the vi the primary theme is nostalgia, sweet memories. there's a sense that things in the past were good, feeling warm and fuzzy about the past, possibly tied up in some sort of caregiver or mentor figure - on the card we see a taller figure giving a cup full of flowers - connection, emotion, wisdom, security - to a smaller figure. so, generally a positive card - especially when we can use this warmth and security from the past to serve as a foundation to move forward, this secure feeling giving us the strength to confront our current problems. but there’s also another angle on this, illustrating the essential cups/water problem with action - we can get stuck in the past, and in our emotions, dwelling on the past and thinking about how great things were back then, which hinders us from confronting the present and future. so, in a way this card really illustrates the struggles of transition between past and future, both positive and negative.

so, i think there are a few interpretive threads here, likely tied together but they are subtly different. so, in the position of the past, i think this card strongly speaks to the past as a time that’s looked back on fondly, a sense of satisfaction and happiness with the past. one point of ambiguity lies in that security versus stuck-ness point i raised earlier - does this positive attitude about the past give him faith in the future, a secure foundation for moving ahead? or does he just keep looking back on this happy past instead, hindering him from looking ahead? or, they’re not mutually exclusive. people contain multitudes - if you had a great high school experience, that can both set you up for a great time at college but also mean that sometimes when that transition is tough you find yourself just obsessing over missing how things used to be. another point of ambiguity specific to this card in this position - this could be speaking kind of directly to how nicholas sees the past from his current vantage point, or it could be a little meta - in the past, he saw the (further) past (or some particular important time in the past) in ways exemplified by this card. so, it’s a very general reading, and we have a lot of potential threads in this card, so we really look to the rest of the reading for more specificity.

present: The Star

next, we look at the present, and I pulled The Star. the Star comes directly after the Tower and represents a period of healing after a difficult time. where in the Tower we see this disaster that destroys old situations, clearing the way for something new, in the Star we find the calm after the storm, we’re getting to this place of healing and acceptance as we learn the lessons of the Tower, but very much a card of stillness, or calm. and i think i’ve mentioned this before, but these two cards are so strongly tied that pulling one often implies the other (or, i actually often pull them together in a reading, like i did in this one).

so, i think this card is very interesting in this position and especially in connection to the vi of cups. on the most basic level, i think this card suggests that he’s in a peaceful, healing period of time right now, heavily implied that it came after some period of tribulation. i can see a few different interpretive threads i’ll get into. so, the most straightforward is that this is after some disaster or difficulty that isn’t apparent to us, as observers of his public life, and given that this is just a more general reading we don’t have a lot of other clues as to what this could be. another that really struck me when looking at the Tower is that the type of times the Tower describes - great upheaval, violence, disaster - can obviously have specific meaning in our individual lives, but can also speak to what’s going on in the world more broadly, especially now. we do live in the world and are affected by it, celebrities too. so maybe he is coming to terms with this period of upheaval more generally. and in connection to the vi of cups, this could mean that now he’s looking back on this time of upheaval with more clarity and acceptance, he feels like he’s in a place to have accepted its lessons and now he sees the good parts. alternately, going with the more meta interpretation i mentioned, this Tower moment has maybe changed the way he sees something about the past, and whereas in the past he saw it in those warm and fuzzy vi of cups ways, now it’s like, the rose-colored glasses are off, with the peace and clarity of the Star.

internal: IV of swords

still in the present, now we look at how that’s being expressed internally and externally. starting off internally or unconsciously, i pulled the iv of swords. so, i’ve talked below about how the fours represent this stabilizing influence, and in swords, the suit of air, communication, thought, that leads us to this idea of retreat inward. we see depicted this figure lying still, almost like in a casket, with swords above them. air is like water - it flows - so the four halts this flow, means we don’t communicate with others, giving rise to this sense of isolation and retreat. but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. this retreat can also bring to mind a meditation retreat - time to be alone and get your thoughts in order, especially after a difficult time. so, if it’s done deliberately, or if the person is really engaged in this kind of exercise of stabilizing thoughts, getting yourself together, this can be a very healing and rejuvenating experience, but it does often mean we need some outside force to come wake us and pull us back into the real world - like in fairy tales, someone needs to come and give the sleeping princess a jolt, a kiss, to call her back to waking.

so, i went into a lot of the interpretation of this card because i think we can see a lot of resonance with the position and the other cards as well. so, this period of healing and calm from the Star card is being internally expressed as a kind of retreat and isolation, with an emphasis on a mental withdrawal to work through his thoughts. this really vibes with the calm, stillness, acceptance of lessons we see in the Star, and also the position of how we work through something internally. so, i think whatever’s going on externally, whatever he’s doing, his inner self is focused on this meditation retreat kind of energy, putting his energy into being alone and thinking through whatever the lessons of the Tower experience and the Star were. and the healing/rejuvenating energy of the iv of swords again really resonates with the Star’s sense of healing after the difficulties of the Tower, again suggesting that whatever pain that brought up for him, he’s working through with this isolation and thoughtfulness.

external: II of pentacles reversed

and now we turn to how this is being expressed externally/consciously, where I pulled the ii of pentacles reversed. i’ve discussed this card upright a few places before, so i’ll be a little more brief here. the ii of pentacles upright has this juggling energy - which is what the figure depicted on it is doing. there’s a sense of having multiple things going - multiple priorities, multiple projects - and keeping all of them in this precarious balance with this light, fun energy. reversed, waite’s formula is ‘simulated enjoyment’. the lightness that makes the upright balance work is gone, and now the figure on the card is just pretending to take things lightly, but is actually really bothered by it, is really struggling.

so, this suggests to me that all of the turmoil suggested by the Tower and the working through it suggested by the Star and the iv of swords is having this effect of pulling nicholas’ energy and attention inward, making it harder for him to keep juggling what he has going on internally - there’s no joy or lightness in it anymore. and that makes sense to me - even though the Star is a card of healing and calm, I wouldn’t call its energy light by any means, and there’s a disconnect between the stillness of the Star and the juggling / motion of the ii of pentacles. so, either as a result of the experiences and lessons learned through the Tower and Star that he’s sorting through in the iv of swords he can no longer see things as lightly as he did previously, or maybe just his energy and his focus is inward, he feels like he needs time alone to think through these more important things and so he his heart isn't really in it, but either way there’s a sense of faking it, pretending like things are fine and fun but internally he’s no longer enjoying himself.

future: X of wands

finally, we look to the future, and we see the x of wands. tens all represent the end of cycles, the culmination of the energy / story of their suit. in wands, we see a figure stumbling under the weight of ten wands on their back, overwhelmed and overburdened (but still functioning, in contrast to the reversed card). the wands figure has chased after wand after wand, fought for project after project and pursued new idea after new idea, only in the end to realize that they’re weighed down by the actual responsibility of all of these things.

straightforwardly, this suggests in the future that nicholas will be / feel overwhelmed by all of these projects or responsibilities. I think this feels like a very natural extension of the ii of pentacles reversed, and the general tension between this desire for stillness, calm, retreat we see in the Star and iv of swords and the external demands seen in the ii of pentacles reversed, especially in the external position. this also tends to make me lean towards the second, meta interpretation of the vi of cups - so, not necessarily either a fond past setting him up well for the future or getting stuck in the past, but rather a rethinking of some past experience in connection with this Tower energy and the processing of it all, which potentially contributes to the sense of being overburdened in the future.

shadow card: The Tower

I won’t spend much time on this card, since I discussed it pretty extensively in talking about the Star and throughout this reading, but I did think it was worth noting that when I checked the shadow card for this reading I saw the Tower, tied to the Star. that just reiterates to me that what’s going on under the surface here is working through this Tower energy. the presence of the Star in the position of the present suggests that he is healing, he’s found this place of calm and acceptance, but the process of really working through the emotions and the lessons of that Tower moment is still very much ongoing.

[grimoire-of-geekery]

Ask Cerebro: an X-Men Cartomancy Spread!

LOL, it's been a while, hasn't it!

I feel like I should say "sorry for the recent lack of content" or something, but meh. There's plenty of content in the Grimoire, and if you don't see something you're looking for, I'm happy to chat with you via my inbox!

As a kid, I always loved the X-Men, and that hasn't changed, as any of y'all who follow this blog will note. I honestly wish I could use the X-Men canon and lore in my geekomancy practice more easily. I had all kinds of X-Men stuff when I was younger- everything from toys to collectible trading cards to poker decks! There was one poker deck in particular I loved so much, I tried to invent games to play with it. And, when I reacquired it a few years ago, I designed cartomancy spreads for it!

The thing is, I didn't post them (or at least I don't think I did) because I found out immediately afterwards that a cartomancer in the Bay Area named Storm Arcana was using the exact deck I used to design it, the one from my childhood, as a tarot deck, and I didn't want to jack his swagger. Since he's fuggin' awesome, y'all should go check out his website!

That being said! Last year I bought a deck of fan-made X-Men tarot cards! And therefore, the spread has come back to life, and I am sharing it!

(yay for shitty infographic!)

So, this method has three phases to it. Primarily, one would use it to consult on a subject of concern for the querent, something they would want to analyze.

To begin, we have a phase involving only the two cards in the center, which we call Mutatis Mutandis. This part is just used for analysis, it's not predictive yet. The first card read is beneath, and it represents the subject. The second card, laid on top to cross it, is that which alters the subject, the mutation to be experienced. This can be read on its own about literally any subject- a person, a situation, whatever you like.

If the result is something the querent is satisfied with, then the reading is over. If they wish further information though, we move into the next phase, called the X-Factors. This phase is for deeper analysis of the various factors associated with the change going on. Each is associated with two major influences in the X-Men continuity, based on which way the card is pointing.

On the top left, we have the Sinister, which is a warning. It lets one know what is most important to know in the situation. This card is associated with Emma Frost if it is looking out from the center, meaning that the subject may be able to benefit from interacting with what the card warns about, and if it points inward it's associated with (you guessed it) Mister Sinister, and it is something to be avoided entirely.

On the top right, we have the Inevitable, represented by Destiny and Apocalypse. This card represents that which cannot be changed, that which is going to happen. If it points outward, Destiny is helping you through this card. If it points inward, Apocalypse tests you and forces you to grow.

On the bottom right, we have the World, represented by Krakoa and Genosha. If it points outward, the world supports you as Krakoa supports all mutants. If it points inward, you are warned that the environmental factors are not in your favor, even if they look good from the outside (just like Genosha).

Finally, the bottom left card represents Homo Superior, represented by Professor X and Magneto. This card represents your own power and ability to influence the situation. If the card points outward, Magneto suggests that your actions are mighty, and you can shape things how you like. If it points inward, Charles Xavier suggests that you should keep your influence subtle and be cautious.

After these are read, you can draw cards from Cerebro, which is the arch of cards over the entire reading. However, you may only draw a number of cards equaling the numeric value of your significator. You will probably find it's best to read these cards in Mutatis Mutandis pairs, though any single card may be an answer. Aces equal 15 (or 14 if you're using a playing card deck). Unfortunately, the Magician as a significator only allows one card draw, and the Fool allows none, and them's the breaks. That in itself might be a message, though.

Once all cards are drawn, you should look for circuits, aka card combinations which have particularly significant meanings. Shared numeric values or suits, shared symbolism, and so on can suggest interesting strategies and may hint at hidden patterns to be used to the querent's benefit.

I hope you like the spread! Practicing geekomancers might be able to employ this for ritual magic as well as divination, of course. That's up to y'all though!

See y'all at the Green Lagoon, mutants!

[sassmar]

yeah all right so @shipsnsails sent me a lovely telegram asking me to describe some of my fave tarot cards AND i saved my half-finished answer as a draft AND tumblr fucking ate it.

so anyhow retyping & posting my answer now but tysm for the wonderful fun ask & sry your original message disappeared into the ether love <3<3<3

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the moon

(from the rider-waite-smith tarot)

so yeah obviously !! the wolfstar card lol & if i ever get around to writing tarot into a fic then this will be r's card & the star will be s's for obvious reasons. this card is so beautiful and fascinating and in a lot of ways elusive: dreams, secrets, imagination, fantasies, the deep psyche or unconscious. sometimes anxiety or fear, sometimes treading a shadowy path - not having enough 'light' to see where you're headed! but also the wild and strange beauty of interiority, our inner landscapes that can only really be seen and wandered by a dim lunar light <3

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the star

(image courtesy of reddit tragically i have no idea who else to credit cannot find the full deck!)

so yeah no need for me to explain why this is sirius's card and you can't have the moon without the star !!! but!! also this card just has some beautiful imagery and really lovely significations and it has always been one of my absolute favorites in the deck. a light at the end of the tunnel, renewed hope (especially after a period of difficulty), healing, good fortune, a blessing, a gift, and sometimes recognition of one's talents/efforts. i always feel such a profound sense of relief when i see this card in a spread!

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the lovers

(from the wild unknown tarot by kim krans)

so yeah this is a very basic choice probably but !! alas i don't care i love it and have always loved it so there it is. the lovers is joy, chemistry, connection, can be but is in now way exclusively about romantic/sexual relationships - just deep powerful karmic sort of connections! two ppl or things combining to create something more and better than they could be individually! interestingly it cannot sometimes be about a fork in the road or major life decisions (there is a v old version of the card that shows adam stuck between eve and lilith i believe). but i usually see it as representing the immense and often earth-shaking joy of genuine & deep human connection <3

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okurrr those are my top three, runner-ups from the minor arcana include 10 of cups, 6 of cups, ace of cups, & all of the queens lol. so many beautiful cards and so hard to choose just a few faves but i hope you enjoyed these!

<3<3<3

[starpupilastro]

Aquarius III

Starting at the end. (2/10-2/17)

This seems almost like a typical thing for me. I’ve always been kind of bad at following through on things. (zodiac series) This seems like something that has a sort of framework that is already laid out, albeit I’m going out of order.

I’m following in the foot steps of the other astrologers that have taken on this year long endeavor and I’ll be using mainly “36 Secrets” by T. Susan Chang as a guide along the way. I’m really excited about this venture because it will be a good way for me to really dive into learning the Tarot in a much more intentional way. I currently have a simple fascination with tarot and have a couple of decks that I try to read intuitively and can glean a little insight from but this will be good for really internalizing the significations.

According to 36 Secrets the 3rd Decan of Aquarius, or degrees 21-30 of the sign, is called “Lord of Futility” is ruled by the moon, are represent in the tarot by The High Priestess and The Star of the Major Arcana and the 7 of Swords in the Minor Arcana. The High Priestess representing the Moon in the 7 visible planets of the solar system that are used in astrology. The Star representing the sign of Aquarius. The 7 of Swords representing the themes are associated within the last 10 degrees of the sign.

Although there are the Cards of the Major Arcana they seem to take a back seat and simply represent the ruler of the Decan and the sign that is in. The main cards to be focus on is the Minor Arcana, these are the cards that will give us the truer nature of these degrees.

The 7 of Swords in the Rider Waite-Smith deck is shows a man carrying 4 swords while 3 more are planted firmly in the ground.

Chang talks in her book about how this card represents the “Divided Mind”. Saying one thing and doing the other. Noting that the man has a somewhat suspect air about him. One might think that he is trying to steal the swords he’s carrying. The way he’s looking back while walking away on tip toes. “Midnight Activity while the Sun is brightest”

In my personal life I feel like I’ve noticed this dynamic playing out somewhat in the hunt for new employment.

I have been unemployed for about 2 months now and looking for work has been tough. While the Sun has been in this Decan I feel that it has been especially difficult to stay focused on the the task at hand. I’ve had several ideas of thing that I might be able to start doing to try to make some more money than just my unemployment checks can bring me; but when it comes to put the rubber to the road my tires seem to still be spinning an inch off the ground.

The book also mentions reference to the Picatrix which notes the energy of this area as “-the accomplishing of the will, and the giving of offense” in thinking of things in these terms, I think that I’d like to become an professional astrologer for a living however I’m not sure I could do that without giving some offense to my partner who wants me to do something more stable.

For the next Decan, Pieces I, I’m planning on drawing cards for all the days which I will record and try to draw a theme that puts everything together.

See you then!

[notanothermacdennisblog]

It's Always Sunny in Tarodelphia #3

more sunny analysis using tarot

moving right along...

prev reading: Mac Finds His Pride

Episode: The Storm of the Century

For: Dennis

Spread: Pentagram Spread

Generally with this one I'd use just the Major Arcana cards of the traditional tarot deck, but I'm trying out a different divination tool this time.

Deck I'm using: Charms

That's right we're divining with charms this time! I gathered all the charms I could find, from old charm bracelets and pendents from necklaces. Each charm is assigned a meaning from a book of symbol meanings I have. The ones I couldn't find entries for I gave my own meanings that I hoped would add an interesting element to the reading.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Significator - Buttercup

(ask a random PPG episode: S6E5 A Made Up Story)

2. Earth: Security - Trebble

(ask a random song from Spotify: Blood by Babes in Toyland)

3. Air: Thoughts and Influences - Horse

Wisdom, service to others, charity

4. Fire: Intuition and Desire - Key

Solutions, success, an answer will soon come, initiation, acceptance

5. Water: Emotions and Love - Bear

Dangerous environment, beware

6. Spirit - Lock

Security, stability, safety, feeling imprisoned

*Jumped out charm - Anchor

Dependability, restriction, lack of movement, burden, stability

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(words that appear in the reading are bolded in the analysis)

The spread really calls out how delusional Dennis has become in regard to his capabilities of actually wooing someone, something that he not only prides himself of but also sees as inseparable from his identity. One could say Jackie was just too impressive, and he was momentarily flustered, but I think this really served as a wake up call, if not for Dennis than for us as an audience.

Jackie fit all Dennis's body specifications for the "perfect" woman, yet when faced with the opportunity he so meticulously planned for he royally blew it, because while his planning was specific, it wasn't based in reality.

It boils down to he perception of women. He is the Masked Scara from PPG's A Made Up Story. He automatically plasters women with the expectation of the "trashy look" whore persona. Every woman's first thought seeing him is "how do I get in bed with him?" in his eyes. And according to Blood by Babes in Toyland, they also harbor this deep seated desire to "be abused," to be treated however he wants. Where does this end and how far is he willing to take this idea? We don't see a lot of extreme violence from Dennis on screen; there's the rumor he killed Maureen (although that would have only taken a push), and his "vicious" scratches on Mac's cheek, perhaps even his crow killing as a youth (although a crow is different from a human). It's unclear if he has the stomach to follow through on something of a more violent nature (although it doesn't take extreme violence to violate someone).

All this to say, whether or not he exercises this perceived power or merely revels in the idea of it, he believes his actions are justified because women want to be taken control of. This calls back to Dee's statement that he would bring girls back to the bunker to rape them. That accusation's validity is inconclusive based on hard evidence, but given the way he's deluded himself into thinking he knows what women want, it's not hard to assume he got this wrong too. (Unfortunately Dee is also a biased source.)

In many ways he's also so deluded he could justify that finding girls for the bunker was a charitable act: "I'm keeping you safe from the storm, free drinks, you'll have a good time." While Dennis's charity was a rouse, Charlie legitimately believed they were doing others a service, completely missing the overt sexual tones.

The dichotomy between his desires aligning with a version of success and resolution and the feelings of panic and danger from his environment is interesting. He puts so much importance on initiation that he forgets how to follow through. Instead the request comes out in a tactless rush, almost guaranteed to be met with rejection.

So is it the chaotic environment that throws him off his game? He'd like to believe that. But that so resoundingly speaks to the security and safety that fantasy provides him with. Interesting that "feeling imprisoned" is also a meaning of the lock charm, and it goes along with the restriction but stability of the anchor charm that jumped out. Many motifs of imprisonment here: the physical restriction of being locked in a bunker, the intended mental restriction of the "implication" on his chosen prey, and the way Dennis's delusions restrict him from observing and participating in reality.

(up next a reading for the boyz from the episode Mac's Banging the Waitress)

[thinkingmystic]

Doing a tarot reading for God

I recently finished one of the best books I’ve read on tarot in a long time, Rachel Pollack’s A Walk Through the Forest of Souls: A tarot journey to spiritual awakening. Something I’ve always appreciated about Pollack is her playful, speculative approach to the tarot. She’s less concerned with providing absolute or definitive answers, and more interested in asking questions alongside the reader, her student.

In A Walk Through the Forest of Souls, Pollack presents a kind of imagination experiment. Pollack, who had a Jewish background, writes about how God supposedly created the Torah before the world and then used it to order the creation of the world. What if, she asks, God had used the tarot to do the same?

“Imagine that God has taken the four suits of the Tarot, set them out at the four ‘corners’ of existence. The suits of the Tarot mark out the physical reality. And then God poured the spirit/life energy of the Major Arcana into the physical vessel, so that the universe came alive... If the creator consulted the Tarot to make the world, then [...] Creation cannot come arbitrarily but must follow the plan revealed in the cards. We can look at this in terms of the Tarot as a structural diagram of existence, a blueprint. Or—we can say that God did a reading.”

Pollack then decides to “test the courage of [her] imagination” and ask the tarot the following questions:

1. Did the Tarot exist before Creation?

2. How did God use the Tarot to create the world?

3. Is God bound by the Tarot?

4. What is our partnership with God?

5. What is our part in that partnership?

6. What is God’s part?

Doing this reading yielded unexpected answers for me. For instance, in answer to question number 2, I got the 9 of Pentacles. I wrote in my tarot journal about how it’s easy to see a connection between this card and the Garden of Eden, before Adam and Eve were split into two beings. I asked, “Is the tarot also ‘the apple’ in the Garden of Eden myth?” For the third question I drew The Pope/The Hierophant and noted: God is not “bound” as we understand the concept of “bound” (as being oppressively restricted); it’s more like an honour and responsibility. In answer to the fourth question, I drew the 5 of Water and came to the conclusion that we are a part of God’s nervous system (and God of ours).

I hope you’ll do this reading for yourself. I imagine it will look very different depending on your perception of God or if you believe in God or not. The best part is? Since we’re approaching this in a both/and way, neither of us will be more right or wrong than the other, and we’ll both have learned something from the exercise.

I want to riff on this idea of God and tarot readings. Like Pollack, I do this under the banner of “What if?” – as a kind of intentional mythologising, where we’re not so much concerned with what is absolutely true or absolutely false, but moreso with what wisdom we can extract from stories. (I think one of the biggest pitfalls of some religions are their insistence that everything must be literal for it to have substance and value). In my own imagination exercise, I want us to pretend that God has come to us for a tarot reading (no pressure!)

For the purposes of this reading, we assume that God – like other folks who visit tarot readers, astrologers, priests, life coaches, etc – has a problem that God has been unable to solve, and needs some additional insight into. What problem do we think that might be?

We can approach this reading in two ways. In the first method, we might look around us at the world/universe, place ourselves in God’s shoes, and imagine what we’d ask if we were God. At the very least this will tell us something about ourselves. The other approach would be to use the tarot itself to determine God’s concern. So we start our tarot reading by drawing a Significator for God.

The 6 of Swords shows three stooped figures crossing a lake in a boat. Much of the boat is taken up by six swords, two of them directly aligned with the two smaller figures sitting down. Who, then, do the remaining four swords represent? And who is the ferryman?

A common interpretation of this card is that it depicts a ferryman carrying two souls to the distant shore of death. Is God the ferryman in this scenario, or the dying souls? Perhaps it’s most interesting to think that God is represented by all of these figures. God both carries the dead to their rest, and they carry God to God’s. God is not separate from God’s creation, not even in death. This card also makes me think about refugees. As I’m writing this, Israel is telling Palestinians to evacuate Rafah, but most of them simply do not have anywhere else to go. And this is just one ongoing conflict of many. God, then, understands what it means to be a refugee; what it means to want to flee, and how it might feel when there are no safe harbours to receive you.

The card covering God is the Queen of Cups. Things would probably be easier for God if God were less sensitive; if God was an abstract concept rather than a living being of some kind. In Christian terms, the Queen of Cups would represent Jesus, and the cup she holds the font of the Holy Spirit. Or perhaps the Queen represents us, looking to the cup representative of our creation, searching for our Creator: where is God when the world is hurting?

The crossing card is The Hanged Man. This card is often associated with Jesus Christ and his crucifixion. It’s also associated with Odin’s time hanging from the world tree Yggdrasil. Thus The Hanged Man can represent a quest for enlightenment, the transmutation from one state of being to another through self-sacrifice. Personally I’ve always liked the interpretation of the Ancestral Path Tarot, which shows The Hanged Man as a baby in a womb. Only, this card represents the passage to Death/Rebirth, the next card, and in this reading that passage is obstructed: God feels stuck, powerless, like Creation is in the breach position.

The root of the situation/reading is The Lovers. This card shows Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden, the angel Raphael above them. This card represents relationships, including relationship with self, as well as choices. God’s relationship to Godself is intertwined – indistinguishable – from God’s relationship with God’s creation. God only knows Godself through being known by creation; so what happens when creation becomes indifferent to God? God becomes alienated from both Godself and creation. It’s such a human quandary: what do you do when you choose someone and they don’t choose you back? Or: what if you doubt your initial choice?

The recent past is represented by The Empress. Now, a fair question to ask is what might God consider “recent”? Just thinking about that is mindbending in its own right. Perhaps God considers the “recent past” to be the moment of creation, many billions of years ago: when the universe sprang forth (perhaps at the whisper of “Light!”, or of God giving birth to the cosmos). Or maybe God doesn’t think in the macro, as we’d expect, but in the minutest micro, and so the recent past is measured in nanoseconds. Or perhaps again, for God - presumably beyond time - everything is happening everywhere, all at once, an endless and eternal now; which leaves us with the rather daunting task of having to explain the passage of time to Something that cannot understand it.

I remember this story I read about a woman who had turned to ask her mother when she’d stop feeling so fussy about her newborn baby, only for her mother to say that she’d noticed her coughing during the night and did she feel okay? Perhaps God remembers us as children even though we think of ourselves as adults free of the skirt of God’s reach and God, like a human parent, has trouble letting God’s creation go.

At the top of the Celtic Cross we have the Ace of Cups showing God what is possible, something God can work towards. This Ace shows the outpouring of God’s love and God’s spirit, the emotional act of creating life: the moment of conception (let the reader understand!) God is invited to be the font, but God cannot force people to accept what is offered, no matter how much of an open hand or an open heart it is offered with. God, I think, is faced with the painful knowledge that every human being learns at some point: despite what we think of as our best intentions and our presumed compatibility, you cannot make someone care, and you cannot make someone love you.

The Star is the immediate future. Again, we might mull over the concept of time as it relates to God: what is immediate to God? Is it the macro, billions of years hence? Or is the nanoseconds that have already been lost as I type this out? God pours out unceasingly, relentlessly watering the ground from which Abel’s blood still cries out. Does God try to wash away our bloody histories, for which we might hold God responsible and hold God feeble, or does God try to nurture something better into existence, letting God’s blood mingle with ours? I feel like God has to pick one: God has created us and must face us, meet us as we are.

In the “Self” position, we have the Ace of Wands. Energy, creativity, will, and enthusiasm are all concepts we associate with this Ace. And between this Ace and the Ace of Cups, we have the basic ingredients for life: the yin and the yang, the masculine and the feminine, the giving and the taking. I wonder if God has trouble finding a balance between giving and receiving. If you’re going to create a world in your image, that world will contain the same seeds of creativity that you have, and creativity wants to be expressed. Not for nothing one of humanity’s first acts, according to the Bible, was building the tower of Babel. The same seeds that spurred the building of that tower spurred God to create the world. Can God make peace with that?

For the “Environment” position we have the Knight of Pentacles. The Pentacle suit represents the material realm; here it speaks to the physicality in which we live and create. God, presumably, is not fettered by the same literalness that we are. And yet, God is no stranger to the physical, having put it all together. I point God to the possible tension between this card and the one before it and that we feel it as God feels it. We feel it like it’s a choice we don’t have much choice in, because we don’t. God, to Pollack’s thinking, chose to order the world a particular way: does it surprise God that we have diverging opinions on that choice?

In the hopes/fears placement, the Page of Wands presides. Previously we saw God’s impulse to keep us close pitted against our own insistence to go where we want. I imagine this is the hope and fear of every parent: that their child will be like they are. Parents hope for it because what is similar is familiar and safe. Parents fear the same because they want better for their child than they had. God is stuck in the same quandary.

Finally, the outcome card is the 5 of Swords. The 5 of Swords obviously precedes the 6 of Swords, God’s Significator for this reading, thus bringing us full circle (and perhaps telling us something about how God experiences time). The 5 of Swords is a painful card, full of loss on the bitterest terms: the fight is over and lost. There is therefore no solution purely on God’s terms: according to the mechanics of the created universe, we want to set out on our own. One wonders, did God go through something similar? Is God the prodigal child of Someone, as we are of God? Could there be such a thing? And yet, why not? How ironic would it be if God, as creator, has created us to follow in God’s footsteps, even the parts where God went astray?

In conclusion I would say: God, it looks like you’re having a profoundly human experience. ~Oof~.

How’s that as a tarot reading for God? I hope you disagree vehemently with me and give God a tarot reading yourself! I’d be so curious to hear about your experience.

To conclude I quote Pollack again:

“The more traditional idea would be that God gave us the Tarot so that we might learn secrets. Through study of the images and through readings, we go beyond our limitations to a better partnership with the divine. We also can look at this gift of Tarot in another way, which is that divine energy needs us to use divination to reveal things that even God does not know. Divination creates new possibilities, it liberates the Creator from a universe where everything is planned and known ahead of time... If indeed a divine intelligence created a universe that holds together through natural laws, then maybe those laws need an escape clause. Tarot and other divinatory systems provide an opening for newness.”

Doesn’t reading that make you want to dig into the tarot with fresh eyes and renewed zeal?

[galaxyglowtarot]

Exploring Your Tarot Spirit: Embracing Your Power Card

The realm of Tarot offers an enchanting array of spirits to integrate into your magical practices. From divination to personal empowerment, these spirits add depth and dimension to your journey. Deepen your tarot experience by selecting a significator card - your unique power card. This card not only acts as a spiritual ally but also enhances your reading accuracy, aids in sympathetic magic, and much more.

Are you the mystical High Priestess or perhaps the enigmatic Hierophant? Maybe the Four of Wands resonates with your hearth-centric spirit, or you identify with the all-encompassing World card. And if you're just starting your Witch's Journey, embrace the adventurous spirit of The Fool. The Tarot mirrors our identities in manifold ways. A significator, like a spirit animal in tarot, personalizes and deepens this reflection.

Have you ever been astonished by the tarot's uncanny accuracy? It's not uncommon to find ourselves in a love-hate relationship with these magical cards. They're not just cards; they're spirits who have journeyed through time, finding their way into countless decks and hearts. The diversity of decks available today allows you to find one that truly mirrors your essence. Whether you're a David Bowie enthusiast or have a kinship with the Druid Craft deck, there's something for everyone. I have a special bond with the Wild Unknown deck, which I currently use for public writings like this.

Developing a robust tarot practice involves syncing with your deck's energy. Building this bond is a gradual process of mutual understanding and respect. A personal favorite practice of mine is choosing a significator card - a symbol of personal power and an ally in the spirit world.

Choosing Your Tarot Power Card

Every tarot card embodies a unique spirit, particularly evident in the court cards and major arcana. Your significator is a snapshot of your current self. You can also explore shadow cards or vision cards, which represent evolving aspects of your identity. I've long identified with the Queen of Swords, occasionally shifting to the Empress or the Moon, but always returning to my core identity.

Choosing your significator isn't just about fun; it's a powerful exercise in self-assertion and discovery. And remember, as my sons often remind me, not everything has to be serious. I'm the Queen of Swords, continually striving for balance.

There are various approaches to finding your power card, and it's essential to reject any notion that suggests a 'one-size-fits-all' method. This process requires introspection and an open mind. However, it's important not to lose yourself in overwhelming emotions - unless, of course, you resonate with the emotive Prince of Cups.

[witch-of-snow-and-stars]

Tarot Notes & Musings Part 4: Signifiers and How To Read for Individuals

Hi! So with this we're going to be looking over signifiers/significators and my process for drawing signifier cards. In this I'm going to go over how I draw and read signifiers, but depending on someone else's methods how they read will be different

🔮First let's get some definitions/clarifications out of the way. Signifiers are just cards meant to represent how someone you're reading for is operating generally or operating in the reading (depending on what is being read for and how the rest of the reading is set up). Signifiers deal with how someone is currently and those signifiers can definitely change over time. For example, I wouldn't expect someone to have the same signifier cards years after an initial reading or after going through a major life event. I tend to see signifiers as both part of the setup for a reading and part of the reading itself (they act like a prompt/jumping off point and major structures of the reading if that makes sense). For a small reading I'm only going to draw a card, but for the setup for one of my Pick-A-Card readings or a large reading I could pick up to 8 cards from my various decks to get some extra nuance.

🔮So when I'm selecting multiple signifier cards, my tarot and oracle decks are all going to be present but have different jobs in the reading. If you're picking signifiers like I do, how your individual decks operate is going to affect your setup. Here are my decks and how they operate (excluding my Nature Spirits tarot and my Gothic oracle, we're still breaking those two in):

Rider-Waite Tarot: how someone is showing up in the reading. If it's a face or major arcana card it is more likely to be how they are/are behaving currently, if it's the other cards it's likely where they're at currently (like a Queen of Wands is someone embodying those traits, a 3 of Pentacles could be someone who is a student).

Shadowscapes Tarot: same as the Rider-Waite, although with my deck it can lean more towards the person's emotional state or how they tend to be in relationships. To use an astrology analogy, my Rider-Waite is a sun sign and my Shadowscapes deck functions as a moon or a venus sign.

The Faeiries' Oracle: think something along the lines of someone's Patron energy. Due to how the deck generally feels and operates for me, whatever shows up in that signifier card is going to be representative of beliefs or themes surrounding whoever is signified in this (ifykyk, but if someone's signifier was the Spirit Dancer it wouldn't shock me if that person was very in-tune with their emotions/is very open to self exploration in themselves and others or they're someone that finds those principles important).

Wild Unknown Animal Spirits Oracle: broader, more basic traits and inclinations. Instinctual or primal unconscious responses that are what I find this deck deals with.

Wild Unknown Archetypes Oracle: with this deck it really depends because there are 4 types of cards (selves, places, tools, and initiations). So depending on the card type the card is going to represent personal archetypes, life events, energy surrounding the person, what they could represent in the reading or represent to others, or where they're metaphorically at during the time of the reading.

Dark Mirror Oracle: I don't usually use this deck because of how the deck is designed (basically, it's a deck of primarily negative traits/behaviors) but it can show negative traits present at the time of the reading.

🔮While looking at the cards I've selected, I look for patterns and correlations within the meaning of the cards. When I'm pulling cards to describe someone, I'm looking for the cards to start referencing and building off of each other. The visual patterns of the cards matter too, like if the same colors or images are showing up in most/all of the cards, that could be indicative of something connected to the person being read (ex all the cards have blue prominently in them= maybe blue is significant).

🔮Part of reading signifiers is considering what the reading is for. Most cards can be interpreted in a few different ways, so it's important to know what exactly you're looking for to narrow down what information you're getting.

I drew some cards at random for an example reading of signifiers below the cut if you want to see a in-depth way of how I'd read a large reading for someone.

*click to enlarge for better picture quality and The Dark Lady is censored a bit*

Ok so now that we have pictures for what we're looking at, let's get out how I would interpret of each card and the cards in total.

Rider-Waite Tarot: the Queen of Pentacles is someone who is successful, financially independent, generous, down to earth, and practical. They could be read as a woman or a more feminine person, but I don't read for gender.

Shadowscapes Tarot: the Magician is someone who is skillful and knowledgeable, they're the type to be resourceful using what resources/knowledge/skills they have to get where they want.

The Faeiries' Oracle: we have two cards here, The Green Woman and the Dark Lady. The Green Woman represents wildness, natural magic, expectant gratitude, and untrammeled creativity. I would expect someone with this card to be connected with nature and someone who is helpful while seeing reciprocity as important (ie they see help as something that encourages mutual support). The Dark Lady deals with unconscious power and wisdom, rituals, mysteries, and secrets. I would associate the Dark Lady with the altered state you achieve with spiritual meditation or using ritual practices to connect to magic or supernatural entities. As for the person that could be signified by the Dark Lady, I wouldn't be surprised if they were interested in the occult, secrets and mysteries generally, or if they were someone who engaged alternative spirituality/spiritual practices. I also associate the Dark Lady with shadow work to some extent.

Wild Unknown Animal Spirits Oracle: the Vulture is representative of cleansing/purification and balance, seeing the good in the bad and the drawbacks to supposedly positive things.

Wild Unknown Archetypes Oracle: In the Archetypes deck, The Siren is someone who is alluring and who is familiar with exploration of the taboo. I could see someone like this being interested in studying taboo things if they're not participating in things that may be considered taboo (nothing malicious or harmful necessarily, but for example maybe they're knowledgeable in the occult or have researched/explored things like sexuality or kink)

The cards all together in a reading would be representative (to me) of someone who is very grounded/earthy and the type of person who has skills and knows how to use them to the best benefit. I could see them being crafty or creative in their spare time. They know how to make things happen. They're someone that is generous and I would expect them to be pragmatic about what they pour their resources into (this could be someone that pours a lot of resources/energy into community works because if something benefits the community they are benefited as a community member). They also likely quite fair in that they see the good and bad in things and will allow for both (within reason). They may be seen as alluring or charming, but in a way that makes them seem like they have hidden depths or a dark side. They do probably interact to some level in alternative spirituality/ the occult or taboo topics, but that could just be an interest that they have researched instead of direct engagement.

That's all for this topic! Thanks for reading💜

Deck Care/Storage and Tips for getting a good reading are up next!

[life-observed]

Tarot According to the Law of One

About this post

This is a post describing each of the 22 major arcana according to the descriptions as outlined by Ra in The Law of One (The Ra Material). Read the text here.

My descriptions of the arcana are 90% informed by the descriptions provided in the foregoing text. They are cursorily informed by other sources, including discussions on the arcana from CC Zain, Aleister Crowley, Paul Christian, and Eliphas Levi. And of course the descriptions are indivorceable from my own intuitions, though I’ve stuck strictly to the philosophy and intention of Ra whenever possible. The point of this article is to assemble succinct, potent and extremely useful descriptions of the major arcana. Redundant information has been excluded except where redundancy is of rhetorical benefit. None of the descriptions is inconsistent with the Ra Material. In fact they are mostly a product of many hours poring over said text, as I’ve analyzed each mention of any specific card or general mention of tarot, and they are of course implicitly informed by the philosophy which occurs throughout the text.

Exordium

If you are unfamiliar with the Law of One then what follows will be slightly unintelligible. There are a few things that must be mentioned as exordium.

The tarot is a set of archetypes of the mind unique to this sub-Logos. This sub-Logos is our solar system. Another sub-Logos is our galaxy. Beyond that is the Logos, the universal creator.

To our solar system belongs a unique set of archetypes. There are 22 of these archetypes. They were identified and synthesized by Ra when they resided in the 3rd density on Venus. The archetypes were passed among their society qabbalistically and weren’t depicted in images on cards as we do here on Earth. When Ra incarnated on Earth with the intent to decrease distortions and spiritually liberate, they provided arcane knowledge to the adepts of Egyptian society, and such entities in turn initiated the concept of the tarot, in which images were drawn to symbolize each archetype. The minor arcana (those cards in a tarot deck beyond 22) are not a product of the teachings of Ra but were added by other Earthly cultures, informed principally astrologically and hence not belonging to the set of archetypes adumbrating experience in this solar system. Hence their absence in this article.

The 22 arcana are as follows: the first 7 are of mind, the middle 7 are of body, the last 7 are of spirit. The last card, 22, is the choice. Each set of 7 has each card corresponding to one of the following: matrix (of the mind, for example), potentiator, catalyst, experience, significator, transformation, and way. This order repeats itself 3 times until the 22nd card. So cards 1, 8, and 15 are matrix of the mind, matrix of body, and matrix of the spirit respectively. Although unique in this impression the cards do correspond to the names and images traditionally associated with them.

Links

It is visualized here.

I use the deck of Saint Germain.

I appropriated the images of Saint Germain so that I could make my own deck. Download these transparent png images here.

I used Printer Studio to create my deck; it was painless and like $15.

What the tarot is not

A tool for divination -- Indeed the entity could project upon each image some meaning unique to itself and request their unconscious and higher self to guide them in choosing a card which they’ll find indicating some meaning. But in and of themselves the archetypes of the mind were not intend for this use; tarot decks are not for divination. “[The archetypes] are tools for the further knowledge of the self by the self for the purpose of entering a more profoundly, acutely realized present moment.”

A plan for spiritual evolution -- “I am Ra. In the archetypical mind one has the resource of not specifically a plan for evolution but rather a blueprint or architecture of the nature of evolution. This may seem to be a small distinction, but it has significance in perceiving more clearly the use of this resource of the deep mind.”

A set of absolute experiences -- “In no way whatsoever should we, as humble messengers of the one infinite Creator, wish to place before the consideration of any mind/body/spirit complex which seeks its evolution the palest tint of the idea that these images are anything but a resource for working in the area of the development of the faith and the will.”

Disclaimer

It goes without saying that this information and my descriptions of the arcana can only be used to complement a thorough understanding derived from the aforesaid text and other sources. Only your own intuition and understanding will ever mean anything; where my interpretations don’t resonate, abandon them for those which match the biases of your spirit. And it really goes without saying that an intellectual understanding of the following content is virtually inconsequential in the absence of intentional personal experience.

Alas! I walk with you into the intoxicating potential for experience proposed for us by our own sub-Logos, a set of archetypes eagerly awaiting our potentiation--

How to use the tarot

“Our first stage was the presentation of the images, one after the other, in the following order: one, eight, fifteen; two, nine, sixteen; three, ten, seventeen; four, eleven, eighteen; five, twelve, nineteen; six, thirteen, twenty; seven, fourteen, twenty-one; twenty-two. In this way the fundamental relationships between mind, body, and spirit could begin to be discovered, for as one sees, for instance, the Matrix of the Mind in comparison to the Matrices of Body and Spirit one may draw certain tentative conclusions.”

“When, at length, the student had mastered these visualizations and had considered each of the seven classifications of archetype, looking at the relationships between mind, body, and spirit, we then suggested consideration of archetypes in pairs: one and two; three and four; five; six and seven. You may continue in this form for the body and spirit archetypes. You will note that the consideration of the Significator was left unpaired, for the Significator shall be paired with Archetype Twenty-Two.”

“At the end of this line of inquiry the student was beginning to grasp more and more deeply the qualities and resonances of each archetype. At this point, using various other aids to spiritual evolution, we encouraged the initiate to learn to become each archetype and, most importantly, to know as best as possible within your illusion when the adoption of the archetype’s persona would be spiritually or metaphysically helpful.”

The major arcana

1. Matrix of the mind

The matrix of the mind is the unmoved consciousness which makes everything possible. It is nonetheless impotent without potentiation from the female, unconscious mind, which resides behind the veil. Conscious in the illusion, the magician reaches beyond the illusion, to free the bird so that it can fly. In this consciousness are stored biases from previous experience. Consciousness remains manifest, while the unconscious never manifests. The magician is clothed in white, pure, prior to polarization or potentiation.

2. Potentiator of the mind

The potentiator of the mind is the unconscious mind, intuition. This occurs beyond the veil, which adorns Isis here. Only with potentiation from the unconscious can action and experience occur at the conscious level. Our illusion has polarity for its foundation, denoted by the columns, and beyond our illusion resides that feminine unconscious. Semi-permeable is the veil, and the developments she brings can certainly be sought; Nothing here is more than half-obscured. Adorning her right body is the cloak which provides protection to those walking the right hand path, and note what the absence of such a boundary might mean to the other polarity. To the unconscious belongs the self as creator, the higher self, wherein catalyst is processed and formulated; the free will of the unconscious incessantly alters experience at the conscious level. Within the deep mind, the potentiator, resides semi-random pre-incarnative programming, which in the illusion will manifest to the entity as certain experiences demanding development.

3. Catalyst of the mind

All that is perceived is perceived as catalyst unconsciously. And all catalyst must be consciously processed. The unconscious, after potentiating the conscious and instilling biases, ruminates, processing and formulating catalyst for the conscious mind once again. Here Isis is unveiled, the relationship between the unconscious and conscious now more permeable as the unconscious works to produce experiences and catalyst which meet the conscious mind at its conscious experience. There is a union here between cards 1 and 2. Note that the most efficient means of processing catalyst is meditation, in which arises from the unconscious a repository of reactions, biases, dispositions, sensations -- catalyst. In being seated to the side the unconscious has a tendency to retrieve catalyst which seemingly necessitates negative polarization. To each situation belongs potent potential for development, polarization, and catalyst; note the wand. After potentiation, the bird flies forth along its path. By some process catalyst yields experience, card number 4.

4. Experience of the mind

The emperor is masculine, conscious. The emperor is consciously, insatiably, processing the catalyst delivered to it by the experiences preordained by the unconscious. Catalyst is filtered through the veil for processing at the conscious level, and the veil never opens up and reveals all. As the emperor processes catalyst he inevitably polarizes, and note the contrast between the shades on his garments compared to card 3 -- here there is more distinction between the polarities as the entity picks one and consciously / unconsciously selects increasingly for catalyst matching that polarity, and interprets any catalyst accordingly. The clothes of Isis in card 3 aren’t so delineated along black and white, but reflect a blend. The bird has found its path. The emperor does not produce catalyst but fruitfully processes that which bombards it. He nonetheless intends particular developments, and in cooperation with the unconscious, produces those experiences for himself. To the right hand path is betrothed that protecting cat which protects commensurate with purity, and those walking the left find themselves separated increasingly from other selves; note the lopsided skirt.

5. Significator of the mind

The significator is a simple and unified concept. It is the very nature of the mind, the totality, the unity of its unconscious and conscious vacillations. While the significator experiences, novel biases are recorded in the matrix, reflected further in the significator. Thus a significator is the product of all its previous incarnational experiences, biased accordingly. The significator of the mind foremost operates within physical reality -- perceive that environment which it has created for itself, and the illusion which binds his feat. For the mind needs the illusion to express itself. Either polarity finds the mind as its directing force -- the entities honor the hierophant at his feet. And they are switched with respect to their predicted spots, indicating that experiences of either polarity can yield polarization in either direction, simultaneously seeming to have yielded its opposite. The mind has for its purpose learning and development, certainly a product of free will, being confused and having forgotten its eternal source, and the mind is also a force of will. The significator is the mind intending, intending according to the biases developed and recorded via the rest of its complexity. His right hand signals other selves, and his left presages combat.

6. Transformation of the mind

In transformation the conscious mind will have one of two relationships with its unconscious. Will the entity embrace temptation and exploit the spoils of its unconscious, realizing the arcane power therein? Or will it walk virtuously and peaceably with its source of potentiation? Here is a commentary on the way in which the entity uses resources -- e.g. the unconscious, catalyst, other selves -- and the path he finds himself walking. The entity is not pulled in either direction but stands still with the women. They merely indicate. Only according to his agency does he step forth, choose, and is transformed. To trod one path means abandoning the other. The entity in the sky targets the left hand path, offering that protection which is peculiar to the negative entity; facing the random catalyst of the illusion forthwith, the negative entity has developed in him that scrutiny and strength commensurate with his polarization and development. Such protection is for the self and by the self, incompatible obviously with those who see other selves as mirrors.

7. Way of the mind

The way of the mind is not a product of spiritual evolution; it is not something obtained. It is rather the blueprint in which the mind and its sundry archetypes move. It designates that environment of the mind and how the mind traverses that environment -- apparently swiftly and pulled by its decisions in polarization. The timeless sphinges translate the mind between time / space and space / time, and the symbols on the conqueror’s shirt echo this proximity. The way of the mind embraces that new architecture entailed by the veiling process; with the veil half-lifted atop the chariot the mind navigates the physical and metaphysical. The scarab as well flits with the mind between both realities. The significator and the way are defined in their distinctions; the way acknowledges the whole environment while the significator does its work within the illusion. From the metaphysical the entity incarnates and uses the illusion to evolve, embracing and navigating the physical.

8. Matrix of the body

The body according to its natural proclivities and instinct is always active, never inactive. It works in balance. This is the matrix of the body -- its state prior to the imposition of will and wisdom from its masculine counterpart (card 9). The body will begin to reflect the experiences gained by the entity, developing new biases and automatic processes. This state of quiescence is associated with the feminine, and to the masculine consciousness are hidden behind the veil so many functions of the body (e.g. heart rate). Note the veil on her face. Beyond the veil occurs such a wealth of significant bodily functions. The animals represent the unconscious instinct which is default in the body. Along with the seated entity, these animals are immobile, and await direction from a willing and informed consciousness. Prior to polarization the body will alternate between service to others and self according to its instinct -- only with conscious instruction does the body begin to polarize and develop with novel biases. The body and its instilled tendencies / habit patterns are inevitably balanced by karma.

9. Potentiator of the body

The matrix of the body is unceasingly active and must be consciously manipulated in order to make any use of it. Having learned through experiences, the wise man dictates the path of the body, overriding its unconscious tendencies. The wise man has obtained arcane knowledge and can govern some or all of those unconscious bodily process. As the wise man we can envision an entity who through seated meditation configures the body to his will, ignoring the cries of hunger, boredom, the sensations of pain and indications to walk and stretch. With the body unpotentiated the entity fails to determine his own development. With his square cloak the wise man belongs to the physical illusion, in which determining bodily activity plays a huge role. To develop a new set of biases and balance in the body, is a goal to which the entity calls himself.

10. Catalyst of the body

The entity is faced unceasingly with random and chance events. These events yield catalyst subject to polarized interpretation. Novelty is constant; the wheel spins and never ceases to provide catalyst and opportunities for polarization. Entities polarized in either direction or maintaining certain roles in the illusion -- each is subject equally to the incalculability of events. The set of biases the entity contains is potentially irrelevant in the face of novel, unpredicted experience. All entities are subject to such experience, regardless of their experience thus far or their position in the illusion. Nonetheless the wheel is upheld by two columns of polarization, for these interpretations are always available though the catalyst alters incessantly.

11. Experience of the body

The experience of the body reflects the catalyst that has been processed. The entity now has instilled in it a new set of biases, operating automatically. We have here the female, the unconscious. These newfound proclivities lead the entity forth effortlessly with incomprehensible strength and desire, leading the entity irrationally and with a foolhardiness to potentially dangerous situations which merely abrade and concede to her presence. The external environment conforms to the desires and intentions of the entity. The bird sits quiescently atop the enchantress, complacent with its current balance and activity, postponing its next sojourn.

12. Significator of the body

All shall die in the third density illusion. The body is sacrificed for polarization, development, and the processing of catalyst. This is what martyrdom here means. Not necessarily is this card to capture instances wherein the entity sacrifices himself for some greater ideal, purpose or community, although any such interpretation is obvious and intuitive. The body, in any sense, by the end of a life, has been sacrificed -- especially its purely physical rendition, being ephemeral, is most effectively used as a means for development. The body, as part of the illusion, impacts and effects the illusion, leaving behind its influence -- note the gold coins which drop from the hanged man’s hands, and remain in the illusion. The martyr realizes that the body is a tool for development and polarization, and sacrifices it accordingly. The body is sacrificed necessarily, for all shall die in the illusion.

13. Transformation of the body

Each moment and each day offers death and rebirth. Previous bodies die and rebirth is a product of processed catalyst. Such a transformation kills old biases and introduces new ones, which will be reflected in the activities of the entity henceforth, until transformation occurs again. Sankharas are released -- habit patterns of the mind, strict mental dispositions, are dissolved and their corresponding bodily sensations are reset or reconfigured. The body is rewired, to no longer reflect extirpated habit patterns. Emphasized in the card is the universality of this experience, for the skeleton inhabits each. And all the terrifying associations with death are not inappropriate -- transformation demands divestment of that which has been comfortable and somewhere useful for the entity. Transformation yields the rainbow, which of course spans the seven vibrations, the seven chakras, each corresponding to a color. The martyr is masculine, masculine being the obverse of the feminine / unconscious / metaphysical.

14. Way of the body

The body is a physical reflection of the metaphysical. The alchemist brings the metaphysical to vibrate into physical reality, pouring its liquid hence. The way of the body indicates an entity’s recognition of this material manifestation being derived from the immaterial, and the back and forth communication that can be intuited. Ourselves and our environment are a product of what occurs behind the veil. Like the chalices that the alchemist uses, the body is a vessel into which is poured the spirit. Realization of this fact could lend significant spiritual development; understanding the hybridized environment in which the body operates releases synchronicity from its mystery. It’s worth mentioning that just as the body reflects the immaterial mind and spirit, the totality of all manifested reality is merely the reification of infinite light and energy into intersectional physical units. Contrast the way of the body with the significator; the significator depicts a body situated tightly in the illusion, conferring death significance.

15. Matrix of the spirit

The matrix of the spirit is that infinite black and primeval darkness, the unpotentiated void. Nothingness seems a proper characterization of the infinite black, but as the matrix of the spirit it is a plenum and source rather than a void. Associated with this card is the dark night of the soul, which for any entity proves utterly thrilling and necessitates the most solemn spiritual progress. Literally the entire physical illusion is shattered, as the devil burns its structures to the ground. The utter futility and insignificance of the ephemeral illusion undeceives the entity, for what is a life in the face of the infinite void? With nihilistic terror the entity is isolated in the great void from which it is derived and from which similarly manifest all great suffering and evil. Solipsistically the entity realizes that he must be that very thing which he’s ascribed evil to, unified and born from this colorless divine callousness. But only in the absence of light is something dark, so look to the torch which lucifer, the light bearer, bears with him. Thus illuminated and burned to the ground is that order of the illusion and all its conventions and values none of which is necessitated by the universe itself. The entity undeceived realizes the refractory will dredged from his own depths and its noncoincidence with the futile illusion, and proceeds to navigate, enlightened, according to the erumpent light (card 16) which spans the void.

16. Potentiator of the spirit

This and card 15 are inextricably linked. This is fiery lightning in its purest form which elicits movement and structure from the great unlit plenum. It is interpreted in the finite illusion as cataclysm, a power sufficient for the levelling of life’s structures. Cast down indiscriminately are entities of low or high stature, exquisitely unconcerned such an experience is with social identity. Egos are indiscriminately annihilated by the light of the infinite. Cataclysm demands immediate and critical action, and spiritual development. The light is simultaneously constructive and destructive; this light which is easily interpreted as lurid is that which potentiates the void and elicits from the entity growth of a very deep, spiritual nature. Light animates the abyss.

17. Catalyst of the spirit

The catalyst of the spirit is hope, faith. Faith is a sentiment which induces change. Beyond conscious experience there is both the mind and the spirit which undoubtedly exist and support the entity, and faith is an undying belief in things which don’t elicit confidence in any traditional way, or in any way that belongs to the manifest illusion. Faith is undying belief in the unseen, the unity which is belied by the disjunct illusion of separation. Here is portrayed a unity, a wholeness between the vast sea of the unseen and the physical illusion, and actually as depicted the entity rests her legs on the vast immaterial plenum, finding there newfound support. Divested of her social conditioning, she rests naked. And thus disassociated from the miasma of illusion she inevitably in her nudity induces shock and disconcertion from anyone looking on; she’s misunderstood, potentially perceived as mad and errant. The star and all else come into meaning by the interplay of light and dark, which anyway come from the same source of the one infinite creator. This catalyst of the spirit is a faith and realization that there is no place absent from the creator, no darkness too profound, no terror too great; nothing can extirpate the self and its will.

18. Experience of the spirit

Moonlight potentially deceives in the darkness. Not all is clear. The spirit has to navigate this fundamentally deceptive illusion, encountering different experiences each of which is subject to a number of interpretations, given the murk of moonlight. Even when the light is realized within the illusion the entity still belongs to the illusion, and is still liable to the mystery, confusion, and must necessarily respond with free will by making choices. Thus the entity polarizes. The service to self adept will satisfy itself with the shadows and, grasping the light of day, will toss back the head in grim laughter, preferring the darkness. Alternatively even the most horrific of experiences are subject to illumined interpretation, and within the illusion the entity grasps the worrying shadows until the light of brightest noon shines upon the right hand path. Benighted by default the entity must seek its own path, interpreting and acting according to its own free will, polarizing thusly.

19. Significator of the spirit

The significator of the spirit might not yet be developed and is unlike the significators of mind and body in that regard. The significator of the spirit is the harvest of biases developed in previous incarnations (as are the mind and body), and offers the entity biases with which to meet new experience. The significator of the spirit radiates or absorbs the love and light of the creator, radiating it to others or absorbing it for the self. The adept’s development correlates with the degree to which it conducts this love and light. The significator belongs to the illusion; the entity dances in the light, but dwells upon the earth. There are two individuals depicted, male and female. In happy union the entity may commune with other selves, and the sexuality suggested by their being half-clothed doesn’t go unacknowledged. Alternately each of the two depicted may be interpreted as being simply the male and female aspects of one entity; the service to self entity lovingly embraces both the conscious and unconscious aspects of himself, isolated from other selves in his own circle, absorbing the sunlight of the creator.

20. Transformation of the spirit

The sarcophagus and mummification are intended for eternity. The spirit transforms the physical box of the illusion into something infinite and eternal. I.e., the lessons and experienced gained in the physical leave lasting impressions upon the spirit which it will carry into timelessness. Obvious is the entity’s being transformed out of physical being, called forth by the angel into different densities or astral planes. The spirit is infinite.

21. Way of the spirit

The spirit is the physical illusion’s relationship with totality. The way of the spirit is the world, the universe, the creator, everything. Through the illusion the spirit contacts intelligent energy and intelligent infinity. Intelligent energy is the creative energy of the Logos, capable of destroying, healing, transforming, with regard to self or other selves… etc. Contact with intelligent infinity is most likely to produce unspeakable joy in the entity. The way of the spirit determines the framework within which the work of the spirit’s other six archetypes occurs. In this card the entity flies forth completely uninhibited, governed merely by their will and intention. Effortless manipulation of the universe’s constructs and distortions is the way of the spirit, as the entity into the illusion assumes the identity of the one infinite creator. The three strings on the harp signify harmony in the mind, body and spirit. The entity is a microcosm of the universe, identical to all, omnipotent.

22. The choice

The choice is the choice in polarity that each entity makes along their path of spiritual development. The illusion and the experiences and all its mystery and confusion is intended to force the entity to choose. In its negative connotation this card indicates spiritual indecision or the lack of progress or polarization. It depicts an innocent entity encountering catalyst (crocodile) and disregarding it, not realizing the potential for development therein. Simultaneously he wanders in the light and dark of the eclipse. This archetype like the others can be used to promote evolution. It helps sharpen a basic view of the significators, and throws into starker relief the transformations.

[wordspin-shares]

MAJOR ARCANA CHARACTER SIGNIFICATOR — CLAIRE DUVAL in FROM THE SIDELINES | THE VAMPIRE DIARIES | [FFN | AO3]

Valuing balance and trying to de-escalate conflict whenever she can, the Major Arcana card that best represents Claire is the Justice card. She finds it easy to understand another’s viewpoint and will forgive where forgiveness is warranted. As a lover of art, she appreciates minimalistic beauty and has an eye for detail. A pragmatist by nature, she isn’t one to make rash decisions, yet deep down she is a romantic at heart.

[psd]

___ FtS taglist: @darknightfrombeyond, @arrthurpendragon, @thecharmedburrowspn-files, @raith-way, @noratilney, @foxesandmagic, @airwolf92, @sunlitscribe (let me know if you want to be added or removed!)

[timeandspacelord]

Anyway my Tarot cards really just consistently tell me to be more confident in my own ability to pull my shit together and make things work, but in a pretty kind-yet-insistent tone that does actually make me feel better

[writtenbythe-stars]

taylor swift & matty healy, 6.13.23

The promised second Taylor and Matty reading! I used the same relationship spread I did for the last reading for them. This time, however, I didn't use a significator - Taylor's still the querent, but given how many of the issues in the last reading seemed related to a lack of self-knowledge/self-confidence, I felt like it was important that the queen of wands be present in the deck and have the chance to come up. It didn't, but *shrug*.

how TS views herself: The Hierophant

Again, we start by looking at how Taylor views herself, through the lens of the relationship. Here, The Hierophant. The Hierophant is the fifth card of the major arcana, and represents orthodoxy, conformity, order. On a deeper level, the Hierophant represents the path to spirituality and understanding of the world through established structures and order. The Hierophant can be connected and contrasted with the High Priestess, outer vs inner paths to truth and spirituality. Subtly, the Hierophant can also represent an obedience and a surrender of responsibility - if we accept society's rules, we don't have to confront or question these rules for ourselves and do the work of charting our own path. This can, though, also be a solid foundation, less susceptible to gullibility than the person who attempts to ignore tradition and chart their own way.

In this position, then, it seems that Taylor views herself as traditional, conformist, orthodox, not necessarily willing to take risks or chart new paths. Especially in the relationship, which could mean she's looking for something traditional and within societal norms in the relationship, or she could be seeing herself as this way particularly in contrast to Matty. Without knowing him or his values personally, he certainly likes to be publicly transgressive and controversial, and she could see herself as in opposition or contrast to that.

how TS views MH: II of swords reversed

For how Taylor views Matty, I pulled the II of swords reversed. The card depicts a seated female figure in a robe that reminds us of the High Priestess, but unlike the High Priestess, she is blindfolded and holding two crossed swords in front of her. The High Priestess' intuition and deep emotion doesn't combine well with the swords' detached, intellectual energy - when we detach ourselves from our emotions, our intuition and our issues, we block ourselves off, in the same way that the figure's swords close off her chest, and we don't truly understand that emotion or intuition, as we see in the blindfold. Reversed, the precarious balance held by the upright figure, closed off and blind, is either lost or given up - either the person has been knocked over by problems, particularly emotions (tied to the sea on the card), which are finally too much to be pushed away and ignored, or the person has removed the blindfold for the purpose of either seeing the truth or communicating.

So, this suggests that Taylor views Matty, especially in the relationship, as like this II of swords figure - closed off emotionally, detached from emotional issues - but having either collapsed or been overwhelmed by problems. Alternately, she sees him this way, but as someone who is removing the blindfold, who's seeing clearly and communicating. There's nothing in just these two cards so far that makes me more inclined towards one interpretation over the other, but I think the meaning becomes clearer with the later cards.

how TS views the relationship: VIII of cups reversed

And for how Taylor views the relationship, we see the VIII of cups reversed. Eights relate to movement and to Strength, and the suit of cups is associated with water, deep emotion, intuition, creativity. In the eight of cups, we see someone leaving a fulfilling situation - full, upright, stable cups - in order to move towards the mountain (air, knowledge) and pursue a higher, more fulfilling situation, with a sense of withdrawal as well - focus on the inner self, one's own emotions. Reversed, this can mean straightforwardly a refusal to leave a situation that's no longer serving us. However, it often retains the quality of self-awareness held by the upright card - the sense of knowing when it's right to leave - and so it can simply mean that it's not yet actually time to leave, that there's still more to get from this situation.

So, then, there are two potential, opposite-seeming interpretations. The first, that she sees the relationship as a situation that's no longer serving her but that she can't seem to turn away from - she knows she's taken all she can from it, but she stays anyway. The second retains the self-awareness of the upright card, like I mentioned above, and suggests that Taylor sees this relationship as one that likely has a lot of similar energy to the situation depicted on the card - fulfilling, but ultimately missing the opportunity for a higher, even more fulfilling situation - but she's aware of those energies and still feels like there is something more to gain, some more enjoyment or understanding to be had, out of the relationship as it is. This interpretation could also vibe quite well with the seeing plainly/communicating interpretation of the reversed II of swords, where the more to be gained by staying in the situation is whatever is gained in the communication.

how MH views himself: The Lovers reversed

Now we turn to Matty, and how he sees himself in the relationship. For this, I pulled The Lovers reversed. So, the Lovers is the sixth card of the major arcana and represents, straightforwardly, love. More specifically, it speaks to connection with others as a way to transcend the ego and see real truth or divinity, and the importance of love and passions within a person's life. The Lovers also represents a kind of transition - in the line of the major arcana, transitioning from the archetypal forces of the first five cards to the more active path in the rest of the cards. The choice of a romantic partner is traditionally the moment of transition between childhood and independent life. And the Lovers, as the sixth card, also speaks to balance. In readings, it often points to the importance of relationships or a specific relationship in a person's life. Reversed, the energy is weak or blocked - a breakup, an important but toxic love, struggles with romance dominating a person's life, an immaturity in love.

The Lovers reversed in a reading often points to a breakup, but it's worth noting the position of this card. This position suggests that Matty sees himself as having many of those negative qualities - that he's a toxic lover, that he's immature in pursuit of love, or that struggles with romance have come to dominate his life. And those interpretations can overlap as well. This position is looking specifically at how he views himself in the relationship with Taylor, so it may just be how he sees himself and his role in this particular relationship, or the fact that it's in the major arcana may mean it speaks more deeply to his general relationship with love. The Lovers also comes immediately after the Hierophant in the major arcana. As I mentioned, the Lovers is a card of transition, of independence in some ways. Taylor seeing herself as the Hierophant may suggest that she's not embracing this transition, whereas Matty seeing himself as the Lovers reversed may suggest he's struggling with it.

how MH views TS: ace of pentacles

Next, for how Matty views Taylor, I drew the ace of pentacles. As with all of the aces, it represents a new beginning, fresh energy, a new cycle, and with pentacles energy this means new energy related to wealth, nature, the home, domesticity, work, prosperity and stability.

I kept that very short because I've covered the interpretation of this card in more detail just in my last reading. In that earlier reading for these two, this card was pulled for how Taylor saw herself, while in this position I'd pulled the ace of cups. This suggests that Matty is now seeing Taylor as she saw herself, that he's seeing that pentacles energy they weren't aligned on previously. And that may connect to and strengthen the alternate interpretation of the II of swords reversed - there, Taylor saw Matty as this II of swords figure who was nonetheless removing the blindfold, seeing clearly, and communicating, and here we see that maybe Matty does now see clearly, seeing Taylor as she saw herself.

how MH views the relationship: II of wands

And for how Matty views the relationship, the II of wands. This card isn't necessarily positive or negative, but it has elements of both, and of tension. The water energy of the High Priestess and the fire energy of the wands combine both well and uneasily - the fire energy activating the passive High Priestess intuitive water energy, the High Priestess' passivity tempering the optimism and energy of the wands. The card shows a figure looking out over a landscape from what looks like a castle, holding a globe in their hands. The figure has achieved success and accomplished goals with the wands energy, but now they pause, to figure out what's next. And so, on the positive side, there is success, and the moment of reflection necessary to figure out where to direct that strength moving ahead, but it also suggests that even though the figure has achieved success, he's not satisfied with it, he feels constrained by it, he's already looking outward and planning those next steps.

Just as the card's interpretation is mixed, it has mixed implications in this position as well. Matty clearly sees the relationship as complicated - there's been some success, but it's created constraints and dissatisfaction, he's already looking ahead to what's next. The success may be simply romantic success - it's not uncommon for people to find the chase more appealing than the actual relationship - or it could speak more broadly to the idea of success in their other goals in life, like material success, fame and wealth, and the ways this has been both an achievement for them both, but also a constraint on the relationship.

relationship strength: The Empress reversed

The Empress is the third card of the major arcana, closely associated with earth and pentacles - she's an expression of that energy, so, passion, nurturing, sensual pleasures, often motherhood (or energy we'd call maternal, but gender-neutral). In a reading, the Empress upright often signals a period of passion in life, of experiencing life through feelings and not thoughts, a focus outward into engagement with the world. Reversed, this energy is blocked in some way. This can mean that instead of this passionate, outward period of life, instead the querent is entering a period of repression, of retreat from feeling and focus on thinking. This can be negative, of course, but the Empress reversed can also indicate a new intellectual awareness or understanding - particularly, processing an emotional problem through the mind, intellectually. For as negative as detachment and repression sound, sometimes it's only when we take a step back from an emotional issue and look at things with detachment and a clear mind that we see something we hadn't considered, too caught up in emotions.

In the position of a relationship strength, the latter interpretation - where this step back from passion and inward turn is leading to new insight - seems particularly strong to me. This is especially interesting because in my prior reading, I had pulled the queen of pentacles (strongly associated with the Empress) reversed in the position of relationship weaknesses. All together, this suggests to me that even though there is this fundamental disconnection from the grounded, passionate earth energy in the relationship, which is a weakness in many ways, it's also allowed one or both of them to look at an emotional problem with new intellectual distance and come to a new understanding. Again, this ties into the idea of the II of swords reversed, of seeing something clearly and communicating, and the VIII of cups reversed suggests that Taylor may be the one who thinks she can get some further insight or knowledge from this situation, but also that she's in a time in life where eventually she is turning inward, seeking knowledge from emotions, going on that VIII of cups journey.

relationship weakness: VII of wands reversed

And in the position of relationship weakness, I pulled the VII of wands reversed. Sevens are associated with the Chariot, victory through willpower. Combined with the wands' fire spirit and optimism, the VII of cards depicts success - the figure stands on higher ground, has an advantage. But the ground is uneven - we don't have any grounded earth energy or passive water energy for us to pause - suggesting that the success is precarious, or the situation is somehow unstable. Upright, the querent is able to persevere, to use the wands energy and willpower to make it work in spite of the instability, but reversed, it suggests that the position can't be held, that you're on shaky ground, or that you lack sufficient willpower.

And so, in this card again, we see the absence of earth, pentacles, Empress energy and the disconnect with water, cups, High Priestess energy that we've seen in various ways throughout this reading (and the last, honestly). Here, it's expressed through this VII of wands situation, through this fight to maintain success. Reversed, it suggests that one of the weaknesses of the relationship is that the situation is just too unstable without that grounding, that it means faltering in the fight to keep the success you've achieved, or not even knowing what you're fighting for in the first place. This idea of struggle even after success recalls the II of wands as well.

relationship's direction: VI of cups reversed

For the relationship's direction, I pulled the VI of cups. Sixes, again, suggest a transition or rebalancing. In cups, coming out of the loss represented by the five of cups, in the six we're looking back on that loss as a sweet memory. The plainest meaning of this card is nostalgia. Looking back on happy memories as a comfort, childhood innocence, joy. Reversed, the balance is thrown off, and two alternative interpretations seem clear. On the one hand, the balance can slide too far in the direction of memory, and lead to a situation where we're stuck in the past, overcome by the cups' passivity, unable to just appreciate the memories for what they are. On the other hand, the balance can tip the other direction, into action, turning away from the past and moving ahead, moving on.

I don't think think there's a straightforward interpretation of this card, without a querent here to speak to, but I do actually think that's fitting for this position, the relationship's direction. As I've said, I don't think tarot is deterministic, and so I interpret this card as laying out the potential energies and potential paths, but which one the relationship ultimately goes down is up to the people involved. A lot of the themes and struggles of this card are seen elsewhere in the reading, on both sides - for example, this tendency toward nostalgia, getting stuck in the past, speaks to the reversed VIII of cups as well. It suggests a potential pitfall if Taylor refuses to leave when the time comes, when she has actually gotten all she can from the relationship, either from the communication aspect of the II of swords reversed or if it doesn't happen, if Matty doesn't communicate (because we don't see much of that energy in cards from Matty's perspective). And the potential turning to the future and moving ahead touches on themes of the II of wands as well, which also carries that energy of looking ahead and planning for the future. In one sense, this could be interpreted as moving on from the relationship, putting it in the past and looking to the future, but if Taylor is faced with this struggle around being stuck in the past, then moving forward could simply mean not getting stuck in old issues or old pains (like, an old relationship) and moving forward together. As I said - lots of potential stories or circumstances that fit the energies of the cards.

advice for relationship: The Tower

Almost done, now we look at advice for the relationship, and I pulled The Tower. The Tower is the sixteenth card of the major arcana, and for many people a scary card to pull. Its most straightforward meaning is disaster - a period of upheaval in life, particularly long-established situations or circumstances falling apart, often from what seem like outside forces but are actually the unresolved issues and tensions we've let build up in ourselves and in situations. But the Tower is liberating as much as it's destructive - clearing away these old situations and letting things fall apart can lead to new beginnings and deeper understanding.

As advice for the relationship, it's a powerful card. It counsels accepting upheaval and what has fallen apart, and taking what you can learn from it, seizing new understanding, new perspectives, new beginnings. And, again, this speaks to the tension throughout the reading between the past and the future, that we see in the VIII of cups, the II of wands, and the VI of cups reversed, leaving and staying, but also the potential for new understanding or insight that we see in the II of swords reversed and the Empress reversed. And just to be explicit, I think the destruction that needs to be accepted could be past relationships, it could be the end of this relationship, or it could be some other past situation, relationship or not, that one or both of them is struggling to accept and move past.

shadow card: The Star reversed

I like to look at the shadow card, and since I thought it was especially interesting in the last reading I wanted to do it for this one too, and it didn't disappoint. Here, I actually pulled The Star reversed. The Star immediately follows the Tower in the major arcana, and represents the healing after the storm of the Tower card. It suggests calm, wholeness, inner peace and, having opened ourselves to the emotional destruction of the Tower, inner knowledge. One of my sources actually described the Star as the inner knowledge of the High Priestess expressed with the passion of the Empress. But here, we see the Star reversed, which suggests that the healing and openness is blocked somehow, that we aren't letting ourselves fully experience the emotional impact of the Tower's disaster and aftermath and so also close ourselves off from the healing and inner knowledge represented by the Star. This can lead to the connection between that inner knowledge, the High Priestess, and the outer experience of life, the Empress, being broken, and the deep insecurity and fear that comes from that disconnection.

So, in the Star we see not just a direct path from the Tower, which in this reading is advising acceptance of some pain or disaster, but we also see a connection to the Empress reversed, this disconnection from the passionate, natural, material side of life, as well as a struggle throughout the reading with the High Priestess inner knowledge - from the contrast with the Hierophant, to the II of swords and II of wands, and the struggles with water energy in the VIII of cups reversed and VI of cups reversed. And so I think the Star reversed sums up very well what's going on beneath the surface in this reading, bringing all of these threads together and showing that all of them are about struggling to come to terms with the pain or destruction shown in the Tower and to move on and heal from that. To me, the connection between the Empress reversed and this card suggests that the relationship between these two, at least as it is or where it is now, isn't where true healing will be found - because it still lacks that Empress passion and groundedness - but that it can be an important step in the healing process, helping them both see clearly the new understanding revealed by the Tower. But as I said, there are obviously a lot of potential paths forward, and stories that fit the energies of the card.

[sea-gloom]

yeah so my signifier card is apparently The Tower. I am... mildly concerned???? yikes

[jasper-pagan-witch]

what tarot cards would you associate with Athena? i'm trying to ask if She was the one that got me a scholarship but i don't know what Her typical cards are

Helloooo I've been in a snack-induced stupor so I don't know how old any of these messages are, so lemme just answer 'em now.

Okay, so, Athena. Generally speaking, I associate her with three Major Arcana cards, in this order: Justice, the Emperor, and maybe Strength. This is because for identifiers and significators, I really only work with the Major Arcana portion of my decks.

However, other people associate her with other cards, including Minor Arcana.

Alder-BOS associates Athena with the Hierophant, the Chariot, Justice, Strength, the Sun, the suit of Swords, the Queen of Swords, the Knight of Swords, the Knight of Pentacles, the Page of Swords, the Page of Pentacles, and the Page of Wands in this post.

KrizsytianP associates Athena with the Hierophant, the Chariot, Justice, the 9 of Wands, and the 2 of Swords in this post.

TheTarotRoot associates Athena with the Emperor and Justice in this post.

I hope this helps!

~Jasper

[lunavenefica]

⛤ History of Tarot - Pt. 3 - The Empress ⛤

We continue our serie on tarot cards and their history & signification!

Our focus is now on the Empress, the III card of the Marseille Tarot.

At first, this card didn't have a lot of signification.

She was similar to her historical counterpart, the Empress:

Married to an Emperor, doomed to carry the heir and show the wealth of her husband.

In more recent representation of the Empress in the Marseille Tarot (After the XVIIIth century), she started to have a deeper signification and finally found her way in the Major Arcana, before her husband, the Emperor.

In this card, we can see the Empress dancing with her people. She is the symbol of inner wealth. Carrying life, shining on her card, she is the open door for intuition, creativity and desires.

With this card in your spread, the Empress wants you to create, to launch this project you put off so many times, to run into this desire of life.

She is a source of motivation that can appear in your life, and this passionate impulse coming from the guts.

⛤Keywords to remember : creativity, fertility, learning, seduction, desire, power, enthusiasm, harvest, elegance, abundance, beauty, creative burst.

Witchfully yours,

⛤Isidora & Bleiz ⛤