#seventies-arcana

[seventies-arcana]

PAC: whats blocking you from entering your next romantic relationship?

good evening lovies. today in this pac reading, you will find out what's a strong barrier between you and entering your next romantic relationship. this is for enjoyment purposes, none of my readings are a substitute for professional advice.

ask upon your guides/higher self to help guide you to choose a pile/photo, then read the corresponding message.

images are not mine.

pick a picture to begin ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

pile one (the apples):

there's a strong theme of balance with this reading. possibly, you could be juggling a lot of priorities and commitments currently, such as work, school, family, friends. or you could be going through some sort of transformational stage in your life, such as moving houses or changing jobs. whatever it may be, your hands are full. you have tasks at hand you need to complete. i'm not picking up an significant energies of being overwhelmed, maybe at times you are, but overall you are content with finishing what you've started. once you are able to have more time on your hands, you will be able to take the next steps into entering a romantic partnership. this time will come naturally. divine timing is at play. once you can let go of the responsibilities currently occupying your plate, you will have the time for a romantic partnership. if you are someone going through a transformative period, it is strongly recommended that you let out any lingering emotions that might be having a negative impact on your being. these sort of periods can be stressful, and you can be harboring sadness, anger, fear, and anxieties deep within your mind. whatever helps you release those emotions (perhaps an ugly cry, journaling, or visiting your safe space to reflect) will be a strong supporter into moving forward. overall, your main blockage is time. you need to complete tasks you've started before a romantic relationship can begin. however, that does not mean you should spend less effort and take short cuts to complete the tasks quicker. again, divine timing is at play. you are where you need to be. be patient, your time will come.

pile two (the tea):

i'm getting the strong sense that you are a daydreamer. you have thoughts and wishes lingering in the back of your mind. there's the potential for something to spark, and you see it. for some of you that pick this pile, you might have your eyes on someone or a current relationship that you could see developing into something romantic. for others, you know (either in your conscious or subconscious) that a romantic relationship could begin if you put more effort into going out more and meeting new people. either way, one thing remains true, and that is that you are way too in your head. you're spending too much time longing for a connection without making direct efforts to have that connection in your physical world. i keep hearing the phrase "wake up," as if spirit wants you to open your eyes and get out of your fantasy world. the main thing that is preventing you from entering a romantic relationship is yourself. maybe your spending too much time watching romantic comedies or reading romance novels. instead, you should use that time to put yourself into more situations where you can meet new people (or talking more with someone who you could see a relationship with/is interesting in you). you're making yourself miss out on some interesting things! if you're someone who is shy or introverted, spirit wants to assure that you are capable to put yourself in more social situations. they are supporting you every step of the way, cheering you on. once you are able to spend less time fantasizing of what could be or what you could have, you'll find yourself taking the next steps into entering a romantic relationship.

pile three (the croissants):

you are a hard worker. you have put in the work to achieve your goals, and i'm getting the energy that these goals were probably self-help and self-love related (if you haven't been doing this, you need to in order to be able to enter your next romantic relationship). perhaps you have recently left a situation that had been negatively impacting you; such as a toxic relationship, damaging habits, etc. and after ending whatever has drained you, you began taking the steps to make you feel like yourself again or more loved. you're putting more effort into yourself, trying to make sure you eat enough, take showers frequently, and so on. however, you have yet to see any significant progress in this. not that you haven't gotten better-- you have-- you just wish you were seeing better results. the truth is, there is one thing you have yet to really do for yourself. and that is to forgive yourself. forgive the past versions of you, the ones that may have lashed out, said something they didn't mean, hurt themselves without truly realizing it, stayed in a situation or environment that was damaging, etc. whatever it may be, you need to forgive yourself. once you are able to do so, you will see self-improvement blossom in ways you've yet to experience. along with this, you will become ready to enter your next romantic relationship. in the mean time, feel those emotions that may still be lingering on your soul and have the patience, because time is the strongest healer. remind yourself that you are not your past, but you can learn from it.

pile four (the cat):

for those of you who have picked pile four, the message seems to be a mix of pile two and pile three. perhaps you've had bad experiences with love, maybe facing a negative relationship with an ex-lover or maybe you've faced unrequited love. despite this, i get the sense that most of you have done the proper healing to move on from this situation and properly put yourself out on the field once more. although, you are afraid or anxious to do so. you're weary about opening your heart and letting yourself love again, possibly terrified at the idea of being vulnerable like that. hence, it's your own fears that are holding you back. you know what you want (your type, your boundaries, the type of relationship, how you should be treated, etc.) ((or at least, you should know)) and you're prepared to begin meeting new people and trying things out. you need to reflect and understand that not every relationship or experience with love is going to end with heartbreak. in fact, each relationship you experience that has ended is one that you can learn from. ask yourself, what are ways you can conquer your fears of love? is it by journaling? saying "fuck it, you only live once"? faking it till you make it/pretending those fears don't exist? hyping yourself up? whatever it may be, indulge in it. because once you get over this fear, you will be able to enter your next romantic relationship.

please like, follow, and reblog for more pac readings :)

[simlit]

Chosen of the Sun | | forest // seventy-three

| @amuhav | @catamano | @rollingsim

POLL RESULTS |​

Sarayn places first in the Into the Woods poll and becomes the second member to join the party. With the three companions assembled, the group's stats are as follows. Each party member has a bonus to their primary and secondary skills: TAYUIN: Deception +10 | Survival +5 +2 God's Favorite Princess Buff ((Chapter 2 Blessing)) SARAYN: Arcana +10 | Wisdom +5 EIRA: Strength +10 | Survival +5

next / previous / beginning

TAYUIN: Lord Tev’us. SARAYN: Mm, the Little Liar and the Witcher. My what a pair. Is it already time for our courageous adventure into the forest? EIRA: He already knew? I thought you said you hadn’t asked him, yet! TAYUIN: I didn’t! SARAYN: Give me more credit than that, Monster Hunter. It was only a matter of time before the faerie woke up and found himself indebted most uncomfortably. TAYUIN: It’s not about that! SARAYN: No? How interesting. I did wonder how the whole thing would end up. Though admittedly, I was hoping for more divine intervention. But this is also fine, I suppose. TAYUIN: See what I mean? Social experiment. EIRA: We don’t need him. We can still ask the sorceress. TAYUIN: But he’s the only one whose been in the spire. We still need to get to the portal first. EIRA: scoffs TAYUIN: sighs Well if you’re so smart then you know what we’re going to ask. Is it a yes or no? SARAYN: Of course. On one condition. TAYUIN: …Yes? SARAYN: Witches work in bargains. As do I. You ask for my assistance, but know that I won’t be bearing the weight of any deals you strike. Nor their consequences. TAYUIN: Self-preservation at its finest. SARAYN: It’s just good business. TAYUIN: Yeah. I agree to your terms, or whatever. I’m sure it’s not the worst contract I’ll sign this week. SARAYN: Shall we, then? EIRA: Let’s just get one thing straight. Regardless of what happens, we’re in this together. Working for the same goal. I don’t want to have to look over my shoulder to avoid getting offed by my own party. This isn’t a trial, Necromancer. SARAYN: And it would benefit me none to do so. You have my sound word; I’ll do no harm to you on our most noble quest. Rest assured, you’re safe with me. EIRA: snorts Fine. Let’s go.

[bodhranwriting]

Emmett's Leap of Faith by Bodhrán M.

Emmett got up, ears ringing and head spinning. Every limb trembled as he clawed his way to his feet, the red-tinged emptiness burning behind his eyelids every time he blinked to clear the rain from his lashes. His knee ached and buckled on his first attempt to stand. He was battered, bruised and bleeding, but he was alive. Somehow, alive.

The sweet, burning smell emanating from the destroyed roof above him indicated that Norris hadn’t been so lucky. Emmett swallowed convulsively, sour spit rising up his throat as he spotted one charred hand hanging over the edge, the green afterglow mapping his veins fading to black.

He stared, trying to hold himself together while his mind cleared, when the situation dawned on him.

“Six,” he said.

He spun, adrenaline pumping once again. The airship – The Obelisk – was still there, still moored to the tower. Figures moved swiftly about the deck: five, six, maybe more.

Too many to fight, a voice inside him supplied.

But Emmett was already running.

He dashed across the tiles, slipping and sliding in the rivers of rainwater gushing sixty, seventy maybe, metres to the ground below, throwing his abused body into the walls.

Knees screaming, lungs protesting, he crawled up the bricks. He could hurt later. He’d have time to hurt later.

Please, please let him have time now.

He heard it when he was only halfway up: the unmistakable rumblings of arcana firing. Horrified, he saw the airship shudder, the balloon expanding in the ways his lungs could not, and it slowly began to rise.

“No!”

Emmett hooked a leg over the edge of another section of roof, swearing and screaming every threat he knew, dragging himself onto the flat. He left bloodstains on the tiles, streaks of red swirling away into the gutters.

The airship was lifting faster than his legs could carry him. Already, it was a good three metres above his head and, as he skidded to a halt on the edge, he realised it was too far for him to reach.

“Six!”

His voice was lost in the crash of thunder. Black lightning stole his vision. He staggered, clasping soaked hands over his ears.

Movement caught his eye. A trailing rope snaked past his feet, hissing against the slates. Emmett looked down.

Beyond the roof was infinity.

His stomach clenched.

And Emmett’s mind locked.

He took several steps back, eyes fixed on the rope moving too quickly to grab.

One chance.

He charged.

The final knotted coil flicked off the edge.

Emmett leapt.

The whole world went silent.

He flew. Rain drove knives into his face and eyes. Wind dragged at his flailing limbs.

Everything was extraordinarily peaceful.

Then his fingers closed about the rope and life crashed back in vicious, deafening colour. The rope swung wildly, and he slid down it, screaming as his hands burned. His heels caught on the bottom knot and he halted so abruptly his arms wrenched in their sockets. Emmett clung on, tasting blood and rain in his mouth, strands of his hair sticking between his teeth.

“Don’t look down. Don’t look down, don’t look down –“

And he did.

It was only a glimpse of distant trees and winding roads before he retched and tightened his grip, eyes squeezed shut with enough force lights popped in front of him. His skin felt frozen to the rope, the weight of his body sending him swinging through impossibly thin air.

“Climb,” he whispered. “Come on, Emmett. Climb!”

He forced his eyes open and inhaled deeply, coughing as the blood caught in his throat. Then slowly, slowly, Emmett began to climb.

[merklins]

🃏 with whoever you want?

Well, since the two of you seem to agree...

I PRESENT TO YOU

Sleepless as a Tarot card (:

(Sketches and my epic reasoning for why I chose the Ten of Swords below the read more) (It's long)

DISCLAIMER: I didn't know much about Tarot cards before these asks, so everything I mention here came from approximately four hours worth of research. Enjoy!

There are seventy-eight tarot cards in a deck, so how do you pick just ONE? There were sooo many good options that I was considering for Sleepless, it was really tough! The Cups had a LOT of cards if I wanted to focus on his relationship with Doc, and Wands was a big contender too, but it would have been tricky to pick just one to sum up all of the internal stuff Sleepless had going on. I excluded the Pentacles because those were mostly focused on work life, and the Major Arcana was out of the question too because. I. I forget now but I think I wanted a challenge and none of the Major Arcana explanations were sparking anything for me. SO SWORDS IT WAS!

The Suit of Swords are kind of like the Suit of Wands, but it seemed to focus a lot more on how everything builds up because of external matters and what you do with it! For example there's some cards in this deck that deal with heartbreak, contending with your feelings, fixing mistakes, and even more! "BUT MERKLINS aren't those all things that Sleepless had to deal with?" Well, yes! From what I read, Tarot cards are used to reflect upon and even predict events that happen in your life. Heartbreak, rest, and distancing oneself are all individual matters that Sleepless, and anyone else, have gone through or overcome! But I wanted something that tied in really closely to zer role in In Your Dreams. If you think of some things Sleepless did during the blog, I IMAGINE that zer grand double-crossing redemption would be pretty high on that list!

So the Ten of Swords, and In Your Dreams. Ready for this? The Ten of Swords in its upright position carries a lot of heavy meanings about being betrayed, abandoned, befallen by a horrible fate, losing something or someone important to you, all of that and even more. It's the card that sends you crashing to the lowest that you've ever felt, and drives you to either give up or take ACTION. I believe ALL of these different meanings could be applied to Sleepless! I can't remember if we were given a precise explanation for what Sleepless did to earn the ire of the Mad Science Team, but Coomer did mention at some point that they never should have banished a mad scientist for being a Mad Scientist. So I imagine that means that whatever it was Sleepless did, it was hardly out of place for them! They were simply a Mad Scientist doing mad science, and suddenly EVERYONE was against them! Their closest allies, their friends, and even their partner. What do we call that? BETRAYAL! Sleepless probably felt BETRAYED. Everyone they cared about had seemingly abandoned them and. that was it! That was IT. He fucked up one time (he didn't even understand what he did was wrong) AND EVERYONE LEFT HIM FOR IT. Hence the five swords in his back: Benrey, Coomer, Bubby, Tommy, and Doc, who pierced RIGHT THROUGH HIS HEART.

But the Ten of Swords is also about moving on. About recovery and acceptance.

You see, Tarot cards have another interesting feature, in which reversing the card so it's upside-down changes the meaning. For the Ten of Swords, these altered meanings are about what comes from that anguish. What you do as a result of the grief and turmoil you were faced with. In some cases this is a solemn acceptance as you grow a new circle and start anew, and in others this is dealing with the emotional scars you were left with, and fighting to get back what you lost. The reversed Ten of Swords is meant to resolve whatever conflict it inflicted upon you from the upright position. How did Sleepless resolve that? What did ze do to recover from the pain zer friends caused zem? Well, after a little off-screen trial and tribulation... Ze found the man who hurt them. AND REPAID HIM THE FAVOR! Sleepless rode out the act they had been carrying to get in G-man's good graces, even confronting their friends and presenting those scars in a way that scraped at their hearts like little daggers, before finally driving their own sword (scissors) into the perpetrator and ending it ONCE AND FOR ALL. Sleepless followed through the entire meaning of the Ten of Swords. He was abandoned by his friends, left alone and betrayed. He braved out those feelings in solitude, coming to terms with what he did wrong and how his friends had hurt him. How they hadn't meant it. And finally, HE DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Sleepless made that effort to mend that bond he had lost, AND FOR THAT HE WAS REWARDED HANDSOMELY! Sleepless got his friends back. His team. His partner. They ALL learned from it. Everyone grew.

In the reversed position of the Ten of Swords, some people say that the image is meant to portray the healing process. The swords would have fallen out, and all that would remain would be the wounds, which would eventually heal and scar over with time. IT'S SIMPLY PERFECT FOR SLEEPLESS' CHARACTER ARC!

Ah ah ah, I'm missing something here, aren't I? "That's only six swords! This is Ten of Swords, where are the rest?" Well, the remaining "swords" are shown off by the chat bubbles in the background, which are meant to represent the messages on the blog! It's a metaphorical thing (: Every time the messages accused Sleepless, doubted his intentions, or said horrible things to him throughout his journey of healing and redemption. Sticks and stones may break your bones, but WORDS ARE SHARP AS SWORDS!

If you've made it to the end of this post, and survived reading my lengthy analysis, then I reward you now... WITH THE SKETCHES!!

[rhianna]

File:Bembo-Visconti-tarot-swords-12-knight.jpg

A swords card in Visconti Sforzatarot deck, beautifully drawn in the mid XVth century by Italian artist Bonifacio Bembo for the Visconti and Sforza dukes of Milan. Four cards (out of seventy-eight) are lost from the deck (the fifteenth and sixteenth major arcana—respectively the Devil and the Tower—, the Knight of Coins, and the Three of Swords), thus seventy-four cards remain.

Bonifacio Bembo

Public domain

[gladstones-corner]

Some Sources on Tarot

I like seeing the trend these days of decks coming with full-sized books instead of the LWB's they'd give you in the past. These books are invaluable because they provide a lot of context that you normally miss when strictly reading keywords.

Here's the hitch: for the RWS deck, there are countless books written by countless people about how to read it. I'm going to be honest. Most are probably passable; you could probably get by with just about any run-of-the-mill tarot book. But there are a few sources that I find indispensable.

First and foremost: the digital space. It's where most of us exist for a rather large portion of our time. Good news is that there are a plethora of sources to learn from, and many are super accessible.

I always like to recommend two places: the Labrynthos app and the Biddy Tarot website. Both are gratis, and both have beautiful versions of the RWS deck that you can purchase for in-person readings.

Labrynthos tends to favor the keyword approach. There's nothing wrong with that at all--in fact, its flashcard-like setup make for really quick learning. Plus, its journal function helps you examine trends over time.

Biddy Tarot goes into more detail, but is no less practical than Labrynthos. The website also contains a lot of resources on the process of reading tarot.

Then come the books. If you haven't read Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack, I highly recommend it. It can be a little dense at times, but overall the book in incredible. Major Arcana cards get a few pages of explanation while Minor Arcana cards tend to get a single page each.

Because I'm shameless, I'm going to double-dip on a recommendation. The creator of Biddy Tarot, Brigit Esselmont, has a book called The Ultimate Guide to Tarot Meanings. It goes into more detail than her website and is a great crash-course into reading tarot generally and with specific intentions (like love or career) in mind.

I like to study Labrynthos, Seventy-Eight Degrees, and either Biddy Tarot or The Ultimate Guide at the same time. Together, they provide a good idea of the breadth of tarot.

If you have any other suggestions, please let me know! I'm always on the lookout for solid tarot resources.

[brostateexam]

When Will Shortz took over as the crossword editor at the Times, in 1993, he set out to make the puzzle younger. He published more contributors in their twenties and thirties, and favored clues with a modern sensibility: Greek prefixes and musty arcana were largely swept away, replaced by sitcoms, snack-food brands, and sprightly wordplay. Now, at the age of seventy, and approaching his thirtieth anniversary at the paper, he is a member of the established cohort he once defined himself against. Part of his job, as he sees it, is to adjudicate what any puzzler should know. But he is a self-described “older white guy,” and his judgments have drawn criticism, at times, for catering narrowly to his demographic. To a rising generation of crossword enthusiasts, he is at once a revered maestro and a frustrating embodiment of the Old Guard.

Although he resists crossword-clue relativism, and maintains that some references are simply more significant than others, Shortz has changed with the times in certain ways. He now shares his duties with a team of associate editors, and he happily acknowledges that their array of backgrounds and habitus has made for a better crossword. Navigating these changes seems to have done nothing to dampen Shortz’s enthusiasm for the job; the man was clearly put on this earth to puzzle. In our conversation, which has been edited and condensed, we talked about some non-puzzle things, too: his love of table tennis, his cameo on “The Simpsons,” and the surprise of finding his first serious romance, late in life. Afterward, he sent me a few of his favorite crossword clues, which you can attempt to solve below.

[mai-love-andthestars]

Tarot 101: History and the Arcanas

Lets go over a quick summary of Tarot's history and Arcanas

Brief history

The history of tarot can be traced as far back as Egypt, back to the great Library of Alexandria where scrolls were housed by the famous librarian, mathematician, Philosopher and astronomer, Hypatia. Within the library were scrolls of the book of thoth which is said to contain texts written by Thoth, the Egyptian god of knowledge and writing. The illustrations of the tarot cards at the time are said to contain secret teachings which is presented by the major Arcana that represents a course in personal and Spiritual Development.

The minor Arcana appears later in time and has history in different areas of the world   In the Fourteen hundreds Italian Aristocrats use the cards called “trionfi” to play a game called “Il trionfos”. Artists were commissioned to create the cards that were either hand-painted or printed on wood blocks. Players took the themes shown on the cards and composed poems about each other. One of the earliest decks that still exist is the Visconti Tarot that was commissioned by the Duke of Milan in the mid 1400 that was printed on gold and silver foil.

Tarot cards also existed in areas of Asia such as India. It is hypothesized that cards were brought over to Europe by the Knights of Templar; there were also suggestions that the cards were brought by Romani travelers from the east to Europe in the Middle Ages. Tarot also appeared in Islamic playing cards from a card game in the 14th or 15th Century that was popular among the wealthy and higher class. One deck was called the Mamluk deck that had an important influence in Tarot cards today. The deck consisted of four suits: the coins, the cups, the swords and polo sticks, as well as 10 numbered cards and 4 Court cards per suit. However, It is only assumed that this card game was used for fortune-telling.

In Spain, the Spanish nobility in the fifteenth century played a game called Juego de Naypes that came with 49 cards. These cards specifically were used to tell fortunes and reveal Secrets especially in the matters of love. These cards were divided into four suits that were based on women. These suits were called maiden's, wives, widows and nuns and were used to show what someone loved or desired most. Each card would have a verse or poem that had the same amount of lines as the card number. These cards began to be used by fortune tellers and were laid out in a similar way as modern tarot spreads today.

The most common tarot card deck known today is the Rider -Waite-Smith Tarot which was developed in 1909 by Arthur Edward Waite, who commissioned Pamela Colman Smith an artist and Theatrical designer to create the deck. Smith produced 78 paintings which became the cards of the Tarot deck; the deck was then published under the London company William Rider and son in 1910. The deck became noticeable for it's storytelling scenes that were depicted in the major Arcana as a way to convey their meanings. This design allowed readers to read the card intuitively and since the original publication of the deck a number variations have been created since then. And while many have made different designs and types of Tarot deck, the Rider-Waite-Smith Deck is one of the more popular cards today.

The Cards

Standard Tarot decks consist of seventy-eight cards, divided into two groups called the Major and Minor Arcana, the word Arcana meaning Secret. The major arcana consists of 22 cards, and the minor consists of 56 cards. The major arcana often reflects events in your life that are important and long lasting, “major” events in your life. While the minor arcana often depicts day to day events. It can also be seen as aspects that can affect you more personally in comparison to the minor arcana that may not.

The major arcana is numbered from 0 to XX or twenty. It follows the journey of the fool all the way to the completion of the world. Unlike the minor arcana, the major arcana does not correspond with the suit of playing cards, they slightly vary depending on the deck. The minor arcana correspond with the suits in traditional playing card decks as well as the four elements of water, fire, air and earth.

The suits

There are four suits in the minor arcana that are numbers from 1-10 with the Ace being the first card and the court cards known as the page, the knight, the queen and the king of the suits in traditional tarot decks.

The Wands are often associated with the suit of clubs and are represented by the element of fire, it is also a representation of your higher self or your higher realm, or in other words the spirit. They are also associated with the season of spring and in terms of time represent days. The qualities of the wands are elements such as action, creativity, energy, enterprise, intuition, hope and potential. In astrology they are represented by the signs Aries, Leo and Sagittarius that are also fire signs.

The cups are associated with the suit of hearts and are related to the element of water and represent a person’s emotions. In terms of timing it is associated with the months And is associated with the season of Summer. The qualities of the cups contain such keywords such as, love, relationships, happiness, harmony, sensitivity, emotion and fulfillment. In astrology they are represented by the zodiac signs of cancer, pisces and scorpio.

The swords were associated with a suit of Spades and are related to the element of air and represent a person's mental plane. In terms of timing the cars can be associated with weeks and are associated with the season of autumn or fall. The swords represent qualities such as ideas, communication, conflict struggle , separation resolution and change. In astrology they're represented by the zodiac sign of Gemini Libra and Aquarius.

The Pentacles are associated with the suit of diamonds and are related to the element of Earth And represent a person's physical self. The Pentacles can be associated with the timing in terms of years and is related to the Season Winter. The storage represents keywords such as money, work, talent, reputation, achievements, stability and material wealth. In astrology they are represented by the signs of Taurus Virgo and Capricorn.

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Sources

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[tryan-a-bex]

Sandman’s tarot

I was thinking the other day about how the major arcana in the tarot represent the archetypes used in narratives. So I’m currently thinking a lot about The Sandman and I thought, a story about the Prince of Stories should probably have a lot of these in them, right? So I went through and matched them up. Apparently Neil Gaiman was good friends with Rachel Pollack, author of Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, and therefore may have been writing it more intentionally or knowledgeably than I knew, how cool is that?

Anyway, here’s my list.

Night— Empress (emptiness)

Time—Emperor (tyranny)

Destiny—Justice (clarity) or Hermit (contemplation)

Death—Strength (compassion)

Dream—Moon (unconscious)

Destruction—Death (change)

Desire—Devil (temptation)

Despair—Tower (upheaval)

Delirium—Fool (innocence)

Hob— Sun (joy, life) or Star (hope)

Gilbert—World (completion)

Lucienne—Temperance (patience)

Gault—Magician (willpower)

Corinthian—Lovers (idk he’s sexy okay)

Matthew— Hanged Man (self- sacrifice)

Rose—Wheel of Fortune (cycles, fate)

Johanna—Hierophant (cuz she’s in the church a lot and I associate this one with organized religion)

The Kindly ones—High priestess (intuition), Chariot (decision) and Judgment (reckoning)

(Aspect Keywords from the Labyrinthos website; some are the reversed meaning.)

Feel free to quibble with me!

Thanks to @mallory-x for asking about this one!

Also, hat tip to @shochmonster who didn’t just think about it, but made a whole Sandman tarot set!

[prokopetz]

Author's note: After all this I could hardly decline to throw my own hat into the ring, could I? As an editing challenge to myself, I decided to try and boil one of my own games, Tiny Frog Wizards, down into a qualifying entry. Seventy pages to two hundred words exactly, excluding the title, and it's almost playable!

Extremely Tiny Frog Wizards

You are a tiny frog wizard.

Character Creation

Choose two mastered Arcana. These must be words ending in "-ion": "Conjuration", "Transmutation", etc. Make sure everyone agrees what they do.

Describe your pointy wizard hat.

Playing the Game

The shortest player begins with the spotlight. The other players collectively describe the scene.

Anyone may take mundane actions; when you do, the player to your right describes the outcome.

Only the spotlighted player may cast spells; when you do, choose an Arcanum and grab 1d6 each if you:

… croak your intentions boldly. … make complicated gestures. … are wearing your pointy wizard hat.

Roll your dice, and assign them to Range, Magnitude and Control. Any unassigned parameter has a value of 0.

Range: With Range 0, target yourself or something you're touching; add one metre for each point of Range.

Magnitude: With Magnitude 0, target a creature/object your own size, or an area 5 centimetres across; double size/diameter for each point of Magnitude.

Control: With Control 0, the spell is uncontrolled. Otherwise, describe the spell's effect using a number of words equal to Control.

The player to your left describes the spell's outcome. After casting, pass the spotlight to your right.

Tumblr 200-Word RPGs 2023

Last November, we did an informal game jam for folks who wanted to write something for Writing Month, but would prefer to write fewer than fifty thousand words of it. You can find the complete list of participants for that event in this post here. There's also an off-Tumblr archive of entries whose authors gave permission for them to be preserved here, if any of those links turn out to be broken.

Last year's collaboration went over well enough that I thought we might dust it off again this year. To be clear, this is just for fun – it's not a curated jam, and nobody's judging winners or handing out prizes..

If you'd like to throw your hat in, just follow these steps:

Step 1: If you're unfamiliar with 200-word RPGs, read a bunch of last year's entries (linked above) or browse the 200 Word RPG Challege archives at https://200wordrpg.github.io/ to get your brain-meats properly configured.

Step 2: Write your own 200-word RPG. If you're not sure whether you have 200 words or not (and with RPGs it can genuinely be difficult to tell!), you can use the word counter at https://200wordrpg.github.io/wordcount to check.

Step 3: Reblog this post and append your 200-word RPG.

Step 4 (optional): Please indicate in your post whether you're okay with having your 200-word RPG archived off-site for posterity – if you don't say anything one way or the other, I'll assume the answer is "no".

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[grandhotelabyss]

Really enjoying Major Arcana! In your research for the novel, have you found your preferred Tarot deck or Tarot system? What books have you found most helpful?

Thank you! Ash del Greco's research methods (lazy, associative, and extremely online) are my own, so I can't give you the world's most comprehensive bibliography on the subject, but I'll do my best.

I love the Rider-Waite deck because Pamela Colman Smith's pictures resist the systematic and function perfectly and beautifully as polysemous symbols available for free interpretation. The best book I've read on the subject, Rachel Pollack's Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, responds in kind to these images, with informed, intuitive, and sensitive readings akin to the best literary and art criticism.

Other than that, I've read this book on the Rider-Waite and this book on the Marseilles for the more conventional interpretations (I don't own a Marseilles deck), the former of which uses Waite's Pictorial Key, though I haven't read this in full. I'm sure I should read Jodorowsky's book and Valentin Tomberg's, but I haven't yet.

I have a Thoth deck as well, and do appreciate aspects of it, but I find its high modernism—Crowley's determined attempt to make it a kind of encyclopedia or anatomy of occult systems, including alchemy, Kabbalah, and astrology—sometimes obtrusive and discouraging. I haven't read The Book of Thoth but have used the deck's thick accompanying pamphlet, written by artist Lady Frieda Harris at Crowley's direction, extensively, and have read Alan Moore's Promethea, the pedagogical sections of which take Crowley's ideas as a guide through both Tarot and Kabbalah.

(I've recommended these before, but see the Art of Darkness podcast's detailed and extensive episodes on Smith and Crowley; co-host Brad Kelly is a professional Tarot reader and also writes lyrical essays about the cards on his website.)

All in all, I think everyone should have a Rider-Waite deck and get acquainted with the imagery if only for the purposes of general cultural literacy and to appreciate Pamela Colman Smith's popularly generative illustrative genius. Simon Magnus's idea that this deck is at once a modernist poem and an early graphic novel is my idea too.

[seventies-arcana]

Hi seventies-arcana, hope you're doing well. My name is Raqiba I'm a pisces sun & Sagittarius rising, I would like to know if I'd succeed if I go into culinary. Thank you ��

hi raqiba! thank you so much for the request, here's what i got for you :) cards: the hanged man, the lovers, queen of swords, the tower, ace of cups details under the cut ☆*:.｡.

there's some very intriguing energies here! going into culinary would definitely bring some interesting opportunities to you, both inside the career and also in your sphere of relationships.

starting off, going into culinary would have a slow, yet enjoyable, beginning. you know what you want to achieve in this career, and you'll have no issue in dedicating time into learning the skills you need to have to succeed. you'll meet like-minded people and create new friendships because of this. they'll bring a lot of happiness, enjoyment, and love into your life.

however, there comes a time where things get coated in chaos. something happens that you didn't see coming, it wasn't in your plans, and it disrupts your journey. this event happens quickly and out of nowhere. but it doesn't last long. this moment is quick. significant, but quick. it will leave you feeling anxious, scared, and lost on what to do next.

through this upheaval, however, you will have people who will help you get through it, and will help you pick up the pieces. in fact, i'm seeing that the very people who will help you are people that you met earlier-- in the beginnings of this journey. you'll be able to get back on track because of their help and support.

lastly, there's one question that the cards ask you: how do you define success? is it worth it, even if things don't always go how you planned? (sometimes tarot likes to leave us with more questions than answers)

i hope this helps you in your decision to go into culinary! wishing you the best no matter the choice you make, and thanks again for the request🤍

[oftarotandnoodledragons]

Seventy-Six: XVI The Tower (Reversed)

Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.… Most of us are about as eager to change as we were to be born, and go through our changes in a similar state of shock. -James Baldwin

There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man. -Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear

In the days of her affliction and wandering     Jerusalem remembers all the treasures     that were hers in days of old. When her people fell into enemy hands,     there was no one to help her. Her enemies looked at her     and laughed at her destruction. -Lamentations, 1:7 (NIV)

When at some point in our lives, we meet a real tragedy – which could happen to any one of us – we can react in two ways. Obviously we can lose hope, let ourselves slip into discouragement, into alcohol, drugs, and unending sadness. Or else, we can wake ourselves up, discover in ourselves an energy that has hidden there, and act with more clarity, more force. -Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

So here it is. The big one. The deadly venomous snake in the grass. The black edifice. The portent of doom. The harbinger of dread. Oh, Tower, how fearful is thy lofty crown; oh, lightning, how thy shock freezes the heart. The themes of this card are unsettling. The energies are disquieting. And sometimes, that's what is needed.

I daresay that anyone who has looked into Tarot has a history with this card. Mine, is that on one of the first occasions when I was exploring the deck to see what message it had for me, I was using the Celtic Cross spread, and this card appeared at Position IX, the position of hopes and fears. Yes, I am afraid of this card and what it could mean. My allusions to it throughout the blog so far has come from it. I was worried that, throughout the last parts of the journey when I was able to identify what cards remained, that I would pull The Tower, it would signal a shock, and one of the minor arcana cards would reflect what that shock was, be it a sudden lack of resources of the Five of Pentacles, or the heartbreak of the Five of Cups. But now that I've reached this point, I've grown even in the past ten months and come to realise a truth that I knew was there, deep down, that this card is not all doom and gloom. Hey, that's one of the card's themes; more on that soon.

I feel like this card is so well-known that my analysis would be superfluous and superficial; but as I intend to use this blog to be a reflective reference point for my own divinations in the future, it behooves me to put my own interpretations of this card based on the knowledge and insights I have gained (and since I've been preparing myself for this card, I feel I've been able to make this entry in quick time). Since Paschkis's depiction is just a simplified version of Smith's depiction, let's start with Fairchild, since it is with his words that my journey began: "Everyone wants to be admired." Um. This is a very strange tack. Okay, this is typical Fairchild here, talking about something that I feel is tangential (but hey, maybe one's Tower is to make one seen and be above the rest). Let's move on: "Others embellish the truth, but what's necessary and real will prevail." Okay. Now we're getting back on track. The prevalence of the necessary and real. Keep that thought in mind. "Illusions will be shattered, enemies revealed. Don't be upset if things don't turn out as planned. Try to compromise and see others' points of view." This is a somewhat sheltered view of the card from the furious storm that its energies tend to be otherwise. Bunning is the key to describe these energies: "going through sudden change", "release", and "downfall". The release portion I see as a sort of catharsis, outburst, or violent resignation. And as for sudden change and downfall, they're very self-explanatory. It is these two themes in particular that scare me about this card: the shock of the lightning's sudden flash out of nowhere, and then the plummet and destruction.

Surely such a drastic, dramatic thing seems needless and unfortunate, right? Well, no, and that's the hard-to-swallow medicine that is the true heart of this card. Where the Tower once stood, built by dodgy craftsmanship using the bricks of falsehoods and the mortar of lies, is the foundation of truth. Without the Tower blocking the way, one can see the beautiful vista. One can see things as they really are, the impurities have been cleansed, one is left with the bare necessities; and Bunning's fourth theme of "revelation" comes to the fore. Thirteen and Esselmont both expound the severity of the situation and destruction but also that what is destroyed is the falsehoods. The shock, the release, the downfall, doesn't happen to someone, it happens for someone. And what lies in the ruins...it's a somewhat backhanded blessing, but oh, the sweetness of opportunity is a balm for the tears. The chance for renewal. The chance for hope: after all, The Star is the card that follows in the Major Arcana.

It is this pursuit of truth that, for me, colours the Reversed Tower and underpins its themes. Oh, don't get me wrong, Thirteen is right in saying that it could be that the status-quo is maintained, the Tower is being kept safe from destruction, or the occupants are the ones hurling the lightning at the sky as if to thumb at divine will; the truth remains covered, regardless of which way it is interpreted. And Fairchild is right to opine inevitable delays, a likely fall from glory (which is more an Upright theme, in my opinion), and to meet the abundant opposition and lack of co-operation with compassion and charity: once again, tangential, but indicative of a time of upheaval and a potential dark night of the soul. And then there's what I consider one of my most profound interpretations: the figures aren't falling to the ground but falling into the sky, with the unpleasant disruption not seeming to end for some time.

But nothing compares to Esselmont's view here, at least in regards to personal resonance at the moment; and the sad thing is, the entirety of space I had in my book for this card is taken up with Bunning and Thirteen's views since I wrote it before discovering her site, so I can only hope that this blog will serve to remind me of her gracious viewpoints. Firstly, she suggests that one could see the impending danger of disaster and is taking steps to avoid or mitigate it: this view is given with no judgement. Secondly, and more in line with my resonance, she suggests that the change is not coming from an external force, but from within. In one of Ediya's readings last year that I felt applied to me, she gave me the idea of The Tower not representing the usual shock-release-downfall view, but more of going ahead and stripping one's ego of what is undesired and incongruent with where one wants to go. "Gentle", was her word, and that seems oxymoronic when used in conjunction with The Tower but that right there was the beginning point of letting me see this card anew, not as the looming spectre of terror but as the blessed outcome. Not all downfalls are unwelcome. Not all releases are violent. Not all change has to be a shock.

This is where I am right now. I am working to change myself. But, as Esselmont also points out (and goes in line with Thirteen), that change is being resisted. I want to change things. I know I need to change things. But change is hard, after all; yet, I am trying, despite what it may seem on the outside, to be better and to do better. I am examining those parts of myself that I want to improve and rather than meeting myself with scorn and disdain, I am winning over that voice in my head: I hear it but refuse to let myself be affected by it. Even if I go two steps forward and one back, I am still making progress. Yes, it is hard. But I look back even ten months ago and I am not the same person then as I am now. I am getting better. The false bricks of harsh self-criticism that once made up me are being removed one by one. The Tower Reversed has been active, if not signposted, for me for quite some time, and dare I say it, I have welcomed its presence.

Will The Tower continue to frighten me? Yes. Will The Tower continue to represent sudden shocks and violent upheavals? Yes. But I've been blest to have this new view, one where the Tower falls not because of the lightning that comes out of nowhere but because one has called the demolition company, even where the owner of the Tower is driving the bulldozer. The Tower has a positive side to it, after all, hidden beneath its reputation. Having this card so late in the journey has given me the opportunity to have this more mature view of its energies. And tied into it is a sense of relief: what I thought would be an impending storm turned out to be welcome rain in fertile fields, and with its passing, the last two cards on this journey will be under sunny skies. Yes, the next card is the Eight of Wands (ah, so we know what the last will be), and while it and the one that follows have their share of slings and arrows, the relief I feel will make up for any pains, and the insight that The Tower promises is the food I need to energise my final steps.

[rhianna]

Bembo-Visconti-tarot-arcanum-10-wheel of fortune.jpg

Summaryedit

Description

English: A major arcana card in Visconti Sforza tarot deck, beautifully drawn in the mid XVth century by Italian artist Bonifacio Bembo for the Visconti and Sforza dukes of Milan. Four cards (out of seventy-eight) are lost from the deck (the fifteenth and sixteenth major arcana—respectively the Devil and the Tower—, the Knight of Coins, and the Three of Swords), thus seventy-four cards remain.Datemid XVth centurySourceThe card images were scanned by David Madore and published on the internet in 2003-09. They are scans of a fac simile version printed by AGMüller in Switzerland, though US Games Systems also seems to be somehow part of the editing process, which David bought in 2003-08 from an online store (broken link).AuthorBonifacio Bembo (1420–1480) Alternative names

Bembo, BonifazioDescriptionItalian painter and illuminatorDate of birth/death1420 after 1477Location of birth/deathBresciaMilanWork period1447–1477Work location

Milan

[unsoupable]

Cinematic parallels

[witchcraft-paganism]

Types of divination: 1. Taromancy

Taromancy is the art of divination through the use of Tarot cards. Also known considered to be Cartomancy.

Tarot is a set of seventy-eight cards, each featuring different symbolic pictures. A standard Tarot deck is made up of 22 cards called the major arcana and four suits of 14 cards - similar to playing cards - called the minor arcana.

Now to clear up some cunfusion about Tarot and Oracle Cards. Most recently, the use of tarot for divination, or as a store of symbolism, has inspired the creation of Oracle Card Decks. These are card decks for inspiration or divination containg images of angels, faeries, goddesses, totems, etc. Although Obviously influenced by divinatory tarot, they do not follow the traditional structure. They often lack any suits or numbered cards, and the set of cards differes from the conventional major arcana.