Regent of Receptivity

Queen of Cups ~ Crystal Visions Tarot

Though I did draw cards from my Radiant Sun Oracle and Cosmic Tarot decks today, earlier as I was lying in bed, I decided to pull a 'Card of the Day' from one of my apps, the Crystal Visions Tarot by Jennifer Galasso. I drew the Queen of Cups. This feels very significant today as I'm going to spend some time with the quintessential QoC in my life, the woman for whom this card represents whenever it comes up. She's been away for seven long weeks and I'm looking forward to being in her presence again.

As a Queen she embodies those qualities of understanding the landscape and what must be brought forward and nurtured for the inner and outer worlds to continue to be fertile and creative, for the soul life to be nourished. She is a source of stability, strength and receptivity and embodies a tremendous capacity for emotional imagination and understanding. Integrity, passion, nurturing warmth and wisdom she has in spades. A beautiful woman. So drawing this card today feels resonant and significant.

Queen of Cups ~ Crystal Visions Tarot by Jennifer Galasso

This particular Queen of Cups sits atop a large stone surrounded by water, her feet and dress submerged, attesting to her skill in navigating the realm of emotion and feelings. Lily pads surround her which make me think of the roots buried deep in the muck, in the parts of our being that are not yet conscious and how this Queen watches over that process. A moon glows behind her with its suggestions of goddess energy, of the tides and pull of the heart, of dreams and the unconscious. It's night, a time for intimacy, for listening and receiving, all qualities of this particular Queen. Her trident glows with power and the soft light behind her imbues her with a radiance and also gives the scene a liminal feeling, a place between concrete realms.

With regards to my soul-friend and wisdom-guide I will say that as she is a Queen of the suit of emotions and feelings our relationship is not without its own watery world to traverse. She brings out qualities in me that are sometimes challenging to acknowledge...vulnerability, an awareness of my creative self which wants a voice, intimating deeper questions of what that voice might sound like, what it wants to express. She is, among other things, a dancer and a singer so being in her presence often reminds me of my own feeling body and how it is moving through space, what kinds of things it might be trying to tell me. Having this card arise today brings up anticipation and a slight ambivalence, a sense of coming home and at the same time the unsettled feeling of the unknown terrain of the heart. Though I posted this poem by Rilke earlier in the week it feels intimately relevant here today beneath the blessing and refuge of the Queen of Cups...

The Unspeaking Center

She who reconciles the ill-matched threads
of her life, and weaves them gratefully
into a single cloth--
it's she who drives the loudmouths from the hall
and clears it for a different celebration

where the one guest is you.
In the softness of evening
it's you she receives.

You are the partner of her loneliness,
the unspeaking center of her monologues.
With each enclosure you encompass more
and she stretches beyond what limits her,
to hold you.

Your Solitude Allows You to Take Part

Concentration ~ Saturn in Gemini ~ Oracle of the Radiant Sun

As I was reading the description for today's oracle card aloud to my son we both had a moment of thinking it might relate to him. A quick check in one of my folders confirmed that yes, he does have Saturn in Gemini. As I read along I was able to relate to this combination in a very immediate way by simply reflecting on my son's attunements and proclivities. Concentration he has in spades! Me, not so much unless I'm fully engaged with my subject, then concentration abounds but otherwise it takes effort, and with so many things vying for my attention these days I find I need to be actively intentional about priorities and goals. Rilke describes an aspect of concentration so beautifully here in Letters to a Young Poet, dated October 1903...

From such impressions you gather yourself, you win yourself back from the clamoring multiplicity, and slowly learn to know a very few things in which the eternal is reflected, which you love and in which your solitude allows you to take part.

Concentration ~ Oracle of the Radiant Sun

The card depicting this quality is quite a playful one for a planet with such weighty themes as responsibility, boundaries and structure, restrictions and obstacles. Saturn also indicates an ability to apply oneself to a project with perseverance and patience and a determination to see things through to the end.

In this image we see a red star framed by a delicate spider web spun between branches of graceful foliage. The web suggests the patience and concentration the spider brings to such a task. Above this quiet, creative endeavor an imp appears from between two full lips. He cavorts mischievously while around him seven swords dance dangerously nearby. In the background a heart with what looks like a sigil of some kind hovers in the air.

There is a contradiction unfolding here with what's going on below and what's going on above. Reflecting on this visual polarity I can think of several areas in my life where the temporal whims of the moment are at odds with my deeper aspirations. I wonder what the tightly closed lips represent? Perhaps that aspect of the self that is continually whispering sweet nothings into the ear of one's conscience. So obviously, for me, the question as I shuffled my Tarot cards had to do with where might I need to apply more concentration today?

The Magician ~ Kind of Wands ~ Cosmic Tarot

Another dynamic duo! Look at the penetrating gaze of these two figures. This pair is nothing if not concentrated! Upon seeing The Magician for a second time in a row my son exclaimed, 'hey, that means I'm to do a magic show for you today!' So that's a treat in store for me as my son has quite the skill with sleight-of-hand and the part of me that wants to believe solid objects can disappear and reappear out of thin air is alive and well.


Coupled with the King of Wands I'd say it's going to be a day of creative doing! On my list is tidying and rearranging of rooms among other things.

The Magician ~ Cosmic Tarot

Seeing The Magician again today I wondered what lesson I missed yesterday lol. Though s/he does appear in the more receptive position on the left so one hopes that some of yesterday's teaching has been absorbed.

Today it's the eyes and triangle that draw my attention more completely. Transmission by glance, called darshan, is a facet of many eastern teachings and that's what I'm picking up here. It's a dynamic experience to sit in the presence of a teacher and receive unspoken wisdom simply through an exchange of eyes-mind-heart. What skills and attunements would this Magician offer, I wonder?

Creative imperative, practical application of the esoteric, organizer of elements...these are some impressions that come to mind as I spend some time with this image.




The second card I drew felt intimately related to The Magician, a distant cousin perhaps. This King of Wands is an interesting mix of masculine and feminine. His gaze is piercing in its intensity and he looks directly at us as if expecting something, as if his will alone might elicit his desire.

King of Wands ~ Cosmic Taro

The pinks and purples of his clothing and crown suggest a receptive nature as do the rose at his side and the tulip at his neck. His wand glows and has red drops spilling off it, suggesting passion and creative effort, 'sweating blood' comes to mind. The land behind him looks like a desert ecology furthering the feeling of heat and fire this suit expresses. A single bird flies high overhead indicating perhaps a far-reaching ideas and inspiration.


His kingly stature indicates mastery and a way of teaching by doing rather than by telling. Kings act from a place that keeps in mind the good of the whole. There is a sense of social responsibility and outward accomplishments. As I can't think of anyone in my immediate life today that might represent this King I'm seeing him as encouragement in areas of creativity and vision for myself. Spending time organizing various areas of the house may seem more like a queenly duty than a kingly one and yet I've also been extremely active and rigorous in my decluttering efforts, tossing things without much nod to sentiment, decreeing 'this shall go!' as I keep in mind the flow and equilibrium of the whole family.

Cosmic Tarot ~ Oracle of the Radiant Sun

Together these three cards feel indicative of the need to focus creatively on projects that need manifesting. Not just thinking about things but bringing all that inspiration into the actual here and now. Distraction will be the undoing of this vision so I'll be paying extra attention to any imps that might be cavorting about in the atmosphere (hello internet, knitting and boredom). And lastly I shall look forward to seeing some good magic tricks from my Saturn-in-Gemini son.


Outside of poetry and art, security is only and ever achieved at the cost of the most inescapable limitation. This diminishment consists of choosing to be satisfied and pleasured by a world where everything is known and where preoccupation with self is both possible and useful. But how could we want that? Our security must become a relationship to the whole, omitting nothing. 

Rilke, Letter to Ilse Erdman, October 1916

The Unspeaking Center

Birth ~ Oracle of the Radiant Sun

Venus has appeared for a second day in a row, this time in Cancer manifesting as Birth. Here we see the angel of birth hovering above a newly born infant. The rocky cave that is sheltering the baby is suggestive of the hard carapace that Cancer wears to protect itself. Above it all the Sun and the Moon act as guardians over the birth that is occurring. To the left and right of the birth angel are two sacred sigils, one representing the Seal of Venus and the other representing the Spirit of Venus. The moment here is replete with blessing and potential.

This astrological combination highlights the home and the nurturing and loving atmosphere that can unfold within it. Children figure prominently in this partnership and there is, in this planetary placement, a great desire to nourish and create an environment in which a family can flourish through love and attention to detail. The LWB suggests that when this card is drawn there might be a birth upcoming (!) or the need to connect with one's mother or with general family roots and lineage.

My mother has been gone now for several years but of course our relationship continues. I go stretches without thinking of her and then stretches where she's quite prominent in my thoughts and heart. Seeing this card she comes to mind but more specifically I'm drawn to the little baby within the cave. How brave we are to make that journey out of the womb. Recalling my son's birth this was driven home in that tangible, visceral, painful, love-soaked, widening way of all births. Today I'm feeling moved to tend to my own birth pangs and this is precisely what I asked of the cards, what areas of my life need midwifing, what areas of today are there birth pangs to attend to?

Justice ~ The Magician ~ Cosmic Tarot

What a captivating couple these two Majors make. My immediate response is to see them as the parents of Venus in Cancer depicted in the oracle card, Birth. Balance and Truth coupled with Mastery and Initiating Energy, what a dynamic and fruitful marriage.

The first obvious similarity is the light issuing from both their eyes as long, luminous and penetrating beams that glow and flow off the page suggesting their effect and skill is far-reaching. Both of them look at us directly yet, like the High Priestess of yesterday, there is also something oblique about their gaze, a veiling of something intrinsic.

Justice ~ Cosmic Tarot

Justice, here, is depicted with many references to the theme of balance and equilbrium. The sun and moon, night and day skies, yin and yang symbol with its purple tones, a nod to authority, in her heart and throat center, the scales at the bottom. Her cloak spreads over the star-filled sky. A tower rises behind her and a falcon sits at her left shoulder.

In this deck Justice occupies Key 8 and Strength occupies Key 11. This references the earlier Marseille system which uses these positions as opposed to the Rider-Waite-Smith system which switches them. The astrological association for Justice is Libra and interestingly there is also a sigil on this card seen at the base of the scale.

She doesn't wear the traditional blindfold but her eyes are radiantly piercing through the darkness of preference, ego and ignorance nor does she have a sword though the falcon behind her intimates that realm of air and discriminating wisdom.

Her scale arises out of a rose suggesting grace and care form part of her inner world and the tower behind her inspires thoughts of stricture and constraint, a 'container' for qualities and actions that don't serve her higher and noble purpose. The scales contain two red triangles pointing upwards with two black triangles within them pointing downwards. Presumably this is a nod to the human embodiment of both spirit and matter and the reconciliation this seeming-polarity requires.

All in all this is a fascinating depiction of Justice, more sensual than other depictions and in some ways more accessible yet still maintaining the themes of equilibrium, radiant unbiased view and discriminating wisdom. Her presence today feels more earthy, more immediate. And personally right now I feel I'm in a place of balance in many areas of my life. I can feel it in my body and my daily rhythms, my aspirations and my interactions with others. And yet I'm also aware of how much fine-tuning needs to be done to maintain this. It's not a place of static arrival, not an either/or but rather an ongoing dance with continual need for reflection and adjustment day by day.

The Magician ~ Cosmic Tarot

Master of the Elements, bringer of practical Wisdom, potential and experience...such are some of the qualities that speak to me of The Magician, a card that doesn't often show up for me.

This Magician has both masculine and feminine features leaving me with the impression of a gender-neutral figure. It's not often we see a female magician so, despite the delicate goatee and refined mustache I'm going with a female interpretation for novelty's sake and also to see how it feels to relate to this figure as a woman.

The gaze is penetrating and radiant reaching far beyond the edges of the card, the four elements are on the table in the form of a Cup, a Sword, a Pentacle and a Wand. There are roses and lilies lying at the front of the table symbolizing passionate dedication and pure, single-minded devotion respectively. The table itself glows with an otherworldly light imbuing the ritual implements with sacredness and power. The starry night sky spills across her hair and her third eye radiates a glowing lemniscate and triangle.

She who reconciles ill-matched threads
of her life, and weaves them gratefully
into a single cloth--
it's she who drives the loudmouths from the hall
and clears it for a different celebration

where the one guest is you.
In the softness of evening
it's you she receives.

The Magician appearing as the first numbered card in the Major Arcana sets forth the theme of the quest and as such represents this initiating energy. Hers is the suggestion of embarking on an inner journey with a hint as to some of the tools we'll need and thus the kinds of challenges we might encounter along the way. She's a charismatic figure with a magnetic personality and creativity and initiative are indicated when this card is drawn. Hers is the promise of knowledge of the unknown, the invisible. She is linked astrologically to Mercury, messenger and fast-moving planet. With this in mind one can conjecture that the Magician has a message to convey, a transmission to share.

Looking at these three cards together I feel a sense of spiritual parentage within, of something nascent coming into form that might need the balance and clear sight of Justice and the mastery and innovation of the Magician. What could that be? I've got a week-long class upcoming to co-teach with my dh. Certainly there are qualities in these cards which I could draw on.

But more than that I feel a kind of dialogue between these two figures in relation to their 'child', a sense of co-creation unfolding that has yet to take form, as if I'm hearing a half-whispered conversation between partners. It involves love and an acknowledgment of innocence or inexperience. It draws from a place of equilibrium and initiating energy. It has authority but not self-assertion. There is something important to be transmitted in the practical sphere. All of these are aspects I can draw on in relation to the upcoming workshop. I've not taught in this kind of configuration to this many people before so I shall be listening to what these two embodiments might have to tell me about how to proceed skilfully. Having both cards as women makes their presence resonate all the more. 

...where the one guest is you.
In the softness of evening
it's you she receives.

You are the partner of her loneliness,
the unspeaking center of her monologues.
With each enclosure you encompass more
and she stretches beyond what limits her,
to hold you.

Rilke ~ The Book of Hours I, 17

Cosmic Radiance

This week I'll be working with The Cosmic Tarot by Norbert Losche paired with The Oracle of the Radiant Sun by husband-and-wife team, Caroline Smith and John Astrop. As I sat in front of my altar in the early morning, little canine familiar at my side, I thought of what question there might be within that I wasn't aware of, what question wanted a voice, wanted embodiment?

Transformed? Yes. For our task is to take this earth so deeply and wholly into ourselves that it will resurrect within our being. We are bees of the invisible. Passionately we plunder the honey of the visible in order to gather it in the great golden hive of the invisible.    Rilke, Letter to Hulewicz, 1925

So what invisible honey is wanting its sweetness to know the country of my tongue, I wondered. And I had to smile when this card bubbled up to the surface....

Flirtation ~ Oracle of the Radiant Sun

Flirtation ~ Venus in Sagittarius. A traveling troubadour or bard serenades a lovely huntress in the bloom of youth and beauty. He holds a lute symbolizing the pleasure-loving nature of Venus and she holds a bow symbolizing the far-seeking adventurousness of Sagittarius. Together they complement each other quite nicely.

According to the LWB this combination denotes someone who is fair and philosophical and honest in relationships. The element of openness in communication is a theme for this combination, sometimes to a fault. There is a love of freedom which results in speaking openly from the heart making for very playful or flirtatious conversation.

The word flirtatious felt both ambiguous and limiting and a quick dictionary check revealed...showing an attraction for someone that is not meant to be taken seriously ; coquettish ; endeavoring to gain the attention and admiration of someone.

I can see both the Venusian and the Sagittarian aspects here with the element of beauty at work (Venus) focused on the goal of gaining attention (Sagittarius). However I have enlarged that definition a bit to include playfulness, levity and lighthearted give and take. Where specifically do I need to bring these qualities to the surface, where do I need to regard my day as Beloved?

Temperance ~ The High Priestess ~ from The Cosmic Tarot

Seeing these two Majors come up was a nice surprise. I think of them both as threshold cards, of embodying the liminal without the need to arrive at either/or. That's a fairly powerful place to speak from and being asked to bring such a lighthearted approach to cards that have a fairly sober energy about them is intriguing.

I note immediately that there are three beautiful women depicted in the trio of cards and the element of blending, harmonizing or navigating polarities is a theme. Though the figure in Temperance appears to be looking to the High Priestess for...support? affirmation? her eyes are closed and perhaps her veiled glance is a recognition of shared duties. There is a bit of a Siren quality going on with all of these cards.






My room and the vastness around it,
awake in the oncoming night,
are one. I am a string
stretched taut
across resonating distances.

The above excerpt from Rilke's poem, On the Edge of Night, speaks to this kind of encompassing of energies. And I spend some time ruminating on the idea of spaciousness and light-dark energy within the Majors I have drawn.

Temperance ~ The Cosmic Tarot

This depiction of Temperance makes me think of a dancer flirting or engaging with someone just out of view.  A beautiful and very sensual woman pours water from two cups which spills as a clear, strong stream into the waiting pool below which disappears around a corner, presumably to the sea. It is edged with irises and greenery, the hills behind her are verdant and rich, a tree supports and witnesses her alchemy as a heron stands behind her taking note. The heron is a bird comfortable on both water and land. Irises, too, speak to this ability to navigate two realms. Iris was the Greek goddess who took messages from the Gods on Mount Olympus to earth by way of a rainbow.

One shod foot touches the water, the other rests on the shore and the sun shines from behind a cloud. This lovely figure wears a graceful sarong and is bare-breasted with a necklace spilling down across her heart center. Her eyes are closed and her half-smile suggests an intimate dialogue with the Beloved.

The theme of blending, of tempering and mixing is present here as well as the sense of purification and cleansing. Our alchemical goddess is poised between worlds here with one foot in the spiritual and emotional realm and one in the earthly plane. She is shod though and wears rich jewels and this suggests a kind of semi-cultivated consciousness, as do the fields behind her. Her partial nudity gives me the impression of her ability to move between the world of logos and eros.

My eye is drawn into focus on the pouring of water, this is her meditation and as such I sense I'm being asked to gather memories, experiences and impressions as well as half-conscious material and work with them so there is a feeling of flow through my hands, which is to say, through the way I shape and tend to my day. Integration of this material feels like a key theme here along with balance and moderation, neither too much, nor too little. Today that feels do-able. It's a mom day of driving and tending to duties here at home but there will also be some time for a hike and later, a walk and it's during these times that I most feel a sense of balance. Perhaps I need to widen that feeling of balance into other areas, allow the flow I feel while hiking to permeate other less 'spacious' parts of my day. Temperance, the quality, feels like a much sought-after gift, something achieved not through effort so much as non-effort, as 'relaxing into reality' as a wise friend describes it, a grace, really.

All things are the body of the violin,
filled with murmuring darkness.
There, grieving women lie down to dream.
There the resentments of generations
surrender to sleep...
A silver thread,
I reverberate:
then all that's underneath me
comes to life.

The High Priestess ~ Cosmic Tarot

Eternal keeper of ancient wisdom, balancer of dark and light, harmonizer of the spiritual and the mundane, moon goddess, radiance of silence, binary consciousness...The High Priestess is most often a welcome sight in my draws and she appears with more frequency for me than some of the other Majors.

Here she is qualified by oceanic tides and a star-studded cosmos running through her hair. A yin-yang symbol on her third eye points to union and separation. A book depicting the Alpha and Omega letters lies at her throat center, center of communication, as does a thin crescent moon.  She is in harmony with opposites, the first and the last, the tides and the pulls and she gazes at us with a directness that is yet full of mystery and secrets.

There are no pomegranates on this card, no pillars, no veiled background and yet somehow this High Priestess manages to convey those intimations of descent, polarities and enigma.


Her sexuality here is both hidden and manifest, her gaze both beguiling and remote, her lips full and sensual yet telling nothing and this quality is a magnetic one, empowering her with a kind of holy and sacred and sensual ray of the Feminine. Today that feels like something that might occur only on the inners as I tune in to the places where my body feels pulled by the Moon, by my dreams, by desire for connection to something larger than myself and yet of myself.

Looking at this trio today with its emphasis on beauty and flow, harmonizing body and psyche, mystery and purification I feel that a good session of authentic movement is in order. What will my dreams tell me through the dance of my limbs and sinew, what recent experiences need the cleansing energy of movement to release them, what kind of body will desire have today?



These questions will be good guides for my day as I flirt with deeper themes of union and alchemy, flow and ascent, duty and inspiration.

And what has lost its way
will, by my vibrant sounds,
be at last brought home
and allowed to fall endlessly
into the depthless source...

Rilke, The Edge of Night from Book of Images

By Way Of

The heavy driving got the better of me as the days wore on and I'm just now surfacing with some renewed energy after a week of long commutes, a (non-driving related) mishap involving a trip to urgent care, some xrays and a very grateful outbreathing of relief that all is well.

So to finish up the geomantic analysis of Monday's spread we add the First Witness and the Second Witness together to get The Judge. The first two cards are placed side by side and the geomantic dots are added from right to left to produce either a pair of even dots or a single odd dot.

From L to R Amissio, Acquisitio, Via ~ Astrogem Cards by Les Cross

Here we can see that the Judge is Via as a result of adding Amissio and Acquisitio together beginning at the top line and working across and then moving onto the next line. So the * + * * = * * * which is an odd number and thus gets a * put at the top of the column as seen in Via and so on.

 

Via ~ Astrogem Cards

About Via Ana Cortez says, it represents singularity, a mode of travel and is generally a successful card. Its latin word means 'way'. It is a figure of intentional and directed
movement and mutability, a
card of action. It is favorable for journeys and the relevance of this is not lost on me with my week of intense driving. Even the way that figure looks feels like the shape of my week with its there and back commutes.

Its astrological associations are the Moon and Cancer both of which have very watery, changeable attributes associated with them. The gem attributed to it is Howlite, a stone whose properties are associated with calming tension, anxiety and inducing relaxation. Again I can't speak to the verity of that but I rather like its name with those wild-animal vocal instincts. Maybe I needed to do some of that while I was heading down the freeway in the midst of rush traffic. That would certainly let off some steam and clear the emotional way lol.

Via ~ Astrogem Cards by Les Cross

The image on this is of a person riding off into an archway on a clear, unobstructed road. That's an encouraging image, and there was a bit of that feeling as we rounded the bend on that last stretch of the week.

The keywords for this card are :: void, point of perfect balance, the way or road, the seed asleep, total inward focus, planning, waiting.

Certainly it seemed that all of those came into play this week, perhaps some more strongly than others. I do love the image of 'the seed asleep' and wonder how that might correlate to the qualities of this card other than feeling like a seed asleep when the alarm went off each morning at what seemed like an unreasonably early hour lol. I'll need to ruminate on that one as well as 'the point of perfect balance' in relation to Via.






Of the Witnesses and Judge Ana describes them as points along a timeline. So with that in mind...the week started out a bit rocky as we found our groove but just as we did there was a bit of a mishap. It turned out fine in the end but involved some stress and a bit of emotional overload as seen in that first card, Gilles de Rais, the Nine of Hearts. My husband reminded me to step back and take a bit of a wider view. As soon as he said that I thought of Leah, the Queen of Clubs, with her larger, more intuitive perspective overseeing it all and keeping that Nine of Hearts at bay behind her.

I have my ideas about the Peddlar's Ace who seemed to show up in a more subtle way and I was aware of him as I considered options carefully around what approach to take wrt the  'midweek mishap'. Finally by the end of the week I did feel as though The Bridge was unfolding beneath our metaphorical feet as we ended the week with a feeling of accomplishment and a sense of new vistas.

It's been a fruitful week with with the cards and Ana Cortez's wonderful system. The Astrogem cards I used in this post can be purchased here. The Playing Card Oracles I used can be purchased on Amazon and Ana's more recent deck, The Alchemy Edition, can be purchased from her shop.

Science of the Sand

Science of the sand is a loose translation of the Arabic words for geomancy pointing back to its earth-rooted wisdom. Today I'm going to explore the geomantic analysis by color of Monday's spread. Ana Cortez describes this with real clarity in her wonderful book The Playing Card Oracles. Essentially one looks at the color of the first card in the spread and then one adds together the numerical value of it and all the other cards of that color. You'll arrive at a number that is either odd or even the result of which determines whether that color is odd or even.

Playing Card Oracles ~ by Ana Cortez

In my spread from Monday the first card is red with the numerical value of nine, the only other red card has a value of five. Added together the sum is 14, an even number. As such, in this spread, reds are even, blacks are odd and the geomantic figure looks like this...

* *
 *
* *
 *

This gives us the geomantic figure Acquisitio.

This figure is in many ways the balance or polarized energy of Amissio as its associations are with gain and success. Its astrological associations are with Jupiter and Sagittarius. I always think of Jupiter as the 'welcome to the feast' planet. It connotes good fortune, magnanimity and expansion. Sagittarius aspires to its goal with lots of actively directed energy.

Acquisitio ~ Astrogem Cards by Les Cross

In a reading Acquisitio suggests success, that something desired is in one's grasp. It favors gain if gain is desired but not loss if that is desired, basically the inverse of Amissio. How fascinating to see these two cards show up in the position of 'First and Second Witness.' As again I'm reminded of cards one and three with their inverse suit~body position placements--a water suit in a fire position and a fire suit in a water position.

Perhaps this is a nod to the conflicting energy of the week, the desire to support my son combined with the reality of the commute. A wise friend suggested that Leah's energy of being able to rise above the denser, more complicated details while keeping the water (excess emotion) at bay behind her might allow me a similarly spacious perspective. This observation is quite brilliant and not one I would have come to so intuitively on my own. Thank you, wise friend ;) I also sense a resonance between Leah and The Bridge. Certainly they share the same suit but further than that I sense her body as a bridge itself between the worlds. In this case the denser world of the earth plane details and the more refined world of aspiration and intention, the latter which are fueling me energetically this week.

Acquisitio ~ Astrogem Cards by Les Cross

The imagery to the left shows a cup with droplets falling into it which conveys the theme of gain and success nicely. The crystal associated with it is amethyst known for its amplification of energy among other things so there is some resonance here with this association. I do have a nice chunk of amethyst so I shall pop that into my travel basket today.

I feel I'm being given the opportunity to see this week as a bit of a dance here with a natural ebb and flow, one that mimics the pattern of breath itself. I shall continue holding this dance of opposites, this inbreathing-outbreathing energy that is characterizing the week. The delight my son is taking in his experience combined with making sure lunches get made, proper breakfasts are consumed and that we are drinking enough water! Hello Nine of Hearts on a literal level. I do feel a bit like Leah, overseeing it all and while I don't have a crow familiar at my side I do have my little dog who is an important connection to the land of joy, instinct and movement.

Tomorrow I'll finish up the geomantic analysis with The Judge, the result of adding the first two Witnesses together. I'm mid-way through the week but it doesn't feel like the end is in sight yet. I can't quite see the other side of the bridge ;) One thing about The Bridge that comes to mind is that beneath it flows a lot of water. Perhaps this is another way to work with that first card with its excess of emotion, traveling across it, so to speak, instead of getting immersed in it. On we go...

Foresight by Earth

Ana Cortez's system of card reading with the Playing Card Oracles incorporates geomancy to elaborate and explore further the material offered by the cards. In my experience it has added depth and detail to a reading that might not have been so obvious at first. It gives a different perspective. Geomancy is an ancient form of divination that is translated from the Greek as 'foresight by earth' and the Arabic as 'science of the sand'. It is thought to have established its roots in the Middle East when Arabic merchants brought with them esoteric teachings from East Asia through the Silk Road.

Along the way various influences were brought to bear and we arrived at the system we have today of sixteen geomantic figures that correspond to various astrological energies. It uses the random generation of marks or dots to create a four-line figure, one line for each of the four elements. The divinatory meaning of the figure depends on the number and arrangement of the dots. Ana's system does three geomantic calculations for a spread, by number called The First Witness, by color called The Second Witness and then the result of adding those together called The Judge. So here we go with the geomantic analysis by number, The First Witness for yesterday's draw...

Playing Card Oracles by Ana Cortez

To calculate the geomancy by number... an odd number gets one dot, an even number gets two. Looking at yesterday's draw we have...

9 ------>   *
12 -----> * *
5 ------ >  *
6 ------ > * *

I'm using Astrogem Geomancy Cards by Les Cross to depict the traditional geomantic figures for this reading. There are several different types of cards available out there but I liked the aesthetic of these as well as the addition of the gem correlation. I'm not knowledgeable about crystals and the skeptic in me finds a lot of the claims dubious but the magpie in me likes the pretty, sparkly factor and I'm slowly building a small collection that gives me a lot of pleasure.

Using the math described above to calculate the first geomantic figure by number I arrived at Amissio. Ruled by Venus, Amissio is a figure of change, desire and loss. It is the card of diminishment, emptying out, a release or shedding of skin. It indicates a potential loss of something though that loss could be positive if it's desired, negative if not. Central to its meaning are the basic teachings of impermanence.

It is ruled by Venus with Taurus as its astrological association. And elementally it is associated with Fire and Water though I'm unclear how that's arrived at. Nevertheless I'm intrigued by the elemental pairing as that is the combination that appeared in the first card drawn, a Water suit in a Fire placement. As such I'm drawing a conclusion that there is a direct relationship between the first card and this geomantic figure.

The first card, Gilles de Rais ~ Nine of Hearts, with its dripping hearts traditionally suggests excess but at the same time those droplets falling from the hearts convey a sense of loss. For this week in relation to the intensity of my driving commitments I definitely sense a feeling of, if not loss then at the very least limit, which is perhaps a more muted form of loss. Anxiety is perhaps more present than usual as this is no country road drive but eight-lane freeway driving. So a sense of both loss and excess, I suppose.

Looking at the figure itself can be helpful in finding a way in to the meaning of the card. If you look closely at the two triangles they form two inverted cups stacked one on top of the other which conveys a theme of emptying and diminishment.

Amissio ~ Astrogem Cards

The backs of these cards contain a bit of information on the qualities of the figure, its astrological associations and imagery that conveys its meaning. And here we see more clearly the image of the overturned cup with droplets of water falling from it to indicate the theme of loss this card presents.

The card also contains a crystal association, in this case malachite. The properties of malachite have primarily to do with protection but it is also said to enhance creativity and imagination though I have no experience with this aspect and can't speak to its verity. I do like look of the gems and would like to work towards collecting each stone in this deck. It would be nice to have some malachite to carry with me this week as a literal 'touchstone'. The depth and variegation of the green is visually very soothing.




 I'll stop here for now and tomorrow will explore the geomancy by color for this draw aka, The Second Witness. I'm part way into my week and so far it has felt about as I thought, pretty darn exhausting on the physical front but very satisfying to see the joy my son is reaping from the experience. And we're having some great connection time with all those hours spent in the car.

Playing Card Oracles

Playing Card Oracles by Ana Cortez

This week I'll be working with the Playing Card Oracles Vintage edition by the innovative Ana Cortez. Her system is a unique combination of intuition and structure with lots of room for poetics, beauty and psychological depth to move through as the dance of Spirit. As she explains it, a playing card deck has 52 cards and as such forms a natural lunar year-- 52 weeks in a year/52 cards in a deck, 13 weeks in each season/13 cards in each suit, 13 moons in a lunar year, 4 seasons/4 suits. One of the spreads Ana uses is a basic weekly spread in which the deck is shuffled and then the top four cards are turned over indicating possible energies for the week ahead.

Playing Card Oracles by Ana Cortez

The cards are usually laid out vertically or diagonally. The first card represents the head, next is throat, then comes torso and finally feet. These positions are represented by diamonds (fire), clubs (air), hearts (water) and spades (earth) respectively. If a card of the same suit falls in one of those positions then it is considered to be dignified and the energy more concentrated.




Accordingly one could do a reading for something coming up in several weeks' time by counting off cards (each one representing a week) from the top of the deck until one got to the card/week in question and then laying out the three cards that follow that card to see what influences might be present. So off we go for the week ahead...

Gilles de Rais ~ Leah ~ Peddler's Ace ~ The Bridge

Head = Diamonds = Fire
Throat = Clubs = Air
Torso = Hearts = Water
Feet = Spades = Earth

Gilles de Rais ~ Nine of Hearts ~ Playing Card Oracles

Look at this face peering out from the wrending in this card. I'm not feeling encouraged by that nor all the dripping hearts lol. This card, being the first one drawn, sets the tone for the reading. The character depicted here, Gilles de Rais, lived in 15th century, a man of prominence and nobility whose ways became increasingly self-serving as time went on. As such this particular Nine represents excesses of emotion as seen in the overflowing hearts.

Some keywords are :: fears and insecurities, extremes of behavior, flowing tears and sorrow.

There is a positive side to this card if it is worked with skillfully and it is that of humanitarian love. Ana describes it as the passion in the Hearts becoming transmuted and centered in compassion.

For me that feels resonant. I'm slated for between 5-6 hrs of rush hour driving every day this week. The reason being so that my son can attend a camp he really wants to go to, one that gives him tremendous joy and engagement. Though this is not a humanitarian act of love on a grand scale it is an act of love on a small scale that comes at some cost to my own level of comfort. The card, though, is not well-placed being a water card in a fire position. I sense the need to make sure the emotion/stress involved with all the driving doesn't drown the initial spark of generosity that initiated my decision to take this on. 

Leah ~ Queen of Clubs ~ Playing Card Oracles

This Queen is, I think, my favorite Court in the deck followd by Terrene, the Lady of Spades. Leah is certainly the Queen I most identify with. Being a club she is an air sign and her position here in the throat makes her placement dignified. I think of the throat position as an important mediator between the head and the torso (which includes the heart). To have this Queen here, with her skill in communication, feels good. I have this visceral feeling of confidence, a sense of okay, I've got this, I know how to do this. What 'this' is is not entirely clear but I feel her energy as familiar comfortable and compatible with my own.

Her domain, being a black suit, is that of night energy but rather than shadow energy she is more attuned to dreams, mysteries, intuition and the wisdom of the unconscious. So hopefully my communications this week will be skillful and effective both written and spoken. She feels like a stabilising influence, a channel or conduit for some of the more ambiguous energy of the cards above and directly below her.

Peddler's Ace ~ Five of Diamonds ~ Playing Card Oracles

I wasn't too keen seeing this crafty fellow show up in the Torso position which is the center of the spread including as it does the heart, the solar plexus and the womb. He is the Peddlar's Ace known for confusion and trickery. Ana says, "he usually has something fishy up his sleeve".

He suggests a caution or warning before entering into deals or transactions. Be aware of acting impulsively and instead take a more measured approach before moving on something. For some reason the phrase "mind the gap" comes up for me seeing this fellow so I shall be paying attention to any gaps in awareness that may present themselves.

That he is in the Torso position, the heart of the matter, suggests to me overall ambivalence on my part about the week ahead. His element is Fire, his placement is in a Water position which isn't compatible but with this card perhaps that's a plus. And I do like that Leah is in a position to monitor his movement, looking directly over his shoulder, so to speak, so I'll be calling on her clear communication skills for help with any confusion that might arise this week.

The Bridge ~ Six of Clubs ~ Playing Card Oracles

Rounding out the spread is a card that makes me breathe out a sigh of calm. The Bridge, Six of Clubs suggests transitions, a 'bridging' of work and aspirations, actualities and ideals. It offers the possibility of new vistas and forward momentum. That it rounds out the week feels quite positive. However it's an air suit in the position of the feet, associated with the element of Earth so some of that water from the first card needs to trickle all the way down here to moisten and enrich the soil otherwise it could blow away.

This is the foundation of the draw, what will anchor it so perhaps the idea is to keep my perspective wide and long while moving through the very practical duties of driving and lunch-making this week instead of getting caught up in the minutiae these kinds of tasks can engender. And again I get this intuitive hit of how the relationship between that first watery card and this last earthy one could be quite beneficial if Leah is able to work her communicating magic. That might look like giving the emotion in the first card an outlet by taking some long hikes on the ridge for actual perspective and letting my spirit soar. Gotta watch out for that Peddler though.

I'm going to pause here for now with my very rudimentary analysis of this spread. Tomorrow I'll work with the geomantic attributes which really enrich and enliven a reading giving it depth and texture bringing out subtleties that might not be so apparent. My week will be full and I shall be regularly looking to this spread as it unfolds to see where some of these influences might be felt.

The Swan Unfolds the Poem

Wild Unknown Tarot ~ Alchemist's Oracle

This draw wraps up my exploration of these two decks for now. It's been an enriching couple of weeks getting to know them and they have worked together seamlessly. How fitting then that today I drew as my oracle card, Final Step...

Final Step ~ Alchemist's Oracle

I haven't used the LWB much for this deck but a phrase for today's card echoed my feelings quite well, paraphrased for cohesion...Although your inspirational energies feel low, you are being called to dig deep and summon the concentrated juice that lies within. I rather like the image of the body as a strong tree rich with sweet sap. Yes, inspiration is at a bit of an ebb these days, fueled by doubt and some anxiety about various responsibilities. Interestingly this card echoes yesterday's Ace of Pentacles with its stump and star in the middle.

Whereas yesterday's theme seemed to focus on following through on initiatory energy today's seems to be about, if not endings, then nourishing pauses that allow for continuity. A little mouse sits on the other stump nibbling something. My Lenormand understandings of mice would associate its presence with worry, a dwindling of resources, fatigue and problems with structure. Some of these definitely apply but I don't think that's the whole message here. Mice are resourceful and hard workers and I think this is also being communicated, to keep going in small ways and keep in mind all that has come previously, the rings in the stump, as a means of providing context and bolstering any areas of my psyche that feel tired.

Five of Wands ~ Wild Unknown Tarot

I'm not sure why I felt moved to place a feather, symbol of air, beside this Five of Wands with its fire associations but seeing it there I'm struck by its dark depth and the way a feather fluttering to the ground very much mimics the movement in this card. There is a feeling of chaos or at the very least disorganization here in the way the wands are randomly flung across the surface. I feel I'm being asked to find an organizing principle here within the challenges that sometimes come with inner and/or outer growth.

Aligning all those wands and suddenly I have a nice little stack of firewood with which to cook upon or heat my body. This actually feels like a good way to interpret this card, uniting what feels random and chaotic into something that transforms, that is fueled by spirit, into something that can support or nourish with each wand being needed for the process.

Mother of Swans ~ Wild Unknown Tarot

 And here she comes, the lovely Mother of Cups, winging her beautiful way in to make sure the fire doesn't go out, that everyone's emotional needs are met and nourished and supported. I love that she  seems to be sheltering the two previous cards with her all-encompassing white wings and directing her loving gaze upon them.

This card usually signifies a very specific woman in my life whom I love and respect and whenever it shows up I always pay attention to the ways we are interacting. She's currently traveling so I'm feeling more inclined to look to my own inner Mother or Queen of Cups. This is a role that comes naturally to me but sometimes to the point of neglecting my own path.

Am I making sure to attend to areas that nourish my artistic soul? Am I making sure to take as well as give? What are my dreams telling me? What is my relationship with my shadow these days? All of these questions come up for me today upon seeing this card though my impulse is to want to settle into her feathery embrace and rest a bit. I notice her cup in the lower portion of the card and the little rainbow-hued stars in the dark night suggesting that one way through the shadow moments is to drink well from that loving cup and tend to any artistic yearnings I might be feeling.

Themes of digging a little deeper than I thought I was capable of to bring forth my creative juices are implied here in the cards today and then the task of organizing all that inspiration into something that serves a larger vehicle which in turn is supported by the waters of feeling and intuition, dream and feminine energy. Today that feels like it's time to carve out some mama-time to work on my zentangles. They have languished for a good while and I feel them calling me. Add in a pot of hot tea with a pretty china cup and I'm good to go!

Our Lady of Zentangle

~ Fairy's Eye View ~

The Luminous Other

Wild Unknown Tarot ~ Alchemist's Oracle

I'll just say straight out here that I don't love it when two Majors show up in my daily draw. I often experience a little bit of an inward clench. I feel I'm being called before The Board to explain myself, to be accountable in a way that doesn't allow much wiggle room, to really be clear with myself. Today's draw is no exception. Not that these Majors are particularly dense just that the Majors, in general, carry an archetypal weight to them, the stuff of myth, dreams and the unconscious, that I experience as...laden with responsibility. And I rarely feel I do them justice when writing about them.

Transition ~ Alchemist's Oracle

This dragonfly (?) with its wings drawn around it protectively is a bit how I feel today. That sense of wanting to withdraw a bit, retreat and hole up beneath a soft, sheltering cover. It's a fairly static image though the vibrant green of the wings intimate much healing work is being accomplished during this period of what appears to be liminality as the bug hangs there between the worlds.

Threshold is such a powerful place to claim though the tendency is to want something more substantive to inhabit. The reality is that each moment is a threshold, a transition. I forget that all.the.time. thinking this moment is fixed, solid, an arrival. It's not, it's an ongoing moment in a larger series of arrival-departures. Today I don't love this. Tomorrow I might embrace it. This afternoon perhaps I'll entertain it. But right now, it's not working for me and perhaps more importantly I'm not working for it.

The Chariot ~ Wild Unknown Tarot

But here comes The Chariot riding in to let me know that, in this case, 'giddy-up' might be a helpful mantra. In this depiction there is no driver and no vehicle. Instead all that has been combined beautifully into one image that implies driver and vehicle. A horse looks out at us, her mane flying in the wind, a waning crescent moon on her forehead and, curiously, a pentacle on a chain around her neck. Behind her a sun radiates strong, glorious rays reaching the edges and red corners of the card. The red and its placement in each corner feels like a nod to the element of will that is so much a part of this card traditionally.

The energy the horse is embodying is fast and strong. She seems like she's just pausing long enough to give us her message, blessed by the protective pentacle around her neck, which in turn blesses us. But the pentacle also tells me she's in service to something larger and less apparent. She exhibits the full sun of control here and yet the crescent moon on her forehead suggests a knowledge of when to yield, when receptivity is required. This dance is an integral aspect of this card.

This card is a Seven and the last card in the first group of seven Majors suggesting that the lessons to be developed and lived out in the next groupings are still in the initial stage here. As such the ability to handle the reins skillfully is still being worked with. The contrast between the dynamic movement and determination of The Chariot compared to the stasis of the Oracle card is pronounced but I sense that perhaps I'm being asked to use my will to bring to bear on the ongoing transition that is life, to the places where I might want to pause longer than serves my unfolding.

Wheel of Fortune ~ Wild Unknown Tarot

The Wheel is certainly not going to allow me that! And this is such a compelling depiction of this Major. A first glance and the word 'dream catcher' comes to mind with its abilities to trap shadow dreams and channel positive dreams to the sleeper. The rainbow-colored ribbons tangled up in the middle don't allow for much micro movement in this wheel which feels like its hurtling through space at a macro pace. They are perhaps a nod to our attachment to preference and how that 'trips things up'. The setting for the top part of the card is midnight, the bottom depicts full daytime with a waxing crescent moon and sun respectively.

The waxing crescent moon, known as the Moon of Regeneration, is the moon of the Maiden. It's associated with beginnings, with change and with invocation. It's a logical moon to have on this card that honors the teachings of mutability. An owl, avian embodiment of wisdom, of mystery, night power and silence, perches on a top branch and peers at us quizzically. Brilliant points of light illuminate the dark night sky. All of these images together make for a compelling depiction of a card that signifies cycles of adjustment and manifestation, of an understanding of form and emptiness, and the knowledge that 'at the still point of the turning world there the dance is,' to quote Eliot.

Kalachakra Mandala

How does this relate to me today? How does it not would be a more skillful question. The philosopher Marcus Aurelius saw time as extending forwards to infinity and backwards to infinity. When I read that I have an image of each of us as static points within that time line, as time catchers spinning our own rhythmic wheel within the larger wheel of existence. The Vajrayana Buddhists have what could be called their own Wheel of Fortune card in the great Kalachakra Tantra, the Wheel of Time. This is an elaborate 12 day ceremony filled with ritual, mantra, prayers, dance, the building of a sand mandala, transmission, blessing and more. The teachings are said to bring about purification of body, speech and mind.


I have the sense of being inseparably bound up with the changing tides that characterize life, that are, in fact, the essence of life with the idea that The Wheel of Fortune does not exist outside of me to the degree that I can yield to the flow. Trying to avoid that stream and suddenly I'm the obstacle. I'm still trying this one on for size but today that feels about right.

Looked at in combination with the other two cards and I feel the tension of holding the impulse to move forwards with the impulse to resist that movement. The Chariot asks me to step in, to take the reins, to feel the directional pull of all that horse energy beneath me and respond accordingly even while I'm experiencing the disorienting effects of transition. The Wheel of Fortune reminds me that this too shall pass, that now is the time to rely on silence and navigating by night power, and focusing on the inner tides and rhythms beneath which breathes the luminous Other.