Tripping Out On Tarot

I've recently been experimenting with my recreational drug of choice......tarot.

I willingly admit, I do like colourful decks, rich vibrant meaty decks, the exception being my Hidden Realm cards, but thats another story.

I rally like my Osho Zen deck but rarely share it, feeling it may be seen as too woo-woo for most client readings.  

I love it for readings about spiritual growth and for contemplation, but for the favourite 'I met this guy and.....' questions, it just didn't seem to work for me.

However having recently started experimenting I decided to start using it as an 'everyday' deck where possible.

A client recently wanted some insight into a matter of the heart and so I did the reading using my faithful Illumiati deck (love it or loathe it, it has so much to offer in readings). 

I suddenly had the desire to pull the corresponding cards from Osho Zen and overlay them with the Illuminati cards and all I can say is 'WOW'!

This added a whole new dimension to the reading, it gave insight on so much of this relationship it was unreal.

I do have to say though, at some points I felt like I was having some weird trippy hallucination.  So. Much. Colour.

It possibly didn't help that it was a 12 card spread (X2) making 24 very vivid cards staring me in the face, but it was so worth it.

Obviously the reading took longer than it should, but I can honestly say, it was so rewarding, the client was so happy, and quite surprised I had got so much detail form the reading.  I had apparently touched on issues that she felt were so deeply buried that she actually said '...it felt like you had climbed into my head and had seen my life through my eyes.'

That to me was enough to make me decide that I am going to start using this method more often.  Not, I may add, for the run of the mill 'love' readings, but where there seems to be an repeating or ongoing situation in a querent's life that they want really deep answers for.  

When a querent is willing to open themselves up to the inner work that needs doing, then I am willing to double the cards up and put that time in.

After all, its very nice to want to find out if you will meet the man of your dreams soon, but if you seem to be his worst nightmare, then surely having the tools to change that in yourself is the most powerful part of tarot.

Related To Royalty.

Queen of Swords, Tarot Illuminati by Erik.C.Dunne.

In the tarot world I always tell people my mother is the Queen of Swords, this is followed by the other person doing a sharp intake of breath and then usually a half laughing, half sympathetic, 'Oh dear'.

I love the depiction of the Queen in the Illuminati deck, as far as Queens go, the image of Elizabeth I is pretty accurate for me.

Trust me,this lady has balls.  She takes no prisoners when speaking.  She holds peoples' attention, not through her endearing qualities, but due to the fact that goodness help you if you interrupt her, or even worse, disagree with her.  Believe me, that tongue can be as cutting as the sword she proudly displays.

This lady does not speak in terms of how thing will feel, that is not a productive line of thinking for her.  Now don't get me wrong, I don't actually believe our lovely Queen Elizabeth I was the 'virgin queen' that history tells us.  I feel she was probably sidetracked by a dalliance or two, but this lady was the first female monarch in England, her father was a pretty tough act to follow.  This also in part to his many spouses, and his demise to syphilis was probably enough to put the poor woman off letting her heart rule her head (and other parts).

To hold her power this lady decided to go it alone.  She needed to be forthright and brave to defend her decisions for her country.  She was intelligent, and not afraid to let it be known that she would not be challenged in her decisions. At times she was emotionally cold, caring not for the begging and pleading of 'traitors' to spare them the chop.

This, my dear people is my mother to a 'tee'.  

My mother is great in a crisis, as long as you don't expect tea and sympathy.  Practical help and advice, that is her realm.  She can find a solution to most problems, and if not, she will find someone who can find the solution.

Ask for advice and she will freely give it, but take heed, if you go against that advice, it's 'Off with your head!'  You get both barrels and then the martyr act.  She can be good at the manipulation game.  Because where feelings are concerned, hers are the only ones that matter.  

She gives the impression that emotions are silly, unimportant, yours, that is!  Be aware that this lady is going to haul you kicking and screaming into a guilt trip alley, where she will proceed to rip you to shreds with that tongue of hers, if you dare to question her thinking.  Her favourite phrase in these situations is 'Well, I don't know why you bothered asking me, I wouldn't have wasted my time if I'd known you weren't going to take any notice (of the advice)'.

She can cut you down with a comment, and if that leaves you feeling upset or hurt, she will ask why you are upset, as she believes speaking the truth is always better than sparing someone's feelings.  Sometimes though its is not what someone needs, sometimes we need soothing, we desire understanding and we crave compassion.  

However, the Queen of Swords isn't all bad. When this woman is on your side, you have a strong ally.  Excellent with practical advice and tactical ideas, she will champion you whatever your cause. 

When there is a tough challenge ahead, this lady will stand up for you and fight for you.  She is not afraid to speak up for you, she is a defender just as much as she can be an attacker.  

She can cut through the Bulls**t of a situation when it becomes emotive.  She will seek both sides of the issue and deal with it in terms of facts.  She can cut away the murky undergrowth of a problem to show you a clear way of resolving it.  She can be the calm voice of reason when things look like they are careering into a the abyss of emotion. 

The Queen can be fiercely independent, she does not need a protector as she has her wits and intelligence to do that for her, and she will let you know, in no uncertain terms, when you cross the line with her. 

So, that pretty much sums up my mother, the woman who is my biggest ally and my worst enemy.  I do not doubt she loves me, although she rarely tells me and shows me even less.  She is my hardest critic, yet my best P.A.

She frustrates me with her black and white world.  She angers me with her off the cuff remarks.  She counsels me when the s**t hits the fan. She tells me what I need to know and sometimes, yes,it hurts, but once I've had time to let it sink in, I know that she is usually right.

So my Queen of Swords is a complex lady, but I wouldn't have survived without her.
  












  

Synchronised Sorries

6 of Cups, Tarot Illuminati by Erik. C. Dunne

I've spent most of today pondering the 6 of Cups.  It's been going through my head all day could it represent forgiveness?  Laying some ghosts of the past to rest is it were?

Doing my daily spread tonight with a question with regard to regrets I may hold on to in my life, my third card was in the position for what I need to do to forgive myself.

The card I pulled was the 6 of Cups.  Now to me the cards have basically confirmed my quandary.  I see this as going back in my thoughts, to the younger me and forgiving myself.  Also to offer the gratitude to those people that taught me lessons in life, both good and bad.

I do believe that even those people that have brought us pain and heartache all had a lesson for us to learn.  They may even have given us a legacy which is full of joy (one of my exes brought untold despair and suffering to me, however, I had 2 beautiful children with him, for which I cannot thank him enough).  The lesson he taught me was about self love and honesty.

I feel the image of the card was clear enough to show me this as the person in the background looking down towards the children, feels as if this is me now.  The children, innocent and unaware of the watchful figure are lost in their exchange with each other.  The girl looks to me as if she is explaining something to the young boy, who listens intently.

I have recently been working on forgiveness and accepting my part in past situations in my life, that i feel had a particularly negative effect on my, so this card seems so relevant with the theme and my musings today.

In visualisations, when working through the forgiveness issues, this is exactly how I see it in my mind.  It is how I imagine forgiving the younger me and the people involved

I feel it was a nice bit of synchronicity to pull this card today, and it shows me that this deck and I are getting along very nicely, hopefully it will keep showing me more and more as I ask more from it. 

Postman Pat and the Illuminati

Tarot Illuminati by  Erik. C. Dunne

I can be so ostentatious at times and when I see money in my account that has no obvious purpose, it seems to find its way to exchange itself into a new deck of cards.  I honestly do not know how it does it but it does.  Honestly these things just magically 'appear' in my shopping cart.  That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Today I was excited to receive my copy of Tarot Illuminati by Erik. C. Dunne.  To say I was hyper excited was an understatement.  I was at my daughter's house and luckily my post man knows me so he handed the parcel(s) in there, seriously I could have kissed him.  

My delight was a little obvious as I ripped open the package then proceeded to ooh and aah my way through the deck.  The colours are so vibrant and each card is loaded with imagery.  I'm a little hmmm about the faces of the people on the cards, but I suppose its just a case of familiarising myself with them. 

I know some people do not appreciate CGI decks, I don't have a problem with them as, if done well, it can add layer upon layer of imagery which to me only enhances the understanding of each card (no TdM for me thank you).  The LWB (if you can call it that, as it is not little or white) is beautifully written by Kim Huggens, one of my favourite tarot authors.  Each Major has a full page colour reproduction of the card with a one page explanation of its significance.

There are a few spreads in the book too and information is given about furthering your learning with tarot with astrology, numerology and Kabbalah.  

I'm a Ciro Marchetti girl myself and adore his tarot and oracle decks and eagerly anticipate the release of Tarot of Dreams on the mass market. But I must admit I am royally impressed with Illuminati. 

I am looking forward to doing some self development readings with these cards, as I feel they have a wealth of information within each card.

I have also been ordered, by my daughter. to give her a reading with these as soon as possible, so it looks like I may be busy this evening.