tarot card of the day, The Chariot VII

Mystic Dreamer and Magical Forest Tarot

This chariot driver needs to take control. There are powerful forces at work here and they are not necessarily all working toward the same goal. Careful mastery without being overbearing will result in getting to the goal destination.
When I first saw this card I wondered if I was supposed to take control of the situation or if I was being a control freak. Definitely the former. Time to get to work.

Tarot card of the day, Three of Wands

Three of Wands
Magical Forest and Mystic Dreamer Tarot.

The three of wands is a new beginning. Not just a dream or a plan but something actually put into action. That first step has been taken and you look for results. There is no indication yet if the results will be what you want, but there is satisfaction in taking that first step. Creativity, passion and commitment are all involved in this project and much is at stake.

There are several new beginnings in my life right now. All have just been put into action in the last few days.

I am committed to and already starting some serious study and dedicating the time from Samhain to Yule to do this. It should carry over into continuing projects, but these next two months are going to be intense. There is more on this on the Stumbling....blog.

I am moving my horse to a new facility. She was originally acquired as a rescue project and has now come such a long way that I am moving her to a show barn. Nicer facilities for both of us and a huge step in my confidence in her future.

I am reworking and revising my plans and strategies for my home based business and now have the time to work on it on a more consistent basis.

Astrology 101

Astrology class is back in session. Had to do a quick jaunt through what we had already covered as a refresher. One of the basic concepts that I had previously stumbled over was separating the energy of the house from the energy of the sign that naturally dwells there.
I am finally comfortable with that. Coming up next is planets (are planets?).

I lost my software that draws an astrological chart for me and decided not to reload it, I am practicing doing it by hand. It is great fun.

I don't want to give (boring) lectures on Astrology for beginners, as many if not most of you may be much more experienced than I am, but I would like to help any other beginners and pass on info as I learn it.

So in the interest of not boring some and confusing others...please leave me comments and questions about what you would like to hear more on. Also feel free to correct me if I get something all screwed up. Wouldn't be the first time.

I got it!

I decided over the weekend to give myself a late birthday present in the form of a Tarot deck that I have been coveting for a while now. Tarot of the Magical Forest has captivated me since I first saw it. It arrived today and is even better than the images online.

Thanks to Liz at Lizzie's Logic, who introduced me to this wonderful deck.
(And to Isis Books and Gifts for delivering it in one day. This is a shameless plug for Isis, my attempt to support brick and mortar metaphysical stores...they are also online.)

Please participate

Go to Owl's Wings for some important information.

Astrology 101

My astrology class came to a screeching halt a couple of months ago when the instructor had to have surgery. She is all recovered now and ready to start up again. She says "finish up" I think she has way too much confidence in our retention abilities. I can't even remember where my notebook is...I am so ashamed.
I am excited to get going with this again and I will report back.

help me out with this reading....

I did a reading for myself last night and I am confused by it. It was a 12 card spread.

3 cards for the past and one for the outcome. 3 cards for the present and one for the outcome and 3 cards for the future and one for the outcome. The questions were about job/career path.

The cards for the past made perfect sense and reflected my attitude and actions toward my first career path. The cards for the present also made sense and reflected my feeling of overload and reinforced that I need to make some decisions and not just keep on keeping on.

The future cards made no sense to me. The cards were The Sun, Strength and 4 of Swords.
That's all fine and indicated to me that happiness or success is tied to understanding my strengths and weaknesses and solving problems without necessarily confronting everything head on. Short version, lots of interesting stuff here.

The outcome is 10 of Swords.....?????
This I do not get at all. The cards are positive, but the outcome is negative? I know there are a lot of possible meaning for the 10 of Swords, but the most positive spin I can put on it is being stuck in a sense of the over dramatic, it goes downhill from there.
Any thoughts on this? What am I missing?

The Tarot come to life...

I found this on Owl's Wings' blog and found it interesting. Her blog says that some readers have found 20 Tarot cards in the images. I didn't really count carefully but I saw quite a few.
Enjoy!

Rosanne Cash - The Wheel (Official Music Video) - The best home videos are here

PSA

Tarot cards are on hold until I get my scanner to cooperate.....how does it go from working perfectly one day to refusing to work at all the next. I would get fired for that.

Astrology and Tarot update

My astrology class is on hold for a while. The lady teaching it had to have surgery this week. She is doing well and will be up and around and trying to pound knowledge into our heads very soon, but in the meantime I am still processing what we have done so far.

In the time off, I am going to work on my Tarot and I think I will put some posts up here comparing cards from different decks and looking at whether the meaning is the same or not. Should be fun.
Please join in.

Readers Studio 09

Debra attended Readers Studio 09 and blogged about it here.
She will also be doing some followup posts that I am looking forward to.
Pop over and have a look.

The Chariot

This card pictures a woman holding a glowing wand and driving a chariot through a dark fog. The horses appear distracted by the fog, the ravens and the dark shadows and are pulling in different directions. The Chariot is about mastery over the situation. External opposing forces, internal conflicting emotions may make this difficult. Focus and will power are necessary to stay on track. Making good use of the energies that are available and creating harmony will lead to success.

Astrology 101

I am learning how to draw a chart and I have (so far) avoided using the computer program to do this. As soon as I really understand drawing one by hand better, I will use the program.

For those of you who have a little information about your natal chart but don't know what to do with it....here is a start:

Your sun sign....is how you really are, deep down, at your core, what drives you and what you need to be happy. If you suppress it, you still want to be it.

Your moon.....is how you love, it affects your love relationships...it acts on your sun sign and modifies it in your relationships.

Your ascendent.....is how you present yourself to the world, how you want the world to view you. Like the moon it acts on your sun sign and modifies it.

We have had great fun coming up with combinations that would make a very successful person or a very confused person....or worse.

Astrology 101

My astrology class meets every Monday for almost 3 hours. During each class I am befuddled, bemused, annoyed and confused. But as we wind our way through the evening, the class of the week before seems to fall into place.
Partly this seems to be caused by having a week to let the information seep into my brain cells and partly I think it is because each class builds on the class before so last week's class becomes the link to the non-comprehension of this week's class.

We are learning to draw a chart. Not with a computer, but by hand. Making little squiggles that turn out to be the wrong squiggle for the house or sign or planet; counting little marks on the circle, rotating the circle so that it makes sense. I did not even know that an astrology chart is written on concentric circles. I did not know that moving your sun sign into a different house influences the sun sign. I did not know that your moon and your ascendant both have powerful influences on the sun sign.

See how much I have learned? When I get some portion of this clear enough to write down and be sure that I am not leading you astray I will share what I am learning.

I did find out that I was right about Scorpio all along...

Gilded Tarot

I got the chance to look through a deck of The Gilded Tarot this week....I found a metaphysical bookstore that I didn't know about!
This tarot deck is now officially on my shopping list. The image on the computer do not do justice to the intense and vibrant images of the deck. I think that is probably true of a lot of tarot decks. I found this deck very compelling.

cynthia's favorite decks...

The Well Worn Path is an oracle deck centered around witchcraft and Wicca. It is useful for meditation and divination and unlike some oracle decks, it does tell a story that follows a seeker.
I love this back on the cards, it's another card by itself.
The Well Worn Path, Wheel of the Year.

The Druidcraft Tarot is a Rider-Waite clone with images especially appealing to earth centered pagans. This ace of swords brings to mind stories of Arthur and Merlin.

miso's favorite tarot deck...

This is a very interesting and beautiful deck. Miso says that this deck, Forest Folklore, was chosen for reminding her of an area that she first saw as a child. I think that being able to connect to a location that made an impression on us when we were young can be very powerful.

there I go again...

I was cruising around Aeclectic Tarot looking for the images for posts and of course I found lots of decks that I liked. But I resisted getting hooked on one.
I have Magical Forest on my wish list. I want to check out the Gilded Tarot and I think that getting the Halloween deck in time to offer it for readings next fall would be fun. Then I found this deck.
Archeon Tarot.
The reviews are complimentary of the artwork but a little mixed on the usefulness of the cards. I was quite taken with this deck. I may have to put it on my wish list as just a collector's item and see if I find it useful for readings. But the artwork is stunning and makes me want to see it firsthand.

Vampires

Hex sent me a link to her Vampire deck. I like this Chariot...

dragonesque's tarot decks

Here are the tarot decks of Dragonesque.
This is the Tarot of Dreams. Without having actually seen the decks, this one reminds me of the Gilded Tarot with very vibrant, intense images...


Here is the Mythic Tarot, which reminds me a little of two of my decks; Mystic Dreamer and Sacred Circle...

hex's tarot decks

Here are some of Hex's tarot decks. I couldn't find the Vampire one. Actually I found about a dozen vampire decks, I don't know which one it is.
Here is the Gilded Tarot, which has some stunning images...


The DaVinci deck...


The Halloween deck. I agree, this one is adorable. I might have to get this one...

sobeit999's tarot decks

Here are the round cards of the two decks that sobeit999 talked about in a comment.

This is from the Daughters of the Moon deck...


These are from the Motherpeace deck...


Neither of these is a Rider Waite clone. They are both very interesting. I would like to see a reading done with these.


Angela, you mentioned that you have a deck with no illustrations for the minor arcana.
I really recommend that you try a Rider Waite clone with illustrations that appeal to you. Personally, I can't get anything from a picture of 9 swords. At least nothing different from 8 or 7 or 6 Swords. The pictures tell a story that you interpret for information.

I sometimes have trouble with decks that are not Rider Waite clones, even Sacred Circle, which is now one of my favorites, was difficult for a while because it wanders from that format a little.
But, in my opinion, the most important thing are illustrations that fire your imagination.

Try Aeclectic Tarot for illustrations of hundreds of decks and some very good descriptions and reviews that might help you select a better deck.

oracle decks

My lone, lonely oracle deck is the Druid Animal Oracle. I love it.
Do you have an oracle deck? More than one? Do you prefer oracle decks over tarot decks?
I don't do spreads with this oracle deck, I draw one card at a time to explore a problem or get an answer to a question. How do you use yours?

the shifting sands of Tarot

My first Tarot deck was the Medieval Tarot by Scapini. I thought something medieval seemed appropriate, knowing absolutely nothing about Tarot. This deck and I did not get along at all. I found its somewhat dark images disturbing. It is sitting in a drawer and has been untouched for years.

Then I found out that you are 'supposed' to learn with the Rider Waite deck. So I got one. Unfortunately my intuition took one look at this deck and said 'ZZZzzzzzz'

So I decided to find a deck that appealed to me and found this delightful deck, Tarot of a Moon Garden. Unfortunately, it is pretty crowded for someone to learn with, but I enjoy it and go back to it on occasion. The busyness of the cards doesn't bother me now.

Still looking for a deck to learn with, I found Sacred Circle Tarot. I love this deck, but again it was confusing for a beginner as it does not follow the Rider Waite format exactly, so it can get confusing. I primarily use this deck for meditation which it seems to be perfectly suited for. Each card is a doorway to a landscape that you can just step through in meditation.


So I stumbled along, learning slowly until this deck was printed. Mystic Dreamer Tarot. This one appealed to me in every way. The images attract me, my intuitive voice chatters away happily. This is my main deck and I love it and carry it with me most of the time.



But I have been introduced to the Magical Forest Tarot on Lizzie's Logic blog and I find myself more and more attracted to it. The messages seem to come across loud and clear and the images, while simplistic, really have a lot to say. I don't own this deck yet, but I think I will sometime in the future.

Does your personal experience with Tarot evolve? Have you progressed through decks as your abilities have increased? Do you change decks depending on the reading or your mood? Do you stick with one deck all the time no matter what?

Astrology 101

My first astrology class was tonight. My head is spinning.
The only thing I ever knew about astrology was the simple sun signs that we all read about.

I do understand a smattering of astronomy which was helpful tonight.
One thing I learned is what a 'House' is. I always thought it was some sort of arbitrary measure. It is simply a section of the sky and from an earth centric perspective, everything rotating around the earth passes through the Houses.
Glad I learned something!

I think this class is going to be great fun, I am really looking forward to the next class.