Rainy Saturday Celtic Cross
Oct. 11th, 2014 07:57 pmIt has been a while since I've done myself a proper Tarot reading! This is partly because I have been super busy with my family moving and a lot of stuff in general, including my new actual-full-time-not-a-contract real job that I am still somewhat terrified to speak of aloud in case I draw the attention of the Universe again. (Because that is a totally healthy way to react to good stuff happening.)
Anyway, today I was supposed to go to Faire, but it got cancelled due to rain, so I cleaned a bunch of stuff and did a reading, and later I will probably make oatcakes or something. And watch more Peaky Blinders. Peaky Blinders is everything I love about stupid gritty gangster shows. (Except the hair. The hair is terrible.) Anyway.
Today's deck is my comfortable old favorite, Nathalie Hertz' Vampire Tarot.
The first card, the Cover card, is the Four of Pentacles, Holding Tight. While in its upright position this card is labeled as representing "Upholding the status quo," the little book also explicitly states that "The Four of Disks represents financial security." It can represent either a form of miserliness--being "afraid to let go," "being too conservative or miserly because you fear taking a risk"--or it can represent "good business sense and a willingness to work hard," or, I suppose, both. I didn't ask a specific question for this reading, but this card turning up is making me think of something Dan said to me at Thirsty Thursday, especially since it is the Cover card ("the substance of the question," or, more specifically, "representing where the querent is at in regard to the question").
The Crossing card is the High Priestess, Major Arcana II. The Crossing card shows "conflicts, hang-ups, challenges. . . opportunities and resources." The High Priestess in her upright position represents "Intuitive awareness," and, like many of the female archetype Arcana, has a lot of meanings about hiddenness and the subconscious--"Mastery in the internal world," "Psychological insight," "Looking within." The ones that stick out to me here are "Past conditioning" and "Hidden influences." She appears "when you need to attend to your innermost feelings and listen to your inner voice," and "when you need to tap into your hidden potentials, psychological depths, or unseen talents to achieve success." The card suggests that "Past conditioning and early memories are affecting the current situation." They may well be.
Together, I think the micro-cross here shows that the essence of the question is about me psychologically adapting to my new work situation--the work bit is fine and I am hopefully more financially secure now (UNLESS I JUSTJINXED IT i need to calm down) but I need to figure out how to become more comfortable and integrate myself into the environment and not just be Obedient Work Robot since it is actually not an obedient-work-robot sort of place.
The third card, the Beneath card, is the Six of Swords, Leaving Your Troubles Behind. in its upright position meaning "Brighter days ahead." As a beneath card, which represents things in the past that are influencing the current situation, I think it means that I have already left behind the "period of strain, worry, and anxiety," but it is still affecting me? That would mesh fairly well with the "Past conditioning" from the Priestess card, possibly as an explanation for the "fear taking a risk" of the Cover card. The Six of Swords advises me that "This is a time to review past difficulties with an eye to assuring a better future," which I think I was doing a lot of over the summer, so either (a) I did it and it's informing what's going on now or (b) maybe I need to keep doing it?
The fourth card, the Behind card, is the Nine of Wands, Strength in Reserve. In its upright position it means "Stand your ground. Defense." The Behind card represents past events that are passing out of influence, suggesting that I will soon no longer need to be on the defensive, I guess? The Strength in Reserve card has key words like "Fortification. Guardine oneself. Protecting old wounds" and "Wariness." It suggests that "You have been hurt in the past and have therefore assumed a protective posture." Uh, possibly? Overall, though, this is a fairly hopeful card, suggesting that one's position is strong and the querent has the strength to overcome the challenge that they will face--hopefully, the "passing out of influence" placement of this card means that the challenge has passed or is passing away, not that my strength is declining. (Although it might be if I can't get my arse to the gym sometime this week. Last week was a bust.)
The fifth card, the Crown card, nearly made me laugh out loud--the Crown card is a potentiality card, and in this reading it was the Queen of Wands, Career Woman. In my old system, this card represented someone who, as with all the Queens, directed most of their energy to issues of emotion and intuition, perhaps someone who is concerned with people's emotional wellbeing and who evaluates questions based on how it is likely to make them or others feel, and who approaches these concerns in a passionate, ambitous, or possibly volatile manner. (Wands people think big.) In my little book, the Queen of Wands in her upright position represents "Balanced family and career interests," which is certainly a good thing to potentially happen. She is described as "A career-minded woman who can also be the life of the party." That is a good goal, I think. Key words include "Success of an enterprise" and "Independence of thought."
The sixth card, the Before card, is the Eight of Wands, Speed, in its upright position representing "Full speed ahead." You mean the past month and a half hasn't been full speed ahead already, cards?! It does say "A period of stagnation or delay is ending" and that "You are moving rapidly toward achieving your goals." It also says "Efforts to promote yourself succeed," so I should probably do some of those? Maybe it means I'll get some bloody writing done in the future. Or maybe stuff will pick up speed at work, since some of my projects have been slow lately.
Moving from the cross to the pillar, the seventh card, the Self card, is the Knight of Wands. There have been quite a lot of wands in this spread! The Knight of Wands, according to my old system, is a person concerned with earthly and material matters--perhaps domestic, perhaps financial--and who goes at it with a lot of drive. In other words, this person COULD be a money-grubbing asshole. I hope I am not being a money-grubbing asshole right now (if I were, would I not have more money?) but I have definitely been focusing on a lot of material and physical aspects of my life lately, like work and making the apartment functional and losing some weight, and I have probably been going at these with more ambition than sense. (This could be why I'm not getting as much done. I need to make myself more manageable plans.) My little book calls the Knight of Wands Escape from Difficulty, and in his upright position he represents "Change is in the air. Creative energy." When representing people, it can mean a number of things, including "Fun-loving people who have trouble committing themselves as they are given to many interests and distractions." Sounds like me.
The eighth card, the House card, represents the environment and the opinions of people around you. In this spread it is the World, Major Arcana XXI, the last of the Major Arcana, in its upright position representing "Reaching a natural conclusion." As a situation, it suggests that "All is well and success is at hand." Key words include "Change of job or residence" and "Fulfillment. Attainment. Culmination." So, I guess other people feel like I've accomplished something or have reached the end of some sort of journey.
The ninth card, the Hopes, Fears, and Expectations card, represents. . . well, my hopes, fears, and expectations. Interestingly, the Hopes card in this spread is the Fool, Major Arcana 0, the first of the Major Arcana, and representing "The beginning of a journey. A leap into the unknown." So others see me as at the end of a journey, but I see myself at the beginning of one. Although due to the cyclical nature of the Arcana, perhaps they are not really opposites after all--just looking in different directions. The Fool can represent "A new chance. A novel experience," and "Significant and unexpected circumstances." As a situation card, it "suggests the need to take a risk with childlike optimism and innocence" and advises that "you should remain open to new ideas." Perhaps more pertinently, in conjunction with some of the other cards that have cropped up, it advises that "You would be wise to leave the past behind and get on with starting something new." (It also advises that it may represent a literal trip somewhere, "especially if other travel cards appear in the spread," which apparently include "the World, Six of Swords, Eight of Wands, or Knight of Wands" OH HEY.)
The last card, the Final Outcome Card, is the Seven of Wands, Holding Firm, in its upright position representing "Holding your own. A position of advantage." Well, that answers my question about the Behind card. Key words for the Seven of Wands include "Maintaining your position. Having an advantage" and "Self-confidence. Assertion." As a situation card, it forewarns of some sort of coming conflict or argument (aahh!) but says "You have the advantage even if you don't realize it" and advises, "Do not give up the struggle." It promises that "Your hard work and thoughtfulness will pay off" and suggests being "especially observant." To which I say: Huh.
I think, overall, that I am going to continue to be busy, which is good, but supposedly I should be prepared and able to come out on top if I can stop being defensive and anxious and can be more awesome.
Anyway, today I was supposed to go to Faire, but it got cancelled due to rain, so I cleaned a bunch of stuff and did a reading, and later I will probably make oatcakes or something. And watch more Peaky Blinders. Peaky Blinders is everything I love about stupid gritty gangster shows. (Except the hair. The hair is terrible.) Anyway.
Today's deck is my comfortable old favorite, Nathalie Hertz' Vampire Tarot.
The first card, the Cover card, is the Four of Pentacles, Holding Tight. While in its upright position this card is labeled as representing "Upholding the status quo," the little book also explicitly states that "The Four of Disks represents financial security." It can represent either a form of miserliness--being "afraid to let go," "being too conservative or miserly because you fear taking a risk"--or it can represent "good business sense and a willingness to work hard," or, I suppose, both. I didn't ask a specific question for this reading, but this card turning up is making me think of something Dan said to me at Thirsty Thursday, especially since it is the Cover card ("the substance of the question," or, more specifically, "representing where the querent is at in regard to the question").
The Crossing card is the High Priestess, Major Arcana II. The Crossing card shows "conflicts, hang-ups, challenges. . . opportunities and resources." The High Priestess in her upright position represents "Intuitive awareness," and, like many of the female archetype Arcana, has a lot of meanings about hiddenness and the subconscious--"Mastery in the internal world," "Psychological insight," "Looking within." The ones that stick out to me here are "Past conditioning" and "Hidden influences." She appears "when you need to attend to your innermost feelings and listen to your inner voice," and "when you need to tap into your hidden potentials, psychological depths, or unseen talents to achieve success." The card suggests that "Past conditioning and early memories are affecting the current situation." They may well be.
Together, I think the micro-cross here shows that the essence of the question is about me psychologically adapting to my new work situation--the work bit is fine and I am hopefully more financially secure now (UNLESS I JUSTJINXED IT i need to calm down) but I need to figure out how to become more comfortable and integrate myself into the environment and not just be Obedient Work Robot since it is actually not an obedient-work-robot sort of place.
The third card, the Beneath card, is the Six of Swords, Leaving Your Troubles Behind. in its upright position meaning "Brighter days ahead." As a beneath card, which represents things in the past that are influencing the current situation, I think it means that I have already left behind the "period of strain, worry, and anxiety," but it is still affecting me? That would mesh fairly well with the "Past conditioning" from the Priestess card, possibly as an explanation for the "fear taking a risk" of the Cover card. The Six of Swords advises me that "This is a time to review past difficulties with an eye to assuring a better future," which I think I was doing a lot of over the summer, so either (a) I did it and it's informing what's going on now or (b) maybe I need to keep doing it?
The fourth card, the Behind card, is the Nine of Wands, Strength in Reserve. In its upright position it means "Stand your ground. Defense." The Behind card represents past events that are passing out of influence, suggesting that I will soon no longer need to be on the defensive, I guess? The Strength in Reserve card has key words like "Fortification. Guardine oneself. Protecting old wounds" and "Wariness." It suggests that "You have been hurt in the past and have therefore assumed a protective posture." Uh, possibly? Overall, though, this is a fairly hopeful card, suggesting that one's position is strong and the querent has the strength to overcome the challenge that they will face--hopefully, the "passing out of influence" placement of this card means that the challenge has passed or is passing away, not that my strength is declining. (Although it might be if I can't get my arse to the gym sometime this week. Last week was a bust.)
The fifth card, the Crown card, nearly made me laugh out loud--the Crown card is a potentiality card, and in this reading it was the Queen of Wands, Career Woman. In my old system, this card represented someone who, as with all the Queens, directed most of their energy to issues of emotion and intuition, perhaps someone who is concerned with people's emotional wellbeing and who evaluates questions based on how it is likely to make them or others feel, and who approaches these concerns in a passionate, ambitous, or possibly volatile manner. (Wands people think big.) In my little book, the Queen of Wands in her upright position represents "Balanced family and career interests," which is certainly a good thing to potentially happen. She is described as "A career-minded woman who can also be the life of the party." That is a good goal, I think. Key words include "Success of an enterprise" and "Independence of thought."
The sixth card, the Before card, is the Eight of Wands, Speed, in its upright position representing "Full speed ahead." You mean the past month and a half hasn't been full speed ahead already, cards?! It does say "A period of stagnation or delay is ending" and that "You are moving rapidly toward achieving your goals." It also says "Efforts to promote yourself succeed," so I should probably do some of those? Maybe it means I'll get some bloody writing done in the future. Or maybe stuff will pick up speed at work, since some of my projects have been slow lately.
Moving from the cross to the pillar, the seventh card, the Self card, is the Knight of Wands. There have been quite a lot of wands in this spread! The Knight of Wands, according to my old system, is a person concerned with earthly and material matters--perhaps domestic, perhaps financial--and who goes at it with a lot of drive. In other words, this person COULD be a money-grubbing asshole. I hope I am not being a money-grubbing asshole right now (if I were, would I not have more money?) but I have definitely been focusing on a lot of material and physical aspects of my life lately, like work and making the apartment functional and losing some weight, and I have probably been going at these with more ambition than sense. (This could be why I'm not getting as much done. I need to make myself more manageable plans.) My little book calls the Knight of Wands Escape from Difficulty, and in his upright position he represents "Change is in the air. Creative energy." When representing people, it can mean a number of things, including "Fun-loving people who have trouble committing themselves as they are given to many interests and distractions." Sounds like me.
The eighth card, the House card, represents the environment and the opinions of people around you. In this spread it is the World, Major Arcana XXI, the last of the Major Arcana, in its upright position representing "Reaching a natural conclusion." As a situation, it suggests that "All is well and success is at hand." Key words include "Change of job or residence" and "Fulfillment. Attainment. Culmination." So, I guess other people feel like I've accomplished something or have reached the end of some sort of journey.
The ninth card, the Hopes, Fears, and Expectations card, represents. . . well, my hopes, fears, and expectations. Interestingly, the Hopes card in this spread is the Fool, Major Arcana 0, the first of the Major Arcana, and representing "The beginning of a journey. A leap into the unknown." So others see me as at the end of a journey, but I see myself at the beginning of one. Although due to the cyclical nature of the Arcana, perhaps they are not really opposites after all--just looking in different directions. The Fool can represent "A new chance. A novel experience," and "Significant and unexpected circumstances." As a situation card, it "suggests the need to take a risk with childlike optimism and innocence" and advises that "you should remain open to new ideas." Perhaps more pertinently, in conjunction with some of the other cards that have cropped up, it advises that "You would be wise to leave the past behind and get on with starting something new." (It also advises that it may represent a literal trip somewhere, "especially if other travel cards appear in the spread," which apparently include "the World, Six of Swords, Eight of Wands, or Knight of Wands" OH HEY.)
The last card, the Final Outcome Card, is the Seven of Wands, Holding Firm, in its upright position representing "Holding your own. A position of advantage." Well, that answers my question about the Behind card. Key words for the Seven of Wands include "Maintaining your position. Having an advantage" and "Self-confidence. Assertion." As a situation card, it forewarns of some sort of coming conflict or argument (aahh!) but says "You have the advantage even if you don't realize it" and advises, "Do not give up the struggle." It promises that "Your hard work and thoughtfulness will pay off" and suggests being "especially observant." To which I say: Huh.
I think, overall, that I am going to continue to be busy, which is good, but supposedly I should be prepared and able to come out on top if I can stop being defensive and anxious and can be more awesome.