Today's Draw: The Seven of Air from the Book of Shadows As Above in the Answer position from the Deck of 1000 Spreads. Is there a question turning around in your mind? What do you suspect the answer to that question is? Is is possible the answer lies within the question itself?
So I pull a card in the answer position, right? And I'm thinking (as I do every night), "Interesting. Now how the heck am I going to work with this card combo?" So I go into the book for inspiration (and also because this deck doesn't align with traditional card meanings) and the book meaning for the Seven of Air is "your answer lies within your question."
I don't make this shizz up.
*shaking head because tarot really is THAT freaking cool*
But what does that MEAN...the answer lies within your question?
Well, if you look at the card, you'll see a yin/yang symbol. Yin is the feminine and yang is the masculine and within each side, you'll see the seed of the opposite side. Within every opposing force is the seed of its opposite. Every love contains a seed of hate. Every truth holds the essence of a lie. And within every question, you can find the beginnings of an answer.
Sometimes this is obvious, right? Someone will say, "Do I want get all dressed up and go to a sweaty crowded bar, or do I just want to sit comfortably at home in my jammies with a glass of wine?" We all know what the person wants to do by the way they asked the question.
Or maybe someone says, "I wonder if moving would give a new perspective on life?" Well, why ask the question at all if you don't think it will? Or maybe you say, "Do I want French or Italian for dinner tonight?" Well, either would probably work. Otherwise you wouldn't be asking the question.
Those are all easy ones. Life has much harder questions to ask. And sometimes people go to tarot readers to ask them. We can give you an answer, but that doesn't mean it's fated to happen. If you don't like the prospect of your future, change your present. There's a seed of the future in every present, too.
But the interesting thing is that people often ask us questions they pretty much already know the answers to. I recently overheard a conversation between someone I read and a friend of theirs. The friend asked how it went and my client said, "she pretty much just confirmed what I was already thinking." But you wouldn't have known she had any clue as to the answer when she asked the question. She seemed to be genuinely unsure of which option she was going to choose. Sometimes it takes someone to tell us the answer to realize we'd known it all along.
So think about the question that's turning around in your head today. Do you kinda think you know the answer, but suspect it's too colored by hope or fear to be relevant? Well, first, if you suspect it's too colored by anything, it probably is. Now try to step outside of that and look at the question again. Do you think you know the answer?
Just like with anything, you could screw it all up—or save yourself from it—tomorrow if you just change what you're doing. But assuming things stay pretty much the same from here on in, chances are your suspicions about what will happen, will.
What do YOU think it means to say "within every question lies an answer", and do you think it rings true?
Today's Draw: The Ten of Water in the What Is Hidden position from the Book of Shadows Tarot: As Above and the Deck of 1000 Spreads. Have you been getting signs lately that someone in this world or another is trying to connect with you? Are you just ignoring it and hoping it will go away? What do you think they might be trying to tell you?
Something kind of odd is happening as I use my Deck of 1000 Spreads to give context to these daily draws. On the one hand, it's doing exactly what it's supposed to do...put the chosen tarot card in context. But on more than one occasion, the spread position and the card have meant essentially the same thing. For example, last week we had the position of What to Leave Behind, and the card chosen in that position was a person burning the baggage of their past. That answered the question, yes. But the card showed a "leaving behind" in the position of What to Leave Behind.
Today is another example of that. We get the spread position of What is Hidden and a card that shows a seeking in the dark for what is hidden. I bring this up as odd, because I don't notice this happening so much in regular readings. But it's happened here a couple of times in a week and it's freaky. So if you ever wonder if tarot readers sometimes get freaked out by what cards say or do, yes, we do. Not often, but even after 25 years I'm still amazed at how this whole process can work.
OK. So on to the reading. In most decks, the Ten of Water (or Cups) would show a happy family scene, full of love and abundance. But this is a non-traditional deck, so that's not the reading you get today. Sorry. :D
This card depicts Hecate as a triple goddess. She's in charge of the spaces between realms...reality and illusion, life and death...the places where seekers often lose their way. So the Ten of Water brings us to that place of uncertainty and fuzziness that she rules—the crossroads between here and "there", wherever "there" is. She is, in essence the Goddess of what is hidden.
And What is Hidden in this case is some sort of connection. There are people you need to find, but don't know how. Or there are spirits—either deceased loved ones or spirit guides—that you need to connect with. Or perhaps a power animal or other guide has something to share with you. Whichever of those options sounds most right to you, you can no longer allow the distance between you and this being to grow. It's time to make the connection.
If you're like me, you can think of a number of options. I could use to connect with and strengthen relationships with my spirit guides. I would like to have contact with loved ones who have passed over. For me, I don't know that there's anyone in this realm that would qualify. But if you're estranged from someone who's alive and don't know how to find your way back to them, then that's a situation that would apply here, too.
The interesting thing is that I've had some odd happenings lately in my house...sounds. Sounds that sound like someone is in this house, when they're not. All kinds of stuff could be responsible for that, but I've lived here for 13 years, so I know what's what. Some of these sounds are borderline curious and some are just plain freaky.
Like the knocking at the window. It's usually just three raps and sounds just like someone's knocking at the window. It often wakes me in the morning. I've got a woodpecker that hangs out in the trees around my house, so I blame it on him. But, honestly, it sounds like knuckles on window. The other morning it happened and I know I wasn't the only one who heard it because all the dogs popped up their heads. But none of them barked or seemed to pay attention to it once it had happened. And it wasn't just one set of three raps, it was three sets of three raps coming from a window that is out of reach for humans.
So that makes me think. Is someone trying to get my attention. And if so, what can I do? What can any of us do when we're not familiar with the foggy meeting places between worlds?
We can start by getting very quiet in a place with no distractions. We can imagine a white light of protection around us. We can ask who is there for us. And we can listen for an answer. The answer (or images) will likely come to us in our head, instead of being audible to our ears or visible to our eyes. So we have to trust that what pops into our head is real.
Another thing you can do is invite the spirit into your dreamtime (invite "only the highest and best" spirits) and affirm that you will remember your dreams upon waking. Or you can go to a medium. It's possible that the person or spirit you'll hear from is not the one you expect to hear from, so keep your mind open.
The position this card is in—What is Hidden—could suggest that whoever this is, they could hold some key information for you. Which is why they're trying to connect with you. And if the prospect of that isn't too scary, now is the time to answer the call.
Today's Draw: Mabon (Justice) from the Book of Shadows Tarot. What does "being ready for winter" entail for you? Are you ready? And what do the winter months mean to you?
Mabon is the time of the Autumnal Equinox. It's the time of harvest and of preparing for winter. It's also the time when, in the myth of Demeter, that Persephone begins her descent back into the underworld until Spring. This is a time of forgiveness and of preparing our souls for the long, dark months ahead.
Back before electricity and other modern conveniences, the work you completed now determined whether or not you'd live through the winter. Did you may enough hay? Chop enough wood? Store enough food?
This time of year we still "winterize" our properties. For me, that means trimming the azaleas, mulching leaves and doing a winter weeding. I'm not much for gardening, but I manage to do it every year. And we sort of mentally prepare ourselves for the months ahead. The darker months can be depressing. One of my online friends lives in Alaska and they go without sunlight at all for a good couple of months!
Personally, I like winter. I like the snow. I like the cold. While many will spend less time outside in the winter months, I'll be out there more. Certainly more than I'm outside in summer. There have been times when I've laid outside on the hammock so long watching the snow fall that I've accumulated more than an inch of snow on me! I love to bundle up and watch the snow fall. Is it ever more quiet and peaceful than when the earth is insulated in that way?
Anyway, I've been trying to think of things I do to prepare for winter...or things I do differently. I get out the blankets, because I like a cold house. I drink more hot tea. I snuggle with the pack more. Cook more soup. I nest. I don't ever have to prepare my soul for the long, dark months ahead because it is always more than ready for the downtime...haha.
Tomorrow a big nor'easter is supposed to blow through. It could be the first flakes of winter. The thought excites me, but I know better than to get too excited. We're frequently disappointed when it comes to snowfall in the DC area. But I did do my normal "snow is coming" ritual. I backed my car into the driveway and lifted up the windshield wipers. There! Prepared.
How about you?
Today's Draw: The Ten of Air from the Book of Shadows Tarot. Have you ever been to a tarot reader? Have you ever wondered what to expect? Want to know how much it's going to cost you?
The Book of Shadows Tarot is relatively new and, based on some of the images I saw online, I thought it might be too Wiccan themed for me in the artwork. And while it IS Wiccan themed, I found myself liking the images they don't show in the promotional stuff you see online. So if you were feeling the same way I was, you might want to give it a second consideration. I'm glad I got it.
That said, the Air suit in the Book of Shadows tarot is different than most Air suits in that it focuses on different forms of divination—runes, dream interpretation, meditation, etc.. And the Ten of Air is Tarot.
Last weekend I gave readings at a Halloween party and pretty much everyone who came in to get a reading had never had one before, nor did they know what to expect, so they didn't know what to ask. Of course there's always that fear of the Death card (which doesn't mean physical death, but the death of some idea or pattern or whatever in your life that has outlived its usefulness.) But beyond that, people were more expecting to have fun than to hear something that could change their lives.
Back in my early 20s I had a friend who was Wiccan and I remember her pulling out her cards, not knowing what they were. I asked her for a reading and, even though she was reading straight from the book, I was surprised at the insights that came. See, I've always been someone who was fascinated with what the future held. And that's what tarot seemed to offer me at that time...a peek into the future.
But it turns out I had it all wrong. Tarot can the probable future that will come if nothing changes between now and then in regard to the course your life is on. But you always have free will. Don't like your outcome in a tarot reading? Change something about what you're doing.
For me, more than predicting a probable future, however, tarot is about exploring the countless facets of issues you're going through right now, giving you insight as to how to solve your problems or make changes that can make a difference. What's going on behind your back? Tarot will tell you. What are you in denial about? Tarot knows. How can you improve your love life? Tarot has the answers. A lot of divination tools, like pendulums or muscle testing, can tell you the "yes" and "no" answers. Tarot is a tool that, in my opinion, serves "what", "why" and "how" questions best. It's even good at telling you "who".
And, sure, it can answer "yes" and "no" questions, too. In my practice, though, I don't encourage those types of questions. And the reason why is that is that "yes" or "no" questions put you at the mercy of outside forces. For example, "does he like me?" is either a yes or a no and is all contingent on "him". But "what aspects of my personality are most attractive to him?" puts the ball in your court, empowering you put your best foot forward and create your own outcome.
A lot of people feel uncomfortable around the tarot, some of whom even read this blog. The reasons may range from them not thinking it's on the up-and-up or doubting its ability to do what it does, to the concern that there are somehow dark energies involved with tarot decks. To address the first two concerns, I'd say I'm more skeptical than you would think, even though its proven itself to me thousands of times over the past 25 years. It still amazes me at how accurate it can be. If you're curious, give it a try, because it could really blow your mind.
As to the latter point, the energy isn't in the cards, it's in the reader. I call upon my higher self/soul and spirit guides to help me out. How do I know they're not the devil in disguise, just trolling for a gullible fool like me to spread his darkness throughout mankind? The same way others know they're praying to God at night and not to a devil who will take their very soul in answer to their prayers. In 25 years, I've never delivered anything but a healing reading to another person. If their future shows difficulty, which some futures do, I provide them with a way to change that or lessen its impact. All you need to do is look over the more 500 posts I've created on this blog to determine what energy is behind it.
I work in the light and the vast number of readers I know work in the light as well. But yes, there are readers out there that will take advantage of you, just as there are members of every profession looking for a quick buck. A good way to spot them is if they have neon signs placed in their storefront offering $10 "special readings". And if they tell you you have a curse, walk away as fast as you can. I don't know any legitimate tarot readers that advertise in neon or have storefronts on busy highways. Most operate out of their homes or metaphysical stores or understated office spaces. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. I'm a fan of neon and have often considered getting a sign like that just for the kitsch of it.
So, if any of you were wondering any of this stuff, here you go. Are tarot readers always right? No. But just as often as we're wrong, we'll come across a client who's in denial and insists we're wrong when we're right. For most of us, there is a deep reverence for the art/skill. We feel called to it as a means of helping/serving others. The vast majority of us are people who consider themselves quite spiritual, if not religious, and on a path of self improvement. We have devoted significant amounts of our lives to the study of it. We take it very seriously and do not take our responsibility lightly.
Finally, I live in a big city and here we customarily charge $2 per minute or more. You can find competent tarot readers that charge less online (if you know someone who has gotten readings before, ask for a recommendation). In fact, the cost of a reader is not a reflection of the quality of the reading you'll get, as much as it's a reflection on the market they work in. Yes, phone readings work, as do email readings, so I wouldn't hesitate to give it a try. I bring up cost because people will sometimes balk at $120/hour in the same city they gladly get $100 monthly massages in and $150 coloring jobs and $80 mani/pedis, all while paying their psychotherapist $180/hour.
When you consider that you may only go to a tarot reader once or twice a year and that a good reading can change your life at least as much as a good coloring job, I say "stop your whining". The way I see it, if you're going to a tarot reader for fun or to be a skeptic, then it doesn't matter who you go to. But if you really want to dig into some aspect of your life and gain insight on how to change, a good tarot reader, while not a psychiatrist or life coach, can often have the same effect on your life for a heck of lot less of an investment in time and money.
