First Footing....

This morning I received an email from Tarosophy advertising a new course called Tarot Life. The course runs for 12 months and each month is accompanied by an instruction booklet available on Kindle or as a PDF. I have been looking for a Tarot study for the New Year and this seems perfect. I have purchased the book and worked out the initial steps.. very exciting. I will use my blog to record my results now and then and keep ypou updated with how its going. Even if noone ever reads my blog, it can keep me updated and act as a reminder... well, in theory!

So its the last day of 2012. This time last year I was about to leave the UK and return to New Zealand. I was not happy about that. I looked forward to seeing my home again and my older girls and my goats and cats, but leaving my mum and my sister and Dilly my best friend, was not easy. Not to mention leaving the cool winter weather for the humid heat of Nelson. I have no idea where we were at new Year, what time zone we were crossing, it went by unnoticed, although I was awake the whole 26 hours we were in the air. I do remember the airport staff at Heathrow were lenient with our extra hand baggage, as a salute to the season though, so that was nice!

Today, reflecting on the year I thought I would devise a 3 card spread to give me a snapshot of this past year. I have called it First Footing after the custom in Scotland, my Motherland.

The spread was designed to show where we excelled in our life journey and personal growth in the past year, what we want or need to leave behind, and what we should pack in our rucksack to take with us when we go first footing!


First Footing Spread


1****2****3


1. What you will leave behind in your footprints as you leave the old year
2. Your biggest path of growth this past year
3. What you will take with you as you step into the new year 

So... these are the cards I drew for this spread. I used my Deviant Moon deck as it was one of my most used this year, especially in the first half of the year :)

5 of Pentacles, 9 of Pentacles & The Tower from Deviant Moon Tarot

 

1. What you will leave behind in your footprints as you leave the old year - Five of Pentacles


Leaving behind hardship and poverty seems like a good thing to me! Although this card seems to be about judgement from how I see it. The watching eye in the church, the female character sneaking around, as if ashamed to be seen. Also the Judgement card is number eleven and I cant help but see the two chimneys as an 11. The poor naked creature appears to be bathed in moonlight from her colour, which brings to mind Diana, the Moon goddess, who was also a goddess of chastity. She was also a patron of slaves, and they would always be given sanctuary in her temples. Interesting, so she could be seeking sanctuary, from judgement, the undeserved judgement of society who shunned her, because they only saw what they wanted to see. Far from a loose woman she could be running from the rape of society.

All these things are good things to leave behind, there has been judgement, but the strongest judgements have been self imposed... as they say, we are our own worst judges!


2. Your biggest path of growth this past year - Nine of Pentacles

This is a funny old card.... nine different Pentacles  hang in the sky, the masked creature is chained to a small skull that looks like it came from a gravestone... could this be mortality? The earthly life. And those Pentacles could symbolise riches in heaven, or in the spiritual world rather than the physical. She has had some setbacks in life, with no arms, and the loss of one foot. But the foot has been replaced by a wheel, which will enable her to move faster maybe. Kind of a built in scooter! In spite of her Venetian style carnival mask and lack of limbs, she does have an air of confidence. Her dress looks well made but with the moon buttons this could be illusion, like everything is not what it seems.
She may look well dressed and bodily incomplete, but she is actually more whole than many, as she is rich in spirit . Her mask could symbolise her lack of presence in the material world and like the moon carved into the stone she walks on, this turns the traditional meaning of the card on its head rather. Her robe could actually be that of a holy or spiritual order, and the mask be her veil, sheilding her from the eyes of the world. No arms could be a way of showing that she reaches out with her soul for wealth rather than grasps with her hands at happiness in material wealth. I see this card here, as being about the importance of enlightenment and spiritual growth.

Also of interest is that 2012 for me has been a 9 year, and the card is a 9....this could signify that the spiritual development that started this year will go on to become stronger in 2012


3. What you will take with you as you step into the new year  - The Tower

Here I see the breakdown of illusion, and falsehoods. The moonlight is burning through the tower causing it to begin its collapse. The tower itself is actually very small, and so the falling man could actually be in a dream or an Alice in Wonderland kind of world. Perhaps the moons light has set him free from the tower, and although it had seemed a huge thing, we now see how small is actually is. Like the line from the Eagle's song, Already Gone which I have quoted before:

"So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
 And we never even know we have the key "

Self imposed imprisonment has come to an end, and it may feel like you are falling and losing security but actually you are gaining freedom from a prison that was way too small and confining to fit who you really are. The other guy lying down could be the prisoner who is now being put to rest, .... he could represent self criticism, judgement..... like in the first card....Makes sense!

A very blessed and wonderful 2013 to you all......

Thanks 2012.. for everything.

Nine Energy

I have always been interested in Numerology but not really studied it in depth. Today's number adds up to 9and it still adds up to 9 when I add my year number! Which is also 9. This is what Creative Numerology has to say:

It will be difficult to prevent emotional movement now. Your feelings need to express themselves in order for you to evolve from an old situation. Everyone involved needs to be who they are - who they have become. This cycle of love, beauty, and relationship can be easily damaged by indifference, defensiveness or judgment, so try to create a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere. Let yourself enjoy the love and affection all around you. 

 This forecast is very apt for this week and today. I will work more with numbers in future I think... it all adds to the infinite fascination of the hidden meanings in life.

I changed decks today and this week I am using the Wildwood Tarot and my Mystic Art Medicine cards. I love the art on the latter but the backs really put me off! They are photographic and don't seem to fit at all with the art, so I try not to look at them when shuffling. Difficult as they are large cards! Backs matter to me, I love the ones that carry on the theme of the card faces and the patterns just seem to flow like water when you shuffle. It has a real energy moving feeling. The very best I have found for this so far are those of the Waking the Wild Spirit deck.

So today's cards Page of Stones from The Wildwood Tarot and Shadow from the Mystic Art Medicine cards.

Shadow from Mystic Art Medicine Cards and Page if Stones from Wildwood Tarot

The Stones suit in the Wildwood deck is the Winter suit. The page is a student, and the lynx has a lot of lessons to teach. Looking at the card we can see that this beautiful creature is waiting, watching and listening carefully, trying to gather all the information he can before he acts. His ears are pricked up and his eyes wide open, he is perfectly still. One of the questions to ask of this card as suggested by the authors of this deck is "What data do I need to make a decision". This fits well with the painting on this card.

I looked more into the symbolism of the lynx and found this quote from an amazing site called Wildspeak

"The nature of the Lynx to operate alone enables it to understand secrets and to be secretive. This nature is neither deceptive nor deliberately malicious, rather it is an energy that simply stands apart. Lynx is The Hermit from the standard Tarot. People with Lynx in their lives often find that they connect best with others and themselves, when they deliberately disconnect from overly socialising or stretching themselves too thin."

So today is a Nine day, it is a Nine year and the Lynx card relates to the Hermit... another Nine.... that's a lot of Nine energy around me! The above quote fits me very well. There is lots more information on this wonderful site all about animal totems and what they can teach us.

Another fascinating site with info about the Lynx constellation is Constellations of Words. According to this site the lynx is credited with the ability to see through material things, and know secrets.

Looking at the Shadow card from the Mystic Art Medicine Oracle it at first appears very red and demon like.... and I guess shadows are our demons, the things we dont want to face. A shadowy creature stands in a dark space, surrounded by angry red flames, but water seems to be trickling in down the walls and the staircases to reach the dark. A flower that looks like a lily is blooming white, perhaps the water has revived it. Dark energy comes out of the head of the shadow man but disappears as the light above diffuses it.

But only when we have seen the dark can we know and appreciate the light. Once the shadow is lit and transformed we can then begin to work with it and it can help us to heal and become stronger. In light of the Lynx card from the Wildwood coming up with this one, I feel I need to uncover some shadows and face them and stop being afraid. So many things are telling me this at the moment.

I received an email this morning from Creative Numerology which is a fabulous resource, highly recommended. I decided to calculate my year number for 2012... bit late I know but...!! As instructed on the blog, I added my month and day of birth and then added 5 (because 2012 adds up to 5), and came up with the  number 9. This is what the site says for my weekly forecast:

It will be difficult to prevent emotional movement now. Your feelings need to express themselves in order for you to evolve from an old situation. Everyone involved needs to be who they are – who they have become. This cycle of love, beauty, and relationship can be easily damaged by indifference, defensiveness or judgment, so try to create a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere. Let yourself enjoy the love and affection all around you.

Really this couldn't be more apt for this week. Emotional movement is unavoidable right now, no matter how I set boundaries and as a result  I feel quite vulnerable. I need to let this sink it and accept that I need to take extra care of me. This has been a difficult year where I have felt very disconnected from life and the world in many ways.  Spiritually I think this has been a good thing.

Jonothan Cainer wrote for my weekly forecast that I feel torn between the desire to please someone who wants me to ignore something .... and my own urge to face the facts. He advises being moderate and patient, for more information may yet alter a lot! I'll say.... sometimes I think that guy is a fly on the wall, but how can it be right for everyone born under that sign?

To add a little more info for the week I decided to take the Nine of Cups card from my Victorian Romantic deck (chosen for the number of the week we are currently in and the emotional focus).
The Nine of Cups is in the second Decan of Pisces and associated with Moon energy....

Nine of Cups - Victorian Romantic

 This guy looks happy with his lot. He is very richly dressed as if enjoying his best finery for the hell of it... as the Nine of Cups is about simple pleasures.  A warm air of hospitality is shown by his jovial appearance.... any beer left? Even if there isn't he doesn't seem to worried. After the drunken dreams of the Seven of Cups which I got earlier this week, maybe he has had enough anyway and is deciding to be moderate.
There is a little bit of a warning as Nine is also the number of the Hermit, who is alone, like this man.... why is he alone? Perhaps he is just happy in his own company or waiting for a friend. There is alos a temptaion for deception, being taken in, as it is influenced with that Moon energy

On the whole I think the week ahead looks good, as the Nine of Cups is often called The Wish card, I shall wish for the best.... being careful what I wish for of course in case I get it.....