Swords....

I wanted a kind of overview on a relationship situation for a friend, so today I decided to do this as a spread instead of a Daily Draw for me. I chose to work with the Ludy Lescot again and I asked the cards to tell me whats going on with her as far as the relationship goes, and where she is at now.

I drew the following cards:

Four of Swords, Nine of Swords and Seven of Pentacles.

Four of Swords, Nine of Swords and Seven of Pentacles - Ludy Lescot

Today I am just going to read these cards intuitively with the given question and see what I get.

The first card, the Four of Swords shows a woman clinging to a cold dead knight.... she has laid down her arms after using one not to hurt him but to cut her own wrists. Her bloods drips down but he is unmoved. He grips the fourth sword... he still hasn't given up his need to defend, and he is afraid of being caught unawares... even in death.

The next card, another Sword, the Nine shows a female lying on the ground surrounded by swords, yet none are actually piercing her flesh.She clutches a cross, the last vestige of faith... this is her truth and her light, her very inner self, and that  part of her is still innocent and pure and unharmed. By retreating into her safe place she can begin to build up her life again from the inside out. Nothing can harm her anymore.

The third card in the reading is the Seven of Pentacles... I see a woman sitting by the window and looking at her reflection in the glass. It is like half of her has already moved to the wildness outside and the other half is looking back into the room, wondering if she should just stay put. There are seven purple roses lying on the stool by her side, but they don't seem important, more forgotten. Her dress is coming off her shoulders and this to me signifies the inner wildness of her wanting to get out.
I think the roses are a ploy to try and keep her there, perfectly arranged a gift of love, yet a tool for control. The reflect nothing of her true desire. She has seen the way to freedom from the bondage she has been caught up in for so long.... the seed is sown.... maybe this is just a last look back on what she once thought was what she truly wanted more than anything.

This was a very spot on reading imho. I like this deck a lot.

Twilight Faeries....

This week I have chosen to work with Froud's Faerie Oracle, and Tarot of the Sweet Twilight.... I know I used it last week but I can't bring myself to put it back on the shelf yet.. it is such an amazing deck to work with, and I love the artwork.

Today I drew a helper and guide faerie called Honesty.....a wonderful looking character with eyes that see everything. His head seems to glow with enlightenment and knowledge while his body is almost transparent, apart from what looks like a silver cord joining the Chakra points. It seems he is about the inner being the pure centre of ourselves where nothing hides from nothing. Once you are stripped down to the core, only the truth remains.

This card tells me today, to be true to myself. It is a Monday, Moon Day and Honesty is a plant that is often called Moonwort because of its gorgeous round silver seed pods. I love the idea of Moon seeds and Moonflowers. The Moon can be about illusion and deception. I thought about this and how I am probably deceiving myself in some way by not being true to myself. Things have been foggy recently, with not knowing what to do about this house etc. Since I put it on the market for rent I have been uneasy, but I didn't really know why. Now I do know .... I don't want to give it up, or let someone else live in my home, I don't want to leave my goats ...it all feels so wrong! This helped me decide to take it off the rental market and look for a flatmate instead. Now I just need the universe to send me the perfect person :)

From Tarot of the Sweet Twilight my card is the Ten of Swords. This is one of the nicest Ten of Swords I have seen. It shows an angel or leastways a creature with wings, kneeling on a shore. She is holding flowers as if in offering to the lost ones who are buried in the graveyard before her. The swords are stood around in the graveyard like crosses on graves. One sword lies in front of her, as if barring her way.  There is a black bat like shadow behind her, which her shadow is joined to... she is nocturnal like the bat, a creature of the darkness......the twilight of the decks' name. Another way I can see this is the bats wings are actually her wings which are waiting to set her free, once she has laid to rest whatever is holding her down.

The card speaks of sorrow and yearning for that which is lost, but also of peace, it is a very calm card. She could be yearning the dancing statue on the grave, maybe it is something she has recently lost and she is bringing the flowers to make peace and lie it to rest. I can relate to this, I am going through something very similar. She could be mourning her youth, that carefree dance of no responsibilities except to have fun. I can relate to that too! All the crosses or grave markers have shadows. This shows me that nothing is ever totally gone.... even a grave casts a living shadow on the present.

Honesty - Froud's Faerie Oracle and Ten of Swords - Tarot of the Sweet Twilight

Something is changing, something that brings some sorrow to me, but also peace and ultimately a new dawn. It has come about as a result of being honest and true to my inner self.

Four of Swords

Another Sword card!

The Four of Swords shows a couple sitting down chilling out and sharing a pipe ... they are surrounded by four swords. They are having a break or have maybe given up the fight ... maybe a well-earned rest after the battles of everyday life. Outside the window there seem to be figures or shadows of people each carrying a sword, raised as if ready to attack, but they can't get in! Nope these two have decided to call it a day for now.

Four of Swords - Silicon Dawn

So, chill out time.... time to get outta my head and escape for a while? This card is pretty much a permission slip for this! As it happened that wasn't what today was about... apart from the morning which was very chilled and lit by the darkened skies of the eclipse. Eclipses leave a very different, still atmosphere. No rest for me, it wasn't an easy day.

Yesterday I drew the Six of Swords, time to leave something behind and move on. Today's events may have been highlighting that which I need to move on from .... I do feel that I have lost some of my personal power today, I feel weakened, unsettled, disrupted.

It could be time to give up on something, which although not exactly a battle has been a long hard struggle.

Six of Swords

After yesterdays talk of how everything has to move in order to grow and evolve, it was quote apt that today I should draw the Six of Swords! Although this is far from a traditional Rider Waite style Six of Swords with the boat crossing the water, it is still about growth and change.

This card shows a figure at a workbench, with all the tools of her trade hanging behind her, including five of the swords. Swords can represent hardships and tough times, having her back turned on five of them, is very much like the traditional meaning for this card. Leaving times of trouble and moving on to something better. The sixth sword is on the bench and the figure appears to be working on it, maybe giving it superpowers. There is doubt as to whether she is doing it right, you can see this in her expression.  Maybe she is not sure she wants to leave all her old weapons and tools, and forge ahead with just this one shiny new super powered sword. There is also a large shadow of herself cast behind her, but she is leaning towards the light, away from the shadows pull.

It is hard to leave things behind..... there is always something we will miss, always some sacrifice we need to make before we can move on to better things. My life seems to be about moving on, but like this wee crafts person, I am not quite sure of the way forward. Things should become clearer though, if I can try to maintain balance between my emotions and passions and logic. I have never been a great fan of logic. The super sword is perfectly balanced, razor sharp, and can cut through the gloom with its laser beam brightness.... it can also swiftly and finally cut us free from the anchor of the past.

Six of Swords - Tarot of the Silicon Dawn

I have been drawing a daily Oracle card this week too, and today's was *Otherworld* from the Hidden Path oracle. The images shows a woman dressed in white, in a boat, crossing to what could be Avalon. The clouds are just parting to reveal the brightness beyond.... like they have just been cut ... by a sharp blade ...

Once again the cards are underlining and highlighting their messages in neon lights..... yes it is hard to move on, yes it is easy to stay safely hidden in the murky clouds and stagnant water.... but it's not so great when the mosquitoes come out for a feast!

I hope my Dad has reached the Otherworld safely, and that there were many folk to welcome him.

Otherworld - Hidden Path Oracle

Nine of Swords

I almost laughed when this card came up.... although most see it as a bad card, I don't mind it...
The 9 can mean being close to the end of a cycle... in this case of tough times. It is also a card of worry, usually needless and I really did smile when I read this quote on James Ricklef's blog:

"Worrying is like praying for what you don't want..."

How perfect is that!!

It can be a drama queen card, and although I am much of a drama queen I have been involved with the drama's of a young drama princess recently !!! I do crave some excitement in my life too, if not quite drama.  I have years of just wanting to be close to hearth and home and then I just want out. Recently I decided I wanted *OUT*.....of my current lifestyle, and that has never really gone away. All my attempts so far have failed, but to me this simply means I haven't yet hit on the right one.

I want to hit the road, be a gypsy, go back to Europe, take cheap journey's on planes and trains, just because I can. Drink coffee on platforms and do some people watching.... sit in the guards cabin between the coaches and feel like I have my own private carriage. Oh yes.....I crave those things. How I love airports and railways stations.... well, mostly, not when you have to say goodbye to those whom you love and you don't want to leave.. that's not so good.

So the 9 of Swords... what is it about for me today? This particular card is from the Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan... the woman has a bite on her neck and looks as though she has given up, although the swords are close to hand they also block most of the view out of the window, like bars on a cage. Beyond the window you can see the moon. Could the moon be speaking of deception here, telling us that things are not as bad as they appear. Presumably the room has a another way out, so the prison could be illusory.

Nine of Swords Witches Tarot

Another side of this card is that of being under attack, a victim of cruel behaviour or maybe a psychic vampire. This has happened to me in the past. Is there a Lord of Cruelty hidden in the wardrobe? Hmmmmm..... that kind of has a 50 Shades of Grey feel about it.... hmmmmmm.

My step dad is dying.....  I am unsettled and have that helpless feeling, because he is at the other end of the world, and I feel bad because I can't be there with him. I don't want him to suffer... I want him to have peace and to know he is loved. This all has a touch of 9 of Swords.... it is a dark card I guess.

The darkest hour, is just before dawn....