Eclipses are Happening. Garlic Is Amazing.

'Tis the season for eclipses and towers! Eclipses can be felt weeks before and weeks after they occur and they represent major change. Lately, the energy of the eclipse can be compared to the Tower Card. Mercury goes retrograde on Thanksgiving, around 2pm, and continues until December 13th. This happens right before a solar eclipse on a new moon. A lunar eclipse will occur soon after on December 10th, on a Gemini full moon. 

Prior to these eclipses, many have been weeding out and shaking off people, jobs, habits and things that have not been healthy for us or do not feed us in ways that used to. The new moon on the 29th will mark new beginnings and new perspective. When this card is present people may experience career changes, relationship changes; they may travel to new states/countries, leave a job, sell a business/home or develop illness or health conditions that impede on what we expected.

The tower card represents change, upheaval, crisis, devastation or what we are afraid of. The tower card can leave you bare, open and exposed to the world. It's the most avoided card in the deck. Some decks eliminate the tower card because, superstitiously, people believe it can be a bad omen. If it appears in the past position, it means that the person is rebuilding themselves after a major life change. If it in the future position, it is simply a warning to be prepared, but also to let go. We can't predict when change is coming and we can't avoid it, so it's best to just move through it instead of letting it anchor us.

The tower card also has some interesting phallic imagery happening in the scene. The lightening bolts can represent a dismantling of patriarchy: a feminist spark in one that catches fire in many; or a questioning of the current system that does not serve us anymore. The Death Card comes after: Something breaks and then something dies. If the tower is reversed, we try to hold on because we can't take the uncertainty of everything crumbling beneath us. 

 

For all the negativity written about this card, I prefer to think of it as the card of cleansing and strength. In the Herbal Deck it is compared to garlic. One of my favorite flavors. It's strong enough to fight viruses and ward off vampires. I've been chopping it raw and sprinkling it in my home-made salad dressings. I also dip bread and butter in it. Garlic is amazing. It's good for the immune system, sometimes a little tough to stomach, but so good for our health. If we can just manage to re-frame our notion of change from bad, strong and smelly to good, strong and healthy, then me might start to appreciate the lightening bolts in the Tower imagery. It's easier said than done, but some healthy comfort food (garlic bread), a little yoga, and some good friends can always help.

Lost & Found

Saturday I was lost in the woods. I had nothing on me except my ipod shuffle and my running shoes. It started raining and it would be dark soon. I just lost sight of the trail markers and lost complete direction. It felt as if the world had turned a quarter turn to the left. The ground was no longer the ground. I started to panic a little and I kept jogging up and down directionless paths and openings between trees. Finally, just before the sun set, I just stopped. I turned off the music, stood still and took a deep breath. I closed my eyes and listened. I heard the faint sound of the road. I kept walking and soon enough I found the next trail marker. The road sounds got closer and closer and eventually I crawled out of the woods into my little car. 

The Wheel of Fortune card is like being lost in the woods with no direction, world spinning. This card reminds us that we must trust in the process and have faith in our senses. We will always find our way home, no matter what is thrown at us. And sometimes, instead of trying to gain more control over the situation, gripping the steering wheel, we must learn to turn into the skid, hands up.

Sample Celtic Cross Reading

Card 1: Represents you...

Four of Pentacles: Protecting your head & heart from your environment

Card 2: The Situation at hand...

Wheel of Fortune: We do not have control over our fate, but we do control our response to it

Card 3: Root/Past Life card...

Judgment (R): A Call to service, a reawakening

Card 3: Recent Past...

Three of Swords: Heartache & sorrow

Card 4: Trend or Direction...

Eight of Cups: Knowing when to walk away, moving or taking a trip

Card 5: Upcoming...

Page of Wands: A younger person will appear/reappear. They have a message for you...

Card 6: Self Card...

Three of Cups: Celebration, friendship, and social networking

Card 7: The Other Person...

Nine of Swords: Depression, anxiety, sleepless nights and sadness

Card 8: Hopes & Fears...

Death: Accepting Change

Card 9: Outcome...

The Fool: New beginnings, innocence, children. (R) Watch out for diving head first. Heed warnings.

Card 10: Overlooking/Surprise Card...

Seven of Wands: unnecessary battles, defensiveness

Time for a Nap: Four of Swords

I've been pulling this card a lot lately and yes, today I woke up with swollen glands, a stuffy nose and an achy body. I did not heed it's warnings.. When pulling the Four of Swords, best to drink a lot of water, eat your veggies and get plenty of rest.

My new favorite deck it the Tarot of Trees deck. Beautiful drawings by Dana Driscoll depict the swords in autumn landscapes. It makes sense that the Four of Swords is in this season. The Four of Swords is about withdraw for the purposes of healing. We tend to withdraw in the fall, it's time to get quiet and snuggle under the blankets. Summer was the time to be social, loud and experimental. Now it's time to hunker down into a routine and practice being quiet, grateful and healthy.

The Smith-Waite image looks a tad cryptic, but this is actually not a bad card to get at all, no matter what the illustration suggests. It's just a blatant warning to take care of your physical and emotional health. It appears after the three of swords which is a the card of sorrow and heart-ache. After break-ups, it's important to take care of your health and retreat inside to gain perspective. Sometimes our body needs time to heal. Perhaps it's time to call out sick and sit on the couch all day and watch romantic comedies. Maybe your housemate will buy you Indian food and she'll let you watch all the Sex And the City you want, (especially the season before Burger, when Carrie is alone and Mr. Big has moved to Wine Country). With the Four of Swords, you're allowed a small pity party. Take a day, actually take a week. But don't even think about Ben and Jerry's, it will just make things worse. Try a healthy pumpkin soup and herbal teas instead. Take naps, lots of them. Fall asleep in a sunny spot, in the autumn afternoon warmth.

Watch for card pairings also. If alongside the a reversed Nine of Cups or The Devil card you've taken the rest too far. Be cautious of unhealthy addictions. You've created a narrative in your head that isn't true and now you're coping in unhealthy ways. Isolation at this point may not be the healthiest. Call your friends and ask them to get you out of bed. If they are good friends, they will help.

Still, there's a sadness to the Four of Swords. It illustrates a kind of foreboding rest. If paired with the Three of Swords, the Queen of Swords or the Death card, be prepared for a heavy, heavy grief. Sometimes grief can make us sick and sometimes grief can set us free. If you've been holding something for years and years, such as an unhealthy relationship, or an unhealthy work responsibility, you may have noticed you suffer from chronic illness. Finally, when we leave the bad job or the bad relationship, there can be a residual soreness and sickness from it, a sort of cleanse, and then finally, an emptiness. Sometimes there is simply just a lack of routine, but these pairing suggest a gaping hole. Sometimes we don't know what to do with that hole. Loneliness and extra time alone after our schedules have been stuffed can be overwhelming and, well, a bit sad. Treat your heart as if it has a cold. Make it soup, say kind words, and nap.

Two of Swords

I always pull the two of swords when I'm trying to protect myself. This card may appear in a reading when you or someone close to you has some major emotional walls up and is afraid of losing something; perhaps independence or investments. The swords are used in this card out of defensiveness, not as a weapon for revenge or conductors of energy, but as a response to a major event that threatens us. We feel as though something is attacking us so our response is to freeze with fear, guard our hearts and blindfold ourselves from the threat. In the Smith-Wait deck, the woman has blindfolded herself to cope. She has disassociated from the situation and has swords up in case anyone (even her loved ones) gets any closer. Sometimes we need to detach a little to survive the moment. When we are so stressed out and everything is coming down on us all at once sometimes we need to shut off so we can rest, but the two of swords warns us of detaching too much. This warning is especially true if it's reversed or paired with the Wheel of Fortune Card. If reversed, the character has fallen backwards into the choppy waters and rocks behind her. She has become overwhelmed by emotion and her efforts to protect herself did not work. Watch out for sickness including upper-respiratory illnesses and stress-related disorders.

Lastly, pay attention to the moon. Tonight we are in a waning moon. The moon shown in the corner is a waning moon, preparing for the new cycle. During the new moon, it's necessary to be quiet. During the waning moon (the few days before the new moon), make sure to clear anything out of your life that does not serve you anymore, this includes unnecessary walls guarding your heart; residual defensiveness from past trauma, loss and heartache. Now is not the time to be bitter or hold grudges.

This card also begs the reader to ask, what are you scared of?       

Does it Really Work?

I recently read tarot for a friend and it was her first time getting her cards read. She told me when she was little she was really curious about magic and tarot cards, but her mom always discouraged it. This story made my heart brake a little.

Her first tarot reading was a success! We started off simply talking about her job and career path and finally she was able to boil all her struggles down to one specific question. She stated her question aloud while shuffling the deck and slowly, carefully I pulled each card into it's place.

She asked a question about a struggle she was having at work and gained more clarity about the situation. After the reading was over she had a plan about how she was going to talk to her co-worker and her boss. The cards also implied that she would meet an older, maternal person that would help her through her struggle and that she would soon see an increase in wealth.

A few weeks later, my friend ended up taking a second, part-time job she was offered. She was happy about the extra cash in her pocket and the woman who trained her taught her a lot about her other job she was struggling with. It was great to hear the story later on. She said "It really worked! The cards just new. It's a little strange how that stuff just happens. Maybe it's part self-fulfilling prophecy..."

Tarot Readings!

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Moons and Crustaceans

Did you feel it when we shifted from Gemini to Cancer? The astrological sign of Cancer is represented by the Crab. This can be a metaphor for what we might be feeling. Crabs have a tough, hard outside shell and soft, meaty insides. Some crabs walk forwards and backwards, while others just walk sideways, more efficiently with the design of their bodies. They communicate by drumming of waving their claws and they sometimes fight with other crabs, especially over hiding holes. Crabs are known to work together to provide food and protection for their family, and during mating season to find a comfortable spot for the female to release her eggs.

My housemate is hooked on The Deadliest Catch. I occasionally saunter into the living-room, and watch it with her. It’s a reality/documentary television show about fishermen hunting the Alaskan King Crab in the Bering Sea. These Crabs are huge, beautiful beasts, shipped all over the world for their meat. The Alaskan King Crab’s fishing season is very short and in very cold waters. The fatality and injury rates for the fisherfolks are very high, making the King Crabs very valuable.

Cancers are sensitive and emotional, but very quick. Cancers tend to work through their emotions best by physical activity. Cancer is ruled by the moon, which would explain the emphasis on emotional energy for this particular sign.

In the tarot deck, The Moon Card represents that emotional and instinctive place. In readings, pulling the moon card may warn against being swept away by overwhelming fantasies or cycling into a dark depression phase. It could even suggest the person (or someone close to them, depending on placement) has addiction issues and uses substances and such to escape from reality. The Moon Card also conjures the creative forces behind fantasy. Think about a child’s imagination. Pulling the Moon Card could also mean that the person is very much in touch with that creative place in the mind and projects and plans are big, dreamy and valuable. Plainly, whenever I pull the Moon Card, I always give myself a nice reminder to listen to my instincts in any situation. This is reinforced by the wolves in the Pamela Smith drawing in the Waite deck. It is one of the only cards without any drawings of people. The emphasis is on the animals depicted, wolves and crustacean. When these instinctive creatures show up in readings, it’s time to listen to our inner instincts, be sensitive and sit with our emotions, instead of hiding or burying them, and dream big.