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Katie-Ellen's Blog
True Tarot Tales
A Look Behind the Scenes with the Tarot 'off duty'.
12 Nov 2009
Major Tarot Cards in action: Here Comes The Emperor.....
The Rider
Waite Emperor, from US Games
Drawing the Emperor in a Tarot reading
classically signifies government and big organisations,
patriarchy and fatherhood, virtues considered
traditionally masculine, the armed forces, law and order.
Not surprisingly I have drawn this card when doing
readings for police officers, both male and female. But
once - and I do not encourage requests for lawsuit
predictions...they bring down my grey hairs...I drew it
for an absent judge.
The judge was in the US. My client was in distress on her
son's behalf. He had been accused of sexual assault by a
woman who had been a guest overnight in his family home,
following a house party.
The lady had apparently eaten breakfast with the family,
seeming fine, then gone to the police station and
accused, first, a fellow male guest who also stayed
overnight, then her host, adding him to her statement
later. The alleged assault was minor, in that it was not
about attack, but inappropriate touch, such as many women
have experienced at some time or other and might choose
to react to with a joke, a put-down, a warning, or
possibly the offer of a thick ear (sorry if that's un-PC)
But the man faced very serious consequences, starting
with the possibility of being debarred access to his
children as they were minors, pending resolution of the
matter which could take many months. He had therefore on
his solicitor's advice entered a plea bargain so as not
to be banned from the family home for the duration. His
mother was worried that he had prejudiced his position by
doing so and the Tarot offered some advice on this point.
The cards indicated the man probably was innocent of
misconduct, and that his error had been naivety (The Fool
card) in offering hospitality to a lady he barely knew
(what a sad indictment of hospitality to strangers)
The Tarot is not a solicitor. I reminded my client of my
terms of reading. Forecasting is offered in good faith
but is to be treated as being purely for interest's sake.
In consulting ANY oracle, one has to be think hard
beforehand about the possibility of hearing an answer
that wasn't what one wished for...or it might be better
to conserve one's nervous energy and not ask the
question.
The mother was adamant...she was thinking of contingency
planning...But in the outcome position we drew THE
EMPEROR...then JUSTICE then JUDGEMENT. I was as certain
as a Reader could
be, that the judge looked a very good one, justice would
be done, and the judgement would be the one she was
hoping for. That was what I saw.
I got feedback three weeks later. The Judge had thrown
the case out. The lady threatened civil action. The Judge
replied - so I am told, and pardon me - 'What a crock of
s**t.'
The Emperor at his very best is a chevalier, a sheltering
tree, rule with compassion, tenderness to the small and
weak. It's the path of reason and the one who upholds it
in fairness, it's damage limitation so sanity prevails
and not everyone gets splattered with...filth and
er...manure. Historically, Emperors have often been
catastrophic for the peace and happiness of their fellow
humans and Alexander the Great is no hero of mine. But it
also represents our men that we love, the red earth of
Adam, and at this time of year especially, of sad and
proud remembrances, the brotherhood of the soldier.
October 2009
The Sun Card
This card in Tarot denotes happiness, the gift of the moment, childhood and sometimes a coming birth, travel to hot places, glory and success. Reversed it is the setting sun, delays and lesser joys. For some readers it can mean fire or even cremation. For me when reading it is usually travel, or birth. Klytie was a figure in Ancient Greek mythology who fell in love with the sun god, Apollo. Each day she would watch him cross the sky in his chariot of fire. When she died, he rewarded her for her faithfulness and promised her eternal hope by changing her into a sunflower so she could watch him forever.
The Sunflower
Klytie stands and tracks the sun
From dawn until Apollo’s gone
A patient and a hopeful eye
Her days are rooted, quiet, spent
In adoration of the sky
In upward focus, still, intent
With other suns of earthly gold
Green arms outstretched for light’s sure hold
And rich with cargo, every one
Built strong with sugar from the sun.
She’s etched with frosts, and winds of loss
But comfort comes at dusk with Hesperus
Alone she stands in fields of nodding fellowship
Hands asking to receive, but with no strength to grip
But shadows lengthen only with the light
The faintest stars shine out from long ago
Those ancient suns once bright now cold and gone
Still fire our dreams and send their phoenix signals in the night.
Katie-Ellen Hazeldine 2009.
August 2009
You can't see the bites in this photo, taken near Florence, but the Italian for 'mosquito,' I can inform you, is zanzara. And the word for a bite is puntura. These are helpful words to know when you need to go to la farmacia.
Obituary For Bam Bam the Bold
Bam Bam passed away in our company one evening two weeks after my last posting. A dab of Rescue Remedy behind the ears seemed to calm her. She had been afraid, wide-eyed, spent a long time in my hands, but then decided to go for a last scramble up her 'dad's' shoulder before suddenly flopping and going out like a light. She is buried under the pink rose in the back garden with her predecessor, the curtain climbing, mighty-for-her-size but ever sweet-natured Coco the Courageous.
There are dog roses. I say, let there be ham roses or whatever pet roses we want. Some people say small animals are stupid or have no personality. I say people who think that just haven't watched closely or for long enough. Bam Bam threw welly at everything she did and she did plenty. 'Only' animals? No disrespect is intended to those suffering the grief of human bereavement at this time. But great or small it's all Life. If we go to heaven, so do they, and what would a heaven be without them anyway.
I'll still kill a mosquito though, as soon as look at it. I do not want to be its dinner. I'd probably take a swipe at it in heaven, too. From which, I deduce I am not yet ready for Enlightenment. I must be a creature of earth. This is the suit of Pentacles in Tarot, also called Coins or Discs. Because Pentacles, which equates to the suit of Diamonds in playing cards, deals with the practicalities of everyday living, some people think it is the dullest suit.
But of the 56 cards in the Minor Arcana, the Ace of Pentacles is the luckiest card of real life as we are capable of experiencing it here. It is the EXALTATION of Earth in the Highest and in this respect, the earthly counterpart for the celestial cards of the Tarot, such as the Ace of Cups.
Last week we returned from holiday in Italy, in San Donato in the Chianti region between Florence and Siena.
It is very green, with low densely wooded ridges, quite different from Montepulciano further east where we'd gone eight years before, and which is more 'typical' Mediterranean shrub and scrubland.
We had the same unsettled weather we'd been having here at home, warmer probably, but still with sudden clouds and chills and some cracking thunderstorms.
The day before we took a day trip up to Pisa, I was playing with my cards and I drew the Tower card. This card classically indicates shocks, sudden changes, upheavals and outright catastrophes. Nobody's fasvourite card then, do I hear you say, and you are right. It is second in unpopularity to the Death card, with The Devil and the 9 and 10 of Swords completing the Terrible Top 5.
Other cards may signify distressing experiences, when drawn in their reversed (upside down position). The Star for instance, is a great card of new hope, even recovery from mental breakdown when upright. Upside down it can be another matter; very dark.
So I drew the Tower. But, thought I, you're quite right to detect and reflect we're talking about the leaning Tower of Pisa, you clever old Tarot, you.
And so we went, but on the way back, a front tyre blew on our hire car (Thank you, Europcar, for that, we'd only had the car three days - we'd been given an Alfa Romeo as a free upgrade on an Estate car. Hah) We hadn't noticed anything on the roads to account for the total shredding of the tyre. A smell of burning rubber gave a few seconds warning. My nose is not the size it is for nothing. Then it blew and we had to make an abrupt stop on a very skinny, measly, rubbish strewn hard shoulder on a frighteningly fast and busy stretch of dual carriageway.
The Tyre of Doom...on the wheel of Destiny.
Reception on the mobile was poor. We were in a valley. The traffic was very loud, too close by far.
Il Matrimonio decided, with me perching in a wheelchair on the skinny hard shoulder, with a subdued fourteen year old daughter at my side, that rather than wait for help which may or may not quickly materialise, he would change the tyre himself.
So he did, and managed very quickly considering the juggernauts thundering past, trying their best to give him an extra shave and haircut.
Daughter and I sat, pretending we were Nero and Caligula, imperiously gesturing the oncoming traffic into the fast lane , away from him, with body language as vigorously Italian as we could make it. They did not have permission to kill Il Matrimonio. That's my personal prerogative. Most people were courteous and slowed down passing him as he tried to get the thing jacked up.
One or two took a 'fook you' attitude, and one wagged an admonishing finger, shooting past. Well, of course, we're here for our entertainment and entirely by choice, you anti-Samaritan old fart of a bureaucratically minded asshool.
Pardon the language, but it has been toned down, and English in the vernacular also has its merits - those of emotional satisfaction.
Anyway, all was well, as the visionary Julian of Norwich used to say, and all manner of thing was well, but we had had a bad moment. What made this little adventure specially creepy from my perspective was that the incident happened on a Wednesday, and a few nights before, on the Sunday night, I had awoken from a zanzara-infested nightmare, having dreamt that my daughter was knocked down before my eyes, hit from behind by a lorry as she walked along a hard shoulder.
I suddenly remembered this nightmare, watching her walk back to the car with the red warning trangle, her back turned to the oncoming lorries. It is at times like this, it gets to you the most, not being able to command your true speed - the speed you used to have. I think, believe and hope I will get at least some of it back again before I am 50.
Next day we drove to Florence airport to swap the car, being allowed only 50km on the emergency tyre. Thank you again for a great service, Europcar. I haven't even told you about the two hour wait collecting the car, though we had pre-booked, being sneezed over by filthy, selfish germbag dungbeetles with no hankies....definitely an occasion where avoidance being nearly impossible, one might do well to engage in a little creative visualisation and place a white protective energy bubble round self and family. An energetically antispetic aura.
There is a warning here for Tarot aficionados. Because I had had so easily been able to account for why I had drawn the Tower card - the plan to go to Pisa - I had not investigated further, when normally seeing this card, I'd enquire further.
My logic tricked me into relaxing my guard. Had I followed the Tower up by boxing the meaning in with a closed question, I should have drawn the Ace or the 8 of Wands Reversed, The Chariot Reversed, The Wheel of Fortune Reversed or The Moon. Then, relating The Tower to travel, I could have tweaked our plans, and kept checking them against the cards until any danger signs vanished back into the deck and we had a contingency plan.
But my sleeping mind had known, and tried to warn me without cards three days in advance, just as it was the messages of my sleeping mind that years ago caused me to begin my first studies of The Tarot.
I also received warning about the mosquito campaign from the Tarot. This went as follows: drawing three cards with no particular question I drew:
Page of Swords (Page meaning something small, swords meaning air and something that is sharp like a needle)
Page of Pentacles Reversed (infection of said bites, round and swollen and red which is the opposite of the green of pentacles, the suit of earth so here, this card could be said to mean 'dirty soil')
Page of Cups reversed. Ahem. Not looking one's best going round like a human giant measle. The suit of Cups relates to healing and beauty. It also spoke of a need to ensure adequate hydration, because water is the element of cups.
I had duly armed myself with repellent ( ask for controlgio d'insetti, folks) after our first night there. Did it work? Did it heck. But don't let that put you off. It might for you.
Then - and perhaps I reacted unusually badly because my immune system is depressed, I tried anti-histamines, hydrocortisone, lavender, tea tree, TCP and finally, a course of antibiotics from a gentle Italian GP who came out 40 minutes after being called. This allowed us the guilty thrill of using that little plastic E111 card for the first time. The service was brilliant though it did cost 25 euros for the call-out, but hey, it was 7.30 on a Saturday evening. We were grateful. Would we have received such a prompt response at home?
A Tarot Reading for Mustard The Pony
Mustard is a 13 year old gelding, and he competes in dressage. I had been told this much before looking at his cards. My brief was simply to enquire about his happiness and well-being, and to see whether the Tarot could pick up on any of his preferences or wishes.
Here are a few of the cards we got, and an indication of the feedback I received from Mustard's owner.
How Mustard is feeling about life right now:
The Four of Pentacles. This card indicated that he is conscious of being safe and secure, and enjoys his present routine. He doesn't seem too keen on sharing. He likes to hang on to any good thing he's given. He is by temperament, slightly conservative, and not given to impulsive behaviour, likes a little bit of variety in his routine ‘but not too much’.
The 7 of Cups suggested to me that Mustard was sensitive and responsive with a good imagination. His owner confirmed this, saying he was the most easily trained pony she had worked with, very quick on the uptake.
I asked to know about something he likes
The 3 of Cups suggested Mustard had two special friendships. These must have been a horse and a pony he shared his field with during day time, his owner explained.
I asked about something coming up for Mustard
The 6 of Swords made me wonder if he was aware of any plans for him to move.
The answer was yes, he was going very soon to a new, bigger stable with 30 horses and ponies.
The 5 of Cups indicated to me Mustard would not like separation from his two old friends.
His owner said he would still see his old friends. Their owner and she rode the horses out together and would continue to do so.I suggested she try telling Mustard this, sending him a visual message of him going along the lanes with his old friends. He might not be able to understand the words but he might receive the 'TV' picture and the emotion she attached to that. Who are we to say he could not?
I drew a general advice card for Mustard.
The Moon card suggested to me that he felt afraid if stabled alone at night. There were dogs barking somewhere near outside. He didn't like that. And strange shadows scared him.
I suggested his owner leave an old coat with Mustard when he is alone, so her scent can reassure him in her absence. She confirmed that there were dogs on a neighbouring farm. There were two or three Jack Russells and they barked a lot. It hadn't occurred to her they might worry Mustard with night barking as she isn't usually there at that time but she was moving him to the bigger stable because she was aware he didn't like being alone at night.
I drew a card to signify something Mustard else might worry about.
The 5 of Wands suggested Mustard was anxious in competitions. He didn't like loud noise and if ever asked to, would be nervous of jumping a 5 barred gate.
I suggested his owner try rubbing a little Rescue Remedy on his nose (not on the sensitive bits) the next time they competed, the following weekend. The owner did try it, and reported her surprise at noticing a difference in his body language from usual: she felt he was much more relaxed.
Another card, one indicating something Mustard would enjoy but hasn't got?
The Page of Pentacles, then The Moon card somehow suggested mangolds to me - swedes. I was told he has never eaten one, to the best of the owner's knowledge. Well, I hope he gets to try one soon so we will know. Meanwhile, on this point the Tarot remains unproven.
Lumps on his legs? Mustard was receiving citronella products to minimise insect bites. Tarot is not a vet and does not claim to be but The Empress Card suggested if there was any question of supplementing his diet in any way omega 3/6 oils - vegetable based, as with hemp or flax seed instead of fish oils might benefit him. Something to do with his grains or feed might not be suiting...the card shows a field of what looks like wheat or corn. Months later, I heard that the owner changed Mustard's hay intake, and this apparently sorted the problem.
April 2009
Tarot for help in Travel
Bam-Bam
the Bold has recovered, though frail. After some days on
a back- to- basics diet she last night devoured with
appetite a small piece of ripe avocado.
The Page of Wands did not let us down, making the
330 mile return trip yesterday afternoon, from the
Lancashire coast to Tewkesbury services and back.
There was a horrendous jam on the northboud M6 just north
of Stafford, the length of two junctions. There had been
an accident and someone appeared to be were filming a man
and woman sitting in the front of one of the 'accident'
cars. They looked reasonably cheerful, but I understand
others were hurt, some seriously. Fingers crossed for
them. Uruz or Auroch, is the closest
rune equivalent for Tarot's Strength
card.
I had asked the Tarot if our journey would go smoothly if
we left at 1.30.
This was a single card reading and produced the Page
of Wands.
I have found before that the Tarot can help with planning
journeys.
At Christmas we went down to London for a night. I asked
the Tarot to select the departure time that would give
the best journey and laid out a row of cards to represent
the time slots, from 6.30 in the morning (nooooo, please
don't say we have to go at 6.30!) - through to an 'after
9.30' card. Each card reprented a half hour block.
I drew the Ace of Wands in the 7.30
position and it was the only upright card so that was
what we went with. Spouse was happy with this as it
accorded with his own judgement and preference, so this
was serving as an endorsement, and the card did not let
us down.
The page yesterday being a shorter trip - maybe that was
why we didn't get the Ace. Maybe also because London was
a 'discrete' event with a more distinct beginning, middle
and end.
If you draw The Moon when planning a
journey, you'll know to double check the plans.
Also, I'd suggest pack Tums or similar and electrolyte
powders, and maybe beware of salads.
Be paranoid, says the Moon, but here maybe it is trying
to help you. I have seen that the Moon can warn of
traveller's tum.
I have been asked to consult the cards on behalf of
someone who recently did a bit of a daft thing and has a
traffic worry involving the Police - aherm. I shall look
later and hope for the best for all concerned, as I know
them ordinarily to be an asset and indeed ornament to
society, rather than the reverse.
It is easy to drive on 'auto-pilot' when deeply
pre-occupied - we can arrive and not remember the
journey.
For luck in travelling I may also invoke help through the
rune symbols or Rad or Raitho (Riding)
and the Horse, Ehwaz as a protection for
my own travel or other travellers. My police officer
brother has one, for his car and his motorbike, and my
daughter, on her car's dashboard.
My experience of these is such that I would prefer not to
discount them.
'The mind will trust the body, the body
will trust the mind, then the spirit of a thing can
become greater than one thing.'
I don't know who said it, but for me, it says it all.
A hamster 'tale'. Death card to the rescue
The Angel of Death, by Evelyn de Morgan.
Because Death IS an angel of deliverance in its proper time.
The
Death card, understandingly has an
undesirable 'rep.' and is the least 'PC' of cards to talk
about in its original sense.
It has been reinvented to some extent in recent years,
rehabilitated with an emphasis upon its power and value
as Transition. or Tranformation.
And I agree. Death is not the enemy per se. It is
needful, it can be 'good,' it can be merciful and
liberating. It is part of Life.
But I don't wanna be tranformed just yet, please and nor
do most of my clients.
In my own experience, actually, the Death card is not the
only predictor of human physical death. I personally tend
to look out instead for multiple and repeated
combinations including the Fool Reversed, Tower,
Judgement dignified or reversed, 4 Swords, 6 Swords, Ace
Swords Reversed, Strength, Star Reversed and the Sun
reversed.
But it is true that when I have seen the Death card in
readings, it HAS sometimes referred to or presaged a
physical actual human death. Tackling these discussions
in readings requires all our resource and care as other
readers will fully appreciate.
That however is another conversation...
This blog is about 'personal' tarot as opposed to my more
business-like tarot activities.
Yesterday, with no clients in the afternoon, I was
talking with the cards about this and that, with no
particular objective, when I pulled the Death card. It
related to home and family.
It made sense to me, with my dear father's estate
currently going through probate, but I didn't think it
was that.
Our hamster, Bam-Bam the Bold, Beautiful and occasionally
Bad (a toe nipper in her youth) had a mystery bout of
illness two weeks ago, and we really thought she was
going. Hankies at the ready, spritzing the air with
Rescue Remedy we sat taking turns to hold her over three
hours. Then all at once the small personage suddenly
decided she was better and tried to scramble off and was
bright as a button next day, trying to climb the wine
rack (that's my girl) and chomping my Gombrich's History
of Art on the lowest book shelf.(in hard back)
We were delighted of course, but puzzled. She is the
tenth hamster I have kept and I'd never seen this
miraculous recovery. The little things don't tend to 'do'
illness.
I felt she might have sustained an injury, somersaulting
on the sofa the previous night. She had had a soft
landing but at 18 months old, she might have cracked a
rib, say. because her breathing was laboured and still
is.
So, seeing the Death card yesterday I headed straight
upstairs to the hamster palace and found her in obvious
distress, stumbling restlessly about. Being sexist, as
animals often are (lol) I knew she preferred my husband's
smell, I mean, SCENT, and fetched his pyjama top to hold
her cuddled in.
I held her two hours and she slept, and later in the
evening was sufficiently recovered to eat a small square
of very well done brown toast with acacia honey (good for
a rodent with diarrhea if you ever have that problem.)
I
offered her cooled chamomile tea, which she refused at
first but later took a real shine too. This was for
stress and possible pain relief.
I am waiting for a phone call from the vet but don't
imagine there will be much to be done that I would want
done to her at her age. I wonder if she has a hernia of
her diaphragm. When it pops out, she struggles to breathe
and becomes prostrated. When it pops back in she is
almost herself again. That 3 of swords from the other
night is still there so that's a possibility if not a
cracked rib.
We will see. She is in her nest box and looking at her
just now in the cards I got the Knight of Cups so I hope
her sleep is comfortable.
She's getting ready to go, but I am grateful to the Tarot
and let's not forget the Angel of Death : ) for the
forewarning, and sending me upstairs when she was having
a bad moment and needed company.
For tomorrow, the Wheel of Fortune. Well, I know what
that's about! Driving down to Strensham services to hand
over a new car to senior daughter, who works at a vets in
Devon. I say new, I mean newer. Hers failed its MOT. But
the Wheels' not reversed and with the M6 and M5 on the
cards - that's a bit of good news.
Riding High, or not.
Yesterday I drew the 3 of Swords and looked
forward, without much enthusiasm as you can imagine, for
any sign of its manifestation throughout the day.
We know of its associations with break-ups, rifts and
heart and chest problems - to this we can add a sleepless
night with tummy upsets.
I had personally linked it with a minor heart problem
which just needs a little watching. But yesterday was a
good day and I had gone to bed thankful for no sign of
the card's sweet joys.
Then it got me- at 3 in the morning. A sharp bout of
tummy pains was the start, and it marked the end of sleep
for the night.
The 6 of Wands Reversed has been central in two
recent readings for others. This card of riding high, has
in in these recent instances of its reversal flagged up:
- loss of career owing to a lady's life threatening
illness, and fear of the ultimate 'defeat.'
Though death is not a defeat, in some circumstances it
would be natural to view it as such - eg as in this
lady's case, with growing children.
- it also announced the loss of the diamond ring detailed
in earlier blogs. I couldn't work it out - but the clue
was the Ace of Pentacles Reversed (lost ring) associated
with it in the problem position.
Why didn't the Tarot make THIS the central issue card?
Maybe I was not on form or maybe an explanation lay in
the finding of the ring later that afternoon. The 6 of
Wands reversed, reviewed with hindsight (not much help in
the reading!) told a story of 'when the horse has been
and gone, then there will be a victory connected to the
Ace of Pentacles Reversed.
The 'horse' would have been the step ladder required to
access the lost ring so that its absence/its not yet
having been used was the cause of the 'defeat' -
inability to find the ring.
Make it easy, Tarot, why don't you? I am sure all we
Tarot readers customise our cards through use. Study is
essential - but there are always gaps to leap in a face
to face situation, and the Tarot continues to teach me
new things with every reading. So there we are - it seems
the the 6 of Wands can be a physical objeect such as a 6
runged ladder, or a fear of falling off a ladder,
metaphorically.
Awe
I'm
going to see my rheumatologist later. I've drawn the 3 of
Swords - booo- so he may have a bit of a grizzle about
heart and BP - it's to be expected, a by-product of long
standing systemic inflammation, but we're on the case. I
prefer not to alarm myself.
Here's a poem which was published and for which I won a
tenner for in a competition in the Literary Review
magazine.
The theme was AWE
and I thought, what an AWFUL word. Unwieldy in the mouth, what
can one do with that? I couldn't get my mind off it,
until I came up with this..
Compute Awe
God at Pearly Gates dot com
Designed a World in RAM and ROM
The Programme's called 'Till Kingdom Come.'
No virus has quite crashed it yet
Devised by Devil at Hell dot Net
Old Nick the Hacker means to win.
So far he's failed, we're still plugged in.
And hear the Godcomputer hummmm
The Universal Sound of Ommmm.
Creation real and unpretending
With countless files and files still pending
From here to nebula most far
From single cell to giant star
And all a Life from birth to death
And in-between its every breath
Our highest inspiration
And spirit's destination
The ROM, His Universal Laws
The Ram means chances, choices, flaws
And Life that cannot be destroyed
Its bits and bytes just redeployed
In awe we stand
In hope we pray
The Programme runs till Judgement Day.
I also drew The King Of Wands as a card for today. It
made me post this blog as for me, amongst his other
meanings, he means writing and Aries, a Wands month,
always like us to get on with it.
Update on the missing ring
The
lady left at 12.30 and I cooked lunch.
I did not 'know' whether she would find it.
The story told in the cards had been so odd, almost as if
the ring had been in another dimension. The Death card
when asking for its location, and the Nine of swords, for
grieving.
But I didn't have long to wait.
She rang at 2.55 to tell me she had found her lost ring,
after a year of searching.
She had gone home, thought what I had said about the
Death card and the sitting room - and, though telling
herself it couldn't be possible, how could it have got up
there, she fetched a step ladder and found the ring on
top of the wall unit in the sitting room.
It was beside the jar in which she keeps her husband's
ashes.
On the hearth nearby was a vase containing white roses,
as seen on Death's banner in the Death card.
I am in awe.
How strange the Universe is and its workings.
Lost property and the Tarot
Last
Monday my 14 year old daughter had lost her mobile phone.
She had lost it the Thursday before.
'Ask the Tarot,' she said. 'I can't think where else to
look.'
I wasn't in the mood just then, following an intense
reading for a lovely lady wrestling with a serious
illness.
''Not before I've had a cup of tea,' I said, 'and a few
minutes peace and quiet, and the Tarot wants a cup, too.'
Ten minutes and a cup of tea later, one for me, one for
the Tarot, the first question was, is the phone in the
house?
Three cards out of three drawn upright indicated that
yes, it was (thank goodness for that)
Madam thought it might be somewhere in her bedroom. This
is a modestly sized room, not quite a labyrinth, nor Dr
Who's Tardis.
'Is it?' I asked the Tarot, and laid out another train
track of 3 cards (vertically, though I am sure it doesn't
really matter)
Yes, the cards said - all three cards were upright again.
Thank you, Tarot and can you tell me where she needs to
look?
I drew the Magician Reversed.
Help, was one thought.
Her phone has been nicked.
No, it's all right was the next thought. It isn't saying
that.
The Magician's finger appeared to be pointing undeneath
something.
A table, or if we were talkiing about her bedroom, a bed,
maybe a drawer unit.
Looking at the red and white flowers on the card, I
thought of her new curtains. They weren't red and white
but they did have pink metallic stylised flowers. (The
Tarot can't cover all the possibilities. Let's be
reasonable about this.)
'Look down the back of the bed, beneath the window
ledge,' I said, and she ran upstairs and found the phone
beneath the radiator below the curtained window,
underneath the bed. I nearly fell off my wheels.
I've used the Tarot for practical dowsing before, and
with success. Last week I found same daughter's lost
boots, they were on the landing under clean laundry
awaiting distribution to respective bedrooms (do it now,
thank you!) and the Tarot, while it was at it, told her
off by showing her the Fool reversed (quite right too,
for being a lazy lummock and not looking hard enough)
But why can't it always be this easy?
In my own home it's easier making practical connections,
linking spots in the house with the imagery in the cards,
I suppose.
This morning's client wanted help in finding a lost
diamond ring, and dowsing/remote viewing is not part of
my professional service. It's an interest, sometimes used
'in-house' on personal matters. i explained this to my
guest but she asked me to have a go anyway. The ring had
been missing nearly a year and the loss was preying on
her mind.
Tarot said it was still in her flat, using the approach
mentioned above, but I haven't been in her flat and
couldn't 'see it'.
Not having my quartz pendulum handy, I removed my neck
chain with pendant to use as a pendulum that would give
yes and nos to try and pin down an answer shutting out
all the other impressions coming to me from the cards.
Bedroom? No. Kitchen? No. And so on. It selected the
sitting room as the place to look, the pendulum swishing
around clockwise and with increasing vigour. The
appearance of the Death card was a puzzle. All I could
think was that the lost ring was somehow in the keeping
of the lady's husband, who died three years ago. Possibly
it had got put with some possession of his.
My client was adamant it wouldn't be in the sitting room,
she was so clear about it that she hadn't looked there.
She was sure it must be in the bedroom. She remembered
dropping it.
(I had drawn the 9 of Wands earlier, which can warn of
thinking in a rut. Well, we all do it sometimes.)
Justice reversed suggested logic would not come into the
finding of the ring.
If found it would come to her 'out of the blue' just
where to look.
I'll let you know if she finds it.
She left with advice to focus on the sitting room and
look for a physical association with her husband, and
with a small Tiger's Eye, chosen for luck in looking. I
wondered whether there might be a white rose nearby,
because of the card.
Check out dowsing on Google and UK Dowsing Associations
and Societies if you've ever wondered if you have oil in
your back garden, or want to know more about it in
general.
Now where the beep did I leave my cup of tea?
Little Piggy goes to market
This
morning's reading was for a lady who'd been before, about
a year ago, but I didn't remember what we had talked
about- or not consciously, anyway.
When I'm reading for others I usually use the Universal
Waite.
I've met Tarot readers who ask what decks you use, then
sniff or even tut if the answer is a Rider Waite .
There is elitism and snobbery in Tarot too. I think what
works- works. What helps, helps, and that's for our
clients/querents to say.
So many decks to choose from now...
I like pigs. It's a shame about bacon sarnies. I only buy
British outdoor reared bacon. Sow stalls are DISGUSTING.
One
of my sisters used to work on a pig farm and the boar
crept up and ate the back of her welly off one day while
she was feeding the piglets.
One of the sows always stood up to bark like a dog at the
tractor as it drove through the farmyard past her pen,
because it had nearly run her over once when she'd got
loose.
Maybe a Pinky and Perky tarot....
I have various decks but find the Waites inclusive.
Clients who don't know the Tarot at all can still respond
with their own intuition to the images and be active
participants, if they like.
I'll agree the Thoth is more elegant and beautiful but
the Rider Waite is an accessible picture book with the
archetypes so many of us know at first glance.
I have a Golden Tarot deck and a Renaissance Tarot and a
Tarot de Marseilles and a Botticelli deck.
(Blame this selection on Art History interests in days
long gone- my first job was in a museum and I was
mistaken for an exhibit in the costume display. Yikes.)
Yes, the Botticelli is lavish and was a lovely gift but I
can't stick its Knight of Pentacles, trotting through the
woods with his sneaky little face. I won't deal it. The
Knight of Pentacles is no sneak!
The key issue card this morning was The Page of Cups
reversed. When I checked this against the foundation
card, which was the Ace of swords Reversed, and the free
floating 'comment' space in the spread, which was the Ace
of Cups reversed, then looked at the Problem card, which
was the Tower, I saw - oh whoops- we were looking at an
acrimonious relationship breakdown, with loss of money,
possibly of home etc. I also felt a child involved was
feeling upset about the split.
Coming up imminently, we had the 4 of Pentacles reversed.
This told me that news was coming up very soon re: the
house and other material considerations, and my client
said she and her partner were going to be meeting on
Monday to discuss the mortgage.
The 2 of Swords in the destination/outcome position
indicated change and progress with a clearer view to the
best wat forward, but not dramatic improvement yet. It
would be by stages but starting soon.
The card might have indicated a breakdown in truce but
there was no truce, and additional cards laid on top were
Justice and the 9 of Cups - glad to see these for her.
We talked at length about the relationship. The Tarot
said that the man had left because he felt unappreciated,
though he went to work, came home at night, helped pay
the bills and played with the children, who were not his
own. He had seen himself as The Emperor and had felt hurt
and overlooked. He needed to be appreciated as The
Emperor for his sense of dignity and maybe better
relations to be restored.
They also worked in the same place and she was senior to
him, besides having chief say at home, which she freely
agreed was the case.
To get what she needed from the meeting, the Tarot
suggested she adopt the tactics of
The King of Wands (and she was a Sagittarius and so was
her partner) friendly but not intense, focussed on good
communication as an objective in its own right, and on
the problem of the property.
If she could maintain Justice, the Tarot said, a friendly
objectivity because it was a problem for him too -the
result might well be the 2 of Wands - agreement about the
property or even a renewal of the relationship- and
possibly even the 9 of Cups.
This was a hard thing for her to try and take on board
because she had been so upset, but it wasn't about right
and wrong, only communication styles.
At the end of the reading, she reminded me of the earlier
reading a year before. The Tarot had suggested a holiday
and said there was life in their relationship still. They
had gone to Greece and had a good time, and now this
morning the Tarot showed the 3 of Wands twice, so it
remains to be seen whether a journey might help
again...because one is in the offing.
This lady was an independent minded person, who had
become used to looking after herself and the children.
Her challenge as the Tarot saw it, was to learn to make
space again, for a man in her life who wished to
contribute.
The partner had worried about not being up to scratch in
her presence (the 9 of Pentacles reversed)
She needed to slow down a little for others (Knight of
Wands reversed) and rein in a tendency to impulse just a
little more.
She said it was spot on and she chose a citrine to take
away for luck. Hope it works out. Fingers crossed...and
for him too.
Tonto Books published a short story I wrote called 'Joe's Ark.'
I performed a reading of this at the Durham Literary Festival in 2007.
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