Tarot for 2008~ 12th Moon

The 12th cycle of the moon for this year began on November 27th. This is the moon cycle I've been apprehensive about, here's why:



Keywords/phrases from TP&S: chaos, shake things up, disruption, awakening, shock, havoc, major transformation, crisis, release from bondage, unavoidable change

Sound like fun? Yeah.

However, Tarot: Your Everyday Guide gives this insightful and helpful interpretation:

With this card, there is always the recognition that as traumatic as changes may be, they bring about the necessary end to something that is unsatisfactory, whether in one's personal life, or in one's greater social environment... If the Tower is about drastic, even catastrophic, changes, then the card read as advice to emulate suggests initiating such changes oneself.

Also: Consider where drastic changes need to be made in your life. The Tower has a lot to do with the toppling of structures, so a restructuring , or even total dismantling of certain systems may be in order. You must be flexible, imaginative, and prepared to let go of cherished beliefs and ways of doing things.

I've been hoping this card would only represent the chaos of balancing work with the holiday travel back to IA and all that entails, however, I have a sneaking suspicion that there is more to it than just that.

One possibility: I have had a tooth bothering me lately. I think that either an old filling is coming loose, or that there is a new cavity around it. At any rate, I need to go to the dentist, something I dread for many, many reasons. So much so, I've not gone to a dentist in aeons. As usual, I've been putting it off hoping I'm mistaken, but at this point, I'm sure I need to go. So I need to suck it up and find a dentist and go take care of myself.

Therefore, to help me motivate myself to do what I know I need to do, some empowering words from the Tarot Affirmations deck Tower card:

I am freedom from towering prisons of outworn defenses, habits and attitudes.

I am sudden disruptions in established routines that cause unexpected growth.

So be it!

Tarot & My *NEW* Etsy Store

My tarot card for this moon cycle is The Empress (3). Little did I know just how appropriate this card was going to be when I drew it last January for my new year's spread.

Keywords/phrases from TP&S: mother, fruitfulness, healing, prosperity, creativity, productive action, abundance. Now is the time to express creative instincts in productive action; any kind of artistic endeavor will prosper.

Why is this card so perfect for me right now? Well, the new moon cycle began on October 28th and that's when I began putting together my listings for my **new** Etsy store, which is NOW OPEN!


I am never more content, balanced and focused than I am when I am creating. It is a meditation for me and a banquet for my senses. I love creating beautiful items and it has been a goal for the past year or so for me to create enough pretty, unique and useful things that I could open an Etsy store and share my creations with others who will hopefully enjoy them, too.

This week I've realized that goal and I'm excited! I'd love to have you visit my new shop and share the excitement with me.

Tarot for 2008~ 10th Moon

Last Monday (9/29) was the new moon, and my card for this moon cycle is the 6 of Cups.

Keywords and phrases from TP&S: good old days, old friends, innocence, family visit, renewing old ties, emotional renewal. This card advises that it is important to recover and deal with old memories.

Tarot: Your Everyday Guide notes that this card encourages creative and artistic activities and lifestyles, re-experiencing the pleasures of childhood, and setting emotional riches and quality of life as a main priority in your life.

Six of Cups also is concerned with those things from childhood or the past that have negative influence on our lives today, clinging to idealizations from younger years, and being trapped and obsessed with memories and emotions caused by childhood victimization. This card advises, "... when our hearts or minds are in the past, our energy is also in the past. This loss of vitality prevents us from living in our bodies and grasping the pleasures of the moment." Therefore, 6 of Cups says to put away the past and focus on creating a beautiful and fulfilling life in the present.

Tarot for 2008~ 9th Moon

Only a week into the moon’s cycle, but this moon’s card, the 10 of Pentacles, is already quite fitting:

Keywords/phrases from TP&S: material abundance, family support, tradition, comfort, financial security, family matters, salary increase, concern about parent, inheritance, major life transitions

I think all the basement work and help from the in-laws is directly related to this card, wouldn’t you say?

Tarot: Your Everyday Guide explores the family connection in this way:

If you need help with a matter in question, whether emotional, financial or otherwise, this card advises looking to your family and extended family network for help It implies that your family has the resources you need. Think about how you can later add something to your family’s resources by way of repayment.

Also mentioned is “kin-keeping”– ways of staying in touch with family and keeping the lines of communication open, as well as honoring family traditions. It is interesting that the book brings this up, as MIL told us the only repayment she wanted for helping with the basement was for us to remember their birthdays and anniversary with a call or card– something the book specifically mentions in relation to the 10 of Pentacles!

Tarot and More Tarot

I met with Amaset on Wednesday to work on the tarot workshops we will be giving at festival this year. We are doing the Chakra Mapping Using Tarot workshop we did last year, which went very well, and now we are planning a follow up class called Tarot & Chakra Healing.

Our meeting was very productive. We made some updates to some of our chakra mapping handouts and determined which handouts and how many we needed for the workshop. We also inventoried our other supplies for the workshop and made a list of what else we needed to get before festival. Then we turned our attention to developing our new class.

After running through some ideas that weren’t quite what we wanted, we began to build on what we liked from those ideas, and suddenly the class started to come together nicely. We created a chakra healing tarot spread that we’re very pleased with. We wondered if perhaps we were using too many cards in the spread, but when Amaset counted up the cards in our layout and found it came to the number 13, we dubbed it perfect! We’ll use the chakra spread two different ways for healing exercises. Now we just need to round out these activities and complete handouts and we’ll be all set. I’m very excited.

We also discussed Amaset’s class on using the tarot for ritual and altar building that she’ll be presenting at festival. I’ve offered to help her with this one in any way I can, I just love the whole concept. We talked about different ways tarot cards can be used to create altars and I conceived a couple of ideas for an esbat altar and an elemental altar, which Amaset invited me to set up and share for the workshop. So I’m very excited about this workshop too, and want to get out my different decks and play around with them just to see what else I can come up with.

Then last night was my tarot practice group. Amaset presented some material for yet *another* workshop she’ll be doing for festival (she’s doing 4 in all). This one is called Introductions at Court and it’s a series of meditations she has written on the court cards for each suit in the minor arcana. Let me tell you, these meditations are wonderful, absolutely wonderful. She has really captured the essence of the court personalities and the meditations are so rich and vivid with beautiful, descriptive language. Really well done.

Working with the tarot has been a real treat for me this week.