Tag: Tarot

Today’s Tarot Card for July 25 is The Lovers

The Lovers

This Tarot Deck: Etteilla

 

General Meaning:  Although it has taken on a strictly romantic revision of meaning in some modern decks, traditionally the Lovers card of Tarot reflected the challenges of choosing a partner. At a crossroads, one cannot take both paths. The images on this card in different decks have varied more than most, because we have had so many ways of looking at sex and relationships across cultures and centuries.

Classically, the energy of this card reminded us of the real challenges posed by romantic relationships, with the protagonist often shown in the act of making an either-or choice. To partake of a higher ideal often requires sacrificing the lesser option. The path of pleasure eventually leads to distraction from spiritual growth. The gratification of the personality eventually gives way to a call from spirit as the soul matures.

Modern decks tend to portray the feeling of romantic love with this card, showing Adam and Eve at the gates of Eden when everything was still perfect. This interpretation portrays humanity before the Fall, and can be thought to imply a different sort of choice — the choice of evolution over perfection, or the choice of personal growth through relationship — instead of a fantasy where everything falls into place perfectly and is taken care of without effort.

Today’s Tarot for July 24 is The Hierophant

The Hierophant

General Meaning:  Traditionally known as the Hierophant, this card refers to a Master and the learning of practical lessons from the study of Natural Law. This energy of this card points to some agent or resource that can reveal the secrets of life, the cycles of the moon and tides, the links between human beings and the heavens.

Because monasteries were the only places a person could learn to read and write in the middle ages, a Hierophant was one to whom a student would petition for entry. He was the one to set the curriculum for the neophyte’s course of study.

Often pictured with the right hand raised in blessing, the Hierophant is linked with the ancient lineage of Melchezidek, initiator of the Hebrew priestly tradition, the one who passes on the teachings. All shamans of any tradition draw upon this archetype.

Today’s Tarot Card for July 23 is The Emperor

The Emperor

This Tarot Deck: Dragon

 

General Meaning:  In the most practical terms, what has traditionally been called the Emperor card represents the highest leadership, a head of state or the most exemplary and powerful person in the realm. This archetypal ruler is responsible for the positive working out of affairs of a society or community, which are directly proportional to his well being and happiness.

The more enlightenment and cosmic perspective this energy brings, the better life is for all. The Emperor archetype masters the world of matter and physical manifestation. When you apply this card to your situation, acknowledge your potentials for mastery. Reinforce a sense of sovereignty within yourself, despite any self-limiting beliefs, habits or appearances to the contrary.

Using the Tarot as a Tool of Healing

Using the Tarot as a Tool of Healing

by Dr. Neala Peake, selected from AllThingsHealing.com

The Tarot,  long a powerful tool of divination, can also be used as a dramatic tool of healing,  and for shifting deep patterns. The deck that I suggest for this, the  Rider-Waite, is perhaps the most well-known deck in the Western world. Created  by Dr. Arthur Edward Waite (1857-1942), a scholar of occultism, and illustrated  by Pamela Coleman Smith, a theatrical designer and American member of The Order  of the Golden Dawn, it is the “standard” teaching deck, and the first to use  detailed illustrations of the Minor Arcana, not just the Major.

The Deck Itself

The 78 cards of the tarot deck are divided into two groups: 22 Major Arcana Cards, and 56 Minor Arcana cards, made up of pip or suit cards (1-10), as well as court cards, which more or less correspond with traditional playing cards. The meanings of the Major Arcana are generally considered more far-reaching, relating to our journey for meaning and enlightenment, while the minors are considered more transient, representative of day-to-day activities.

The Seven Chakras

Using both the structure of the seven Chakras and the images of the Rider-Waite deck, the Chakra Lube Job illustrates how the  cards of a layout may be replaced as the healing progresses; as the images  shift, they actually depict the process of growth and resolution, similar to  time-elapsed photography.

The term Chakra is the Sanskrit word for “wheel,” and refers to our  own energy system: the interface between our energetic and physical selves, our  body and consciousness. Just as the car’s engine requires regular maintenance,  the Chakras, too, require regular “tune-ups.” This not only keeps its system  running smoothly, but addresses any blocks or problems on the core level.

While the chakras can be “tuned-up” through meditation, energy work with  light, sound, color, crystals, singing bowls, musical instruments and others,  the method which I’ve created and coined is known as The Chakra Lube Job.

The Chakras, one through seven, are: #1, the Root, at the base of the spine,  which relates to our ability to prosper and thrive on the earth; #2, the Sacrum  relates to our ability to gratify ourselves; #3, the Solar Plexus addresses our  own personal power and capacity to be comfortable in our skin; #4, the Heart  preserves unconditional love, and the integration of all polarities; #5, the  Throat, the center of the seven, is self-expression; #6, the Third Eye, our  ability to see the big picture and our psychic center; and, #7, the Crown, at  the top of the head, is our connection to the universal, wisdom and bliss.

The Chakra Lube Job Reading

Here is a sample healing Chakra Lube Job, to show you how this works. This  was a session with a woman in her early fifties, who is accomplished in her  field, and highly regarded in her community. She pulled seven cards, one for  each of the seven primary Chakras, in a vertical formation. She then continued  pulling cards, until I, or, she, or both of us felt the process was complete.  This process uses the images of the Rider-Wait deck to heal and shift the  chakric patterns, in a very conscious fashion, and may take anywhere from 20  minutes to several hours. (You may want to use your own deck to follow  along.)

Initial Layout The Chakra Lube Job  Layout

Card #1 (Root) Ace of Pentacles (an immense  pentacle shown emerging from a cloud, held by a huge celestial hand, above a  flowering hedge and archway leading out to mountains)

Interpretation: This is a wonderful, life-affirming card  that points to new beginnings, particularly of a financial nature. This ties in  beautifully with the meaning of this chakra; the primary concern with this  image, however, is that it refers to divine intervention, and points to a  fundamental belief on this person’s part that she did not hold the power for her  capacity to thrive in her own hands.

Card # 2 (Sacrum) Three of Wands (man on land, facing away  from three wands).

Interpretation: This card indicates that this woman has  given up on fulfilling her own sexual and emotional needs. She has turned her  back on any expectation, but does not know where she will go from here.

Card #3 (Solar Plexus) The Magician (#1) Major Arcana (an  androgynous figure in a red coat holding a wand that points upwards and  downwards, behind a table bearing a cup, a pentacle, a sword and a wand)

Interpretation: This is a powerful Major Arcana or destiny  Card, #1 in this sequence, which like the Ace of Pentacles, which she pulled for  the first Chakra, (also a #1), shows she is in a powerful new cycle of putting  herself first or fresh beginnings. This card shows that she has all the  resources and power she needs to transform her life, and create all that she  envisions. She loved this card, and we did not feel guided to choose any other  cards. (This is quite unusual to stay with the first card chosen, and indicates  that this area of personal power is very solid for her, and that she has  everything she needs to make her life as she desires.)

Card #4 (Heart) Four of Wands (two women celebrating in the  background near a castle tower; in foreground, four wands forming a lush  canopy)

Interpretation: This is a beautiful celebratory card. My  primary concern was that the two women were so far in the background, indicating  they did not feel they were at the center of this area of their lives. They  clearly loved life and had a great capacity to give and receive love, but tended  to put themselves in the background.

Card #5 (Throat) King of Swords (Virile dark-haired young  king, in blue robes, seated on a throne, holding a sword erect)

Interpretation: This card indicates that this woman feels  very powerful in her position as a communicator; it is important, however, to  note that this is a strongly masculine or patriarchal card, indicating that she  does not necessarily feel this power as a woman, but more in a socially  determined position of authority.

Card #6 (Third Eye) Two of Cups (man and woman making an  oath or promise. I call this the “going steady” card, not as serious as The  Lovers, Major Arcana)

Interpretation: This is the second card that depicts two  people in it. This indicates that she does not feel completely self-reliant in  her capacity to express her intuitive gifts or see the big picture. It may  indicate that she prefers to be validated or supported by a partner (in this  case a male or romantic partner).

Card #7 (Crown) The Emperor #4 Major Arcana* (an imposing  bearded white haired ruler or father figure, in red robes and warrior armor,  seated on a stone throne, holding an ankh.)

Interpretation: This is the second card of powerful male  authority that she drew. This indicates that she feels strongly connected to her  higher wisdom and the Universe, but in a form of male authority, or following in  the footsteps of the father. It is no surprise that this woman has Saturn  prominently in her chart, which points to a tendency to look for authority, and  hence validation, within the framework of the established order of things. It  also indicates that she looks to work and outer sources of acknowledgement (such  as success, status and approval) for her personal validation. This is a powerful  card, as it is a Major Arcana, and points to an overriding theme in her  life.

The Crown

The remaining session lasted two hours, and while we don’t have time to show  the entire process, we will give the example of the Crown position to  demonstrate the process. I asked the woman to draw a card for a chakra position  in which she felt the need for healing. After interpreting that card, I asked  her to draw another card until she felt complete with the healing on that  chakra. We did this with each chakra until all were complete and healed.

Crown sequence

Card #1 The Emperor (see above)*

Card #2 Ten of Wands (shows a blond androgynous individual  carrying ten wands, as if burdened, on his/her shoulders. With home in the not  too distant background, she/he is closer to home than he/she realizes.)

Interpretation: This card indicates that she feels  overwhelmed by all that she has to do. This is emblematic of someone who always  has a chore to accomplish or a deadline to meet. While they feel overwhelmed by  this pattern, they don’t know any other way. The fact that they are closer to  home then they realize, indicates she is maxed out on this tendency, and very  close to reaching a place where she no longer will continue with this  pattern.

Card #3: The Empress #3 Major Arcana

Interpretation: I was thrilled to see her pull this card,  the female counterpart to the Emperor, and a Major Arcana card, showing a major  shift in core perception. This is Venusian card, a celebration of one’s  femaleness, a card where someone is allowing themselves to live in concert with  the natural cycles, enjoying life and comfortable in their female essence in a  powerful and celebratory way. This card indicates no pressure to succeed, and a  joy in just being, enjoying and being receptive to the sensual and natural  pleasures of life itself.

This short sequence demonstrates how this process maps a major shift in  self-perception. It displays this process, using the simultaneity of cause and  effect, and mirrors back to us, using the archetypal illustrations of the  Rider-Waite, our own healing.

This healing affects our own Chakric well-being, as well as our own  relationship to our self, and to the Universe. This process demonstrates how The  Chakra Lube Job functions to both heal and maintain a healthy and  life-affirmative relationship to mind, body and spirit, allowing us to prosper  and thrive, continuing on our path to true happiness and true self, fulfilling  our destiny, as we go.

The Chakra Lube Job is a term and technique created by Cathy  H. Burroughs and is protected by copyright. Any reference to the technique or  usage of the title of the technique must be attributed to Cathy H.  Burroughs.

Today’s Tarot Card for July 21 is The High Priestess

The High Priestess

This Tarot Deck: Cosmic

 

General Meaning: Traditionally called the High Priestess, this major arcana, or trump, card represents human wisdom. She can be viewed as a kind of female Pope, the ancient Egyptian Priestess of Isis, the even older snake and bird Goddesses, the Greek Goddess Persephone, or the Eve of Genesis before the Fall.

For the accused heretics who were burnt at the stake for revering her in the 14th and 15th century, she symbolized the prophecy of the return of the Holy Spirit, which was perceived as the female aspect of the Holy Trinity.

In the sequence of cards in the major arcana, the High Priestess appears as soon as the Fool decides he wants to develop his innate powers, making a move toward becoming a Magus. The High Priestess is his first teacher, representing the Inner Life and the method for contacting it, as well as the contemplative study of Nature and the Holy Mysteries.

The Hanged Man Speaks

The Hanged Man Speaks

by Miriam Harline

meditation/evocation

In the early evening, orange-gold light still pouring through half the sky, purple hazing the east, you walk along a country lane, two tracks of dust fine as corn meal and cool on your bare feet. The air smells sweet, of cut hay, and as you crest a hill you see before you a half-mown hayfield. Its dark stubble lies close-shorn on the earth; among the stubble conical haystacks rise regularly. Through a dent in the hills, the last rays of sun gild the remaining hay; its blond heads nod, rustling, in the breeze.

Something about the hayfield attracts you, and you cut off the road, clamber over the grey-tan split-log fence into the field, carefully pick your way through the blunt stubble. It’s only after a few moments you see, against the bright ridge of hay still standing, a dark form. A scarecrow, you think, but why, in hay? You go forward, curious. The sun lies on the horizon, molten; as you look, the last gold bit winks out. A cold breeze brushes your arm.

Walking forward, you see the scarecrow hangs from a gibbet, the form silhouetted black against the sky. A cold finger runs down your spine; someone here has a strange sense of humor. Still you go forward; you think maybe this is art.

You close on the scarecrow. At the base of its square pole, a sickle leans; the edge of the steel blade gleams violet. You look up, and you see this is no scarecrow, but a man, hanging upside-down by his left ankle, right leg bent behind left in the pose of the Hanged Man of the Tarot. You take a sharp breath in.

“Hello,” the man says. He smiles at you: it looks strange upside-down. You can’t seem to reply. “I’ve a favor to ask you.”

“What’s that?” you stammer.

“Untie me, will you?” Catching hold of the gallows pole, the man climbs up hand over hand till he can grab the rope from which he hangs, curls himself in a ball. “I’m ready.”

His rope is rough hemp three fingers thick, tied low on the pole, knot big as a fist. You think, I’ll never get anywhere with this; still, feeling his gaze on you, you begin picking at the knot with your nails. Just when you begin to despair, the first loop loosens; bit by bit, you manage to untie the knot.

The last loop falls. Landing with a thump, the man quickly frees his ankle, rubbed raw by the rope. He jumps up brushing his hands, extends one to you. “Many thanks.”

So athletic was his pole-climbing and leap up you can’t help wondering why he didn’t untie himself. “It’s a geas, a rule, that somebody has to untie me. I can’t do it myself. Now I owe you a favor.” As he stands before you, you notice his strange clothing, a kind of jumpsuit quilted all of diamonds of blue, yellow and red. “Where were you going just now?” he asks.

“I was taking a walk.”

“Mind if I walk with you?” You shake your head, and presently you walk together down the lane’s two dust tracks.

The lane cups the hayfield in a long curve, then veers to the left, where girdled by a split-log fence a wood rises. On either side of the fence-break where the path enters, sentinel tree-trunks stand; beyond, shadows fall black and green.

The wood gives you pause, but the hanged man walks right in, and you follow him. The air in the wood is noticeably cooler; it smells of leaf-mold. Great trunks of trees loom to either side; in the undergrowth creepers tangle saplings.

“Hot day today, wasn’t it?” the hanged man asks conversationally.

“Yes.”

“But autumn’s coming, nonetheless.” He smiles a little. “Autumn’s always coming.”

“I guess that’s true.”

“At autumn comes harvest.” You nod, looking over at him; is he going somewhere with this peculiar conversation?

Just then the track you’re following comes to a crossroads. The crossing path runs perpendicular to yours and is just as wide, its dirt the same dark grey. “Which way do you want to go?” the hanged man asks.

You frown at him. “I don’t know. I was just taking a walk.”

He stares back, a smile quirking the corner of his mouth. “Turn left, why don’t you? You seem like you need some luck.”

You stare at him. Can you trust him to steer you? What does he mean by luck? What are you doing with him in this dark wood? His smile broadens a little; you feel that he can hear what you’re thinking, and that he’s laughing at you.

Turning on your foot, you do as he says. His and your footfalls pad quietly in the leaf-mold together; branches whisper as you brush by. The wood grows darker, shadow collecting in the underbrush and at the bases of the trees. A crow caws behind you.

Fear rises in you. You don’t want to be lost in this forest at night. But just as the fear tightens, you see on the path paler light ahead.

You emerge from the wood into countryside, hazy blue with dusk. Your new track borders a hayfield; you see it’s the same field, the uncut side. “Come,” the hanged man says, and you both climb the fence into the field.

You brush through hay taller than your head. Dry stalks crush below your feet, releasing perfume; seeds fall into your hair and clothes; your movement makes a sound like water. The hanged man walks ahead of you, the colors of his suit almost lost in dusk.

Then you break through the last unmown hay into stubble, dark and damp now with dew. The sickle still leans against the gallows-post, a shadow against a shadow; you touch the gnarled wooden handle worn smooth with use.

“I’ve a favor to ask you,” the hanged man says. “Tie me up again.”

You stare at him in blue near-darkness. You sense he is smiling.

Today’s Tarot Card for July 20 is The Magician

The Magician

This Tarot Deck: Cat People

 

General Meaning: Traditionally, the Magus is one who can demonstrate hands-on magic — as in healing, transformative rituals, alchemical transmutations, charging of talismans and the like. A modern Magus is any person who completes the circuit between heaven and Earth, one who seeks to bring forth the divine ‘gold’ within her or himself.

At the birth of Tarot, even a gifted healer who was not an ordained clergyman was considered to be in league with the Devil! For obvious reasons, the line between fooling the eye with sleight of hand, and charging the world with magical will was not clearly differentiated in the early Tarot cards.

Waite’s image of the Magus as the solitary ritualist communing with the spirits of the elements — with its formal arrangement of symbols and postures — is a token of the freedom we have in modern times to declare our spiritual politics without fear of reprisal. The older cards were never so explicit about what the Magus was doing. It’s best to keep your imagination open with this card. Visualize yourself manifesting something unique, guided by evolutionary forces that emerge spontaneously from within your soul.

Taking Care Of Your Divinatory Tools

Taking Care Of Your Divinatory Tools

Because oracles are often handled by many people, you should be sure to cleanse and consecrate them when necessary. This means when you first get them, and when you have had a particularly negative client or one with a great deal of misfortune. You should also cleanse the tool after a day of heavy reading, or at least once a week, if you don’t do that many.

To cleanse a divinatory tool is simple. Let it sit for a few hours in sunlight or moonlight and finish off with a few drops of holy oil or water.

Keep your tools in some type of covering. Black keeps out the negativity. If you use stones, cards, or coins you may want a throwing or divining cloth to set on the surface of the table or floor. You can make your own out of beautiful material, add fringes, embroider designs, etc.

The size of the reading cloth depends primarily on the scope of your readings. If you do large card spreads or use two divinatory vehicles, you may want a cloth that covers most of the table top

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To Ride A Silver Broomstick

New Generation Witchcraft

by Silver Ravenwolf

ISBN 0-87542-791-X

Transferred over from old WOTC group

Today’s Tarot Card for July 19th is The Fool

The Fool

This Tarot Deck: Aquarian

 

General Meaning:  Pamela Coleman-Smith’s artful rendition of an “innocent Fool” archetype (Rider-Waite deck) is often used to represent Tarot in general. Early classical versions of the Fool card, however, portray quite a different character — a person driven by base needs and urges, who has fallen into a state of poverty and deprivation.

In some instances, he is made out to be a carnival entertainer or a huckster. In others, he is portrayed as decrepit and vulnerable — as the cumulative result of his delusions and failures. Not until the 20th century do you see the popular Rider-Waite image of the Fool arise — that of an innocent Soul before its Fall into Matter, as yet untainted by contact with society and all its ills.

Modern decks usually borrow from the Rider-Waite imagery. Most Fool cards copy the bucolic mountainside scene, the butterfly, the potential misplaced step that will send the Fool tumbling into the unknown. Don’t forget, however, that the earlier versions of this card represented already-fallen humanity, over-identified with the material plane of existence, and beginning a pilgrimage towards self-knowledge, and eventually, wisdom. The Fool reminds us to recognize the path of personal development within ourselves — and the stage upon that path where we find ourselves — in order to energize our movement toward deeper self-realization.

The Wicca Book of Days for July 18 – XVIII: the Moon

The Wicca Book of Days for July 18

XVIII: the Moon

 

Take advantage of the energies of this, the eighteenth day of a largely lunar-ruled month to immerse yourself in the symbolism of the Tarot card of the Moon (XVIII).  Most versions of this major-arcana card include a full and crescent moon in one (denoting the changing faces of the Goddess), a dog or two (signifying the Greek Crone, Goddess Hecate, who is accompanied by howling hounds), and a crayfish (representing the zodiacal sign of Cancer).  These details open up a plethora of possibilities, but the card’s overall meaning points toward dreams, instincts, and the unconscious.

 

Happy Returns

Join many Wiccans today in paying tribute to Nepthys or Nebet-Het, today, for July 18 is said to be this Egyptian Goddess’s birthday. As a deity associated with darkness and death, Nepthys was considered a protector of those who had died and were awaiting rebirth.

Today’s Tarot Card for July 17 is Judgment

Judgment

 

This Tarot Deck: Medieval Cat

General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Judgment card, sometimes entitled Resurrection, represents the great reunion that the ancients believed would happen once in every age. This was the time when souls are harvested and taken Home to their place of origin, outside the solar system. Then the World is seeded with a batch of new souls and the process starts over.

From a modern point of view, this great reunion — which includes every personality that you have ever been and every soul that you have done deep work with — reunites to consciously complete the process. In a way, we symbolically celebrate this returning to center every year on our birthday.

In personal terms, the Judgment cards points to freedom from inner conflicts, and so clear a channel, that the buried talents and gifts of past incarnations can come through an individual in this lifetime. This card counsels you to trust the process of opening yourself, because what emerges is of consistently high quality. You can effortlessly manifest as a multi-dimensional being, and assist in evoking that response from others.

Your Daily Number for July 16: 6

Today is a lucky day for you, in which you’re likely to experience progress in your career and/or finances. You feel a sense of closeness with relatives and friends, and an overall healing of the heart. Few things could be better.

Fast Facts

About the Number 6

Theme: Family and Social Responsibility, Service, Healing
Astro Association: Gemini
Tarot Association: Lovers

Today’s Tarot Card for July 16 is The Moon

The Moon

This Tarot Deck: Royal Thai

General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Moon card refers to a deep state of sensitivity and imaginative impressionability, developed within a womb of deep relaxation. Here we dream and go into trance, have visions and receive insights, wash in and out with the psychic tides, and experience deep mystical and/or terrifying realities beyond our ordinary senses. The full moon and/or eclipse cycle charted by the Magi (as in some of the earliest Moon card images) exemplify this as a mechanism that Nature uses to expand consciousness.

The variants of the courtly lovers (representing skillful use of the sex force) or the man sleeping it off under the tree (use of drugs to alter consciousness) are also traditional avenues for tapping this primal force. Human interest in higher states propels us to the frontiers of consciousness, where we cannot always control what happens. The Moon card represents the ultimate test of a soul’s integrity, where the membrane between self and the Unknown is removed, and the drop of individuality reenters the Ocean of Being. What transpires next is between a soul and its Maker.

Lighten Up – Top Ten Ways To Piss Off A Pagan

Top Ten Ways To Piss Off A Pagan

1. Ask them if they are Satan worshippers.

2. Be considerate, rearrange their altar so it will look neat.

3. Blow out their altar candle if it is still daylight. (No need to waste a good candle!)

4. Pick up their gems for a closer look.

5. Sharpen their dull, black-handled knife.

6. Witness to them about the ‘One True Religion’.

7. Untie the knots in their cord.

8. Take hold of their jewelry for a closer look.

9. Play card games with their Tarot deck.

10. Ask them if they are Satan worshippers.

Today’s Tarot Card for July 15th is The Sun

The Sun

This Tarot Deck: Gummy Bear Tarot

General Meaning:  What has traditionally been known as the Sun card is about the self — who you are and how you cultivate your personality and character. The earth revolves around the sun to make up one year of a person’s life, a fact we celebrate on our birthday.

The Sun card could also be titled “Back to Eden.” The Sun’s radiance is where one’s original nature or unconditioned Being can be encountered in health and safety. The limitations of time and space are stripped away; the soul is refreshed and temporarily protected from the chaos outside the garden walls.

Under the light of the Sun, Life reclaims its primordial goodness, truth and beauty. If one person is shown on this card, it is usually signifying a human incarnation of the Divine. When two humans are shown, the image is portraying a resolution of the tension between opposites at all levels. It’s as if this card is saying “You can do no wrong — it’s all to the good!”

Today’s Tarot Card for July 14 is The Star

The Star

This Tarot Deck: Celestial

General Meaning: What has traditionally been known as the Star card is about reconnecting one’s Soul with the Divine — the transcending of personality, family, community and reputation. It has to do ultimately with the freedom to be one’s Self. The Soul is responding to celestial influences — forces that can provide the personality with a stronger sense of purpose. The Star card helps us to remember our exalted origins and our attraction to a Higher Union.

This card could also be called the “Celestial Mandate” — that which refers us back to our reason for being, our mission in this lifetime. The Star reminds us that, in a sense, we are agents of Divine Will in our day-to-day lives. If we let go of the idea that we are supposed to be in control, we can more easily notice and appreciate the synchronicities that are nudging us along. In this way, we become more conscious of the invisible Helping Hand, and we better understand our place within — and value to — the larger Cosmos

Today’s Tarot Card for July 12 is Temperance

Temperance

This Tarot Deck: Golden Tarot

General Meaning:  What is traditionally known as the Temperance card is a reference to the Soul. Classically female, she is mixing up a blend of subtle energies for the evolution of the personality. One key to interpreting this card can be found in its title, a play on the process of tempering metals in a forge.

Metals must undergo extremes of temperature, folding and pounding, but the end product is infinitely superior to impure ore mined from the earth. In this image, the soul volunteers the ego for a cleansing and healing experience which may turn the personality inside-out, but which brings out the gold hidden within the heart. (This card is entitled “Art” in the Crowley deck.)

Today’s Tarot Card for July 11 is The Hanged Man

The Hanged Man

This Tarot Deck: Lord of the Rings

 

General Meaning: Traditionally, the card known as the Hanged Man usually indicates a lack of ability to help oneself through independent action. This energy is arrested and awaiting judgment. With this card, there is no avenue for the will to regain control until the situation has passed.

This represents a good time to be philosophical, to study and meditate upon the position you find yourself in, and form resolutions for the moment you become free again. Only those who possess wisdom, patience and optimism will be able to see through limitations, including possible humiliation, to grasp the inspiring lesson one can gain from such an experience.

Today’s Tarot Card for July 10 is Justice

Justice

This Tarot Deck: Crow’s Magick

General Meaning: Traditionally, what has been known as the Justice card has to do with moral sensitivity and that which gives rise to empathy, compassion and a sense of fairness. Since the time of Solomon, this image has represented a standard for the humane and fair-minded treatment of other beings.

Often including the image of a fulcrum which helps to balance competing needs against the greater good, and a two-edged sword to symbolize the precision needed to make clear judgments, this card reminds us to be careful to attend to important details. It’s a mistake to overlook or minimize anything where this card is concerned. The law of Karma is represented here — what goes around comes around.

Today’s Tarot Card for July 9 is Wheel of Fortune

Wheel of Fortune

This Tarot Deck: Connolly

General Meaning:    The central theme of what is traditionally called the Wheel of Fortune card is cyclical change. The Wheel keeps on rolling, churning events in a ceaseless progression of ups and downs, either way freeing us from the past. No one can escape its cyclical action, which can feel somewhat terrifying — no matter whether we are rising or falling. When one is balanced on top there is a moment of crystal clarity, but the only part of the Wheel not going up and down is the hub, which is your eternal Self, the Source of Freedom.
Every one of us will occupy all the points on the wheel at some time or another. The cycle of the wheel is its lesson — and we can learn to take comfort in it (as we do when we celebrate our birthday). If you don’t like the look of things right now, just wait — things will change. Of course, if you do like the look of things right now, enjoy it while it lasts, because that will change too!