Significators!

I did my first reading for someone else today since [checks notes...] November of last year! It flowed. Nice to know we (Spirit Team and me) haven’t lost our touch. 😁

It felt great to have a reason to read again, but I’m going to continue to keep a low profile. I prefer to scroll through sites* that offer free readings and be drawn to particular requests. 

Today’s experience did remind me, though, of something I’d like to share -

It reconfirmed the value of a change I’ve made to my reading process over the past year or so. I now select a card as a significator for the focus of the reading, be that a person or an area of enquiry. The card serves as a magickal proxy, much like a poppet, and helps to draw in the energy of situation. 

For years I balked at the idea of taking a card “out of play” to serve as a significator. Plus I didn’t really see the point. Now I appreciate the ‘sympathetic magick’ aspect and I’m finding it does make a difference. Besides, for cards meant to represent a person, I usually take one from another deck, most often my playing cards, so there’s no loss from the reading deck anyway.

If you don’t do this already, try it and see if it does anything for you.

*Not Facebook anymore. I haven’t deleted my account (yet); I’ve simply stopped participating in social media generally. (That’s another thing I can recommend.)

Another little spread share

Today’s Energy is one of wanting to hide away and not think about “it”. The Challenge is: I still have to do all the mundane stuff but, Gift: it will go quickly.

Spread: Plan the Day, from “Tarot Zine 01 – Everyday Spreads” by Tarot Magpie, available on Etsy.

deck: Hayworth Tarot 

Carto-GPS à la Jase on Cards

An example of Jase's "Here and Now" spread, aka a 'Carto-GPS'. 

"A GPS for taking a quick look at where I’m going and what I need to avoid".

The Sun card (from "22 Arcanos de la Muerte") in the centre was my addition as a significator for "Today".

          Top left: 1 More Of                                        Top right: 2 Less Of

          Bottom left: 3 Head Towards                         Bottom right: 4 Avoid

I'm not giving an interpretation. It's a reading for me. But it was on point, and reminded me what a good little spread this is. So I thought I'd share it. 

deck used: Spolia

Map Reading

The first thing you look for on a map is the phrase:

“You are here.”

Find out where you are currently in your emotion.

Now look at the map and determine where you would like to go.

Enjoy your walk.

deck: Rainbow Brainskull Oracle Deck, Ramin Nazer

Pattern Recognition

This is how I read. I've struggled to get this idea across. Cynthia Giles - Tarot | An Exploration Project - on the other hand, has done a much better job.

12.31.23  On the cusp of a new year . . .

Anyway . . . that started me thinking about pattern recognition, which I believe is the most important element in the art of Tarot divination (emphasis mine). And though you can look up a card meaning, there’s no Little White Book for pattern recognition.

Yes, a spread or layout is a pattern—but it’s a pattern chosen by the reader. And it’s meaningless without the Tarot cards themselves. A Celtic Cross laid out with pieces of blank pasteboard doesn’t convey any information.

Once a deck of Tarot cards is shuffled, then laid down in whatever arrangement, a meaningful pattern emerges. But it can just lay there, unnoticed, unless the reader is looking for it, and able to recognize it.

There might be one big pattern in a reading, or there may be many patterns. If many, they might be separate, or connected, or overlapping. So there’s a lot involved in identifying not only the patterns but their relationships and levels of energy.

 

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

So what *have* I been doing?

The Issue -

Root: I'm fed up with not having the supportive real-life tarot friendship I crave...

Solar Plexus: but it's in my nature not to put myself out there socially.

The Fix -

Crown: I need to rekindle my connection with Spirit...

Third Eye: because I've been neglectful of this constant and caring support system.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I pulled one card just for a "weather report". Of course, the theme took me back to last week's post. So I pulled the rest for "Okay, what do I about it?"

This is the second time recently that I've had it pointed out to me that I'm not spending enough time with Spirit. I think it's time I listened.

deck: Feel Your Chakras Oracle by Andi Taylor

Connection

The fact is, I'm lonely. 

I want so desperately to share my fascination with tarot with someone else who gets it. Someone who gets it in the way I do. And who isn't just a name on the internet.

So two things happen:

I spend way too much time scrolling on social media looking for a connection, even though they are just names.

I don't touch my cards because I've got no one to tangibly share the experience with.

I decided to find out what would happen if I didn't go on social media this whole weekend. This blog doesn't count. It's not exactly a hive of social activity.

I got more "other" stuff done – listed things on eBay, read a book, did some crochet, blogged... All things I haven't touched while I've been endlessly scrolling.

Still can't bring myself to pull cards, though. And when I try to think of some way to motivate myself, I feel that tug in the pit of my stomach. A combination of fear and sadness.

The point of this post? I don't know. I just wanted to say it out loud, I guess. Maybe other people feel the same way, and seeing they're not the only one might help somehow.

Of course I appreciate when people react to the stuff I put out there. It's nice to make those little connections. 

But the online tarot community is not a friend.

(image: Creatures Oracle by Sara Kathleen. My new best friend.)

Fate Keeps On Happening: Lenormand & Logic (blog)

Lenormand & Logic - As usual, Stella is spot on. A copy of this, and the Philippe LeNormand sheet (pictured), should be included with every Lenormand deck sold!

John Beckett: Magical Ethics - How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything (Patheos) - link

John Beckett's post Magical Ethics: How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything is possibly the most clear and rational examination of the topic I've yet come across. Here are some of my favourite 'moments' -

 "... ethics don’t exist to help people avoid punishment. Ethics exist to help people do the right thing in the first place."

"I can’t give you a bunch of rules to follow. If you need rules you're in the wrong religion."

"Ultimately there are no special ethics around magic. There are just ordinary ethics applied in a magical context."

 

Overly Spiritual Advice – Hardest Man In Tarot (YouTube)

Chris Egon Searle is not just the “hardest” man in tarot, he's one of the most sensible.  

“People... want very spiritual answers that only apply to them...

They want [advice that’s really complicated] because they know they can’t follow it...

They can... use the complexity as an excuse of why it didn’t work.”

I think this goes some way towards explaining why many people who have something that’s concerning them are unwilling to ask a direct question about it and opt instead for a random spiritual message. If they got a clear and actionable answer to their question, they’d either have to do the thing or deliberately ignore the advice.