One (new to me) way of approaching numerology with the Tarot de Marseille

In his latest blog post, "Returning to the Tarot de Marseille", Jack Chanek mentioned an approach he's tried for assigning a general theme to each of the numbers in the pip cards. A kind of “implicit numerology” based on the trumps. He didn't mention an original source for this method, if such a source could actually be identified, but noted that Caitlín Matthews and Alejandro Jodorowsky both discussed it.

If you set aside the Fool and the World cards, you're left with two sets of ten cards: 1 to 10, and 11 to 20. You can pair these cards up, 1 with 11, 2 with 12..., and the resulting pairs can provide a thematic framework with which to consider the pip cards – 1 + 11 are reflected in the Aces, 2 + 12 are reflected in the Twos, and so on.

1 Magician + 11 Strength

2 Popess + 12 Hanged Man

3 Empress + 13 Death

4 Emperor + 14 Temperance

5 Pope + 15 Devil  (lol)

6 Lovers + 16 House of God

7 Chariot + 17 Star  (“Hitch your wagon to a star”)

8 Justice + 18 Moon

9 Hermit + 19 Sun

10 Wheel of Fortune + 20 Judgement

As you can see, these pairings seem to make some logical sense. I have my own ideas about their relationships and how those could be applied to the numbers, but I won’t state them here. I'd like to leave you clear to make your own connections. Jack did list a few ways these could be perceived – see his post if you're curious.

Have fun.

#WitchesForTransRights

I've deleted my Facebook and Instagram accounts*, so this is the only place I can share stuff now.

And I really want to share this video. 💜

Activist Witch - You're Not Witches, You're Abusers. #WitchesForTransRights

 

 

(*I may try something like Mastodon at some point, but for now I'm good.)

Check-In and Social Media Update (YouTube)

tldw;
I've deleted my Facebook and Instagram accounts, and I'm not going to be online at all in February.

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.

You can do it; You CAN read cards - Vincent Pitisci (YouTube)

This is something I always try to get across to people. Anyone can do this. You don't have to be any special sort of anything.

Like Vincent says - "I'm just like anybody else. And if I can do it, you can do it. I'm no big deal." 😊

Lisa Boswell (YouTube) - How to Read TAROT For SOMEONE ELSE

This. All this. 

Lisa's about as 'no nonsense' as it gets, and I love her for it. 😄 

Tom Benjamin (YouTube) - The Best Beginners Deck & Other Tips For New Readers

One of my favourite traditional Quaker phrases (or QuakerSpeak, as it's teasingly referred to) is "That Friend speaks my mind". It conveys a much deeper sense of connection with what someone has just said than simply agreeing with it.

On that basis - This friend speaks my mind!

(YouTube) Comparing Tarot of the Origins & Primordial Tarot

A couple of years ago I managed to secure, at great cost 😏, a used copy of Tarot of the Origins. Eighteen months later Lo Scarabeo reissued the deck as Primordial Tarot. So now I have both - no regrets! 💙

Random Reading - #79

Echo Gillette has declared it Halloween from now until November 1. Okay by me…

Knight of Coins – Justice – 9 of Coins – Knight of Cups – 2 of Wands

⁛ Your ability to protect those you care deeply for has been severely restricted by the realities of life. Nevertheless, you still have the capacity to provide for their needs. Move forward in love and with confidence. ⁛


The Dark Angels Tarot, which describes itself as "78 Arcana of bitter hope and dark solace", has uniquely themed meanings for each of the cards, which I've relied heavily on for this reading. Despite appearances, it is a surprisingly comforting deck.

Happy Halloween.


Dark Angels Tarot, by Luca Russo, published by Lo Scarabeo (2010)

Tom Benjamin (YouTube) - Lessons I Wish I'd Learned Sooner

Amen! Hallelujah!

This video will save me a lot of time in the future...

"Oh, you want my take on xyz aspect of tarot?"

copy | paste

Random Reading Replacement Service 😏

The trouble with holidays is that there's SO MUCH TO DO when you get back. I'm still not caught up, plus I'm feeling a bit blah, so no RR today.

Instead, I invite you to watch my latest video - the first one I've done in over a year! (apart from a brief Public Service Announcment)

This is a video response to Kelly Bear's 2019 update, in which I talk about the 5 decks of cards I wouldn't be able to live without. I participated in this tarot tag when it first went around in 2016. My selection has changed, not because my tastes have changed, although they have, but because I'm basing my choices on different criteria this time.

Hopefully normal programming will resume next week.

Vincent Pitisci - "How to use the three card Tarot spread"

Despite a 3-card spread being my "go to" for quick tarot readings (or perhaps because of it), it's always bugged me that
a) the general consensus seems to be that any 3-card reading IS "Past, Present, Future", and
b) it gets used that way regardless of the question being asked.

Because of this, I've always regarded "Past, Present, Future" (PPF) as unimaginative and pointless, and I never use it.

Enter Vincent Pitisci and his latest video, "How to use the three card Tarot spread".

Now I rate VP, so if he has something to say about it, I'm going to listen.

While he suggests a few different sets of meanings for the three positions, he tackles PPF in depth. And his take on each position is a revelation - an approach far more practical than I'd ever considered.

"A lot of people look at the past, present and future and they're thinking, 'Well this is just the past and I don't care about that; this is the present, I don't care about that; I want to know what's going to happen here'."

Guilty as charged. ✋

Instead -

"... When we look at the Past, we're not just looking at what happened in the past [emphasis mine]. We can put a card in the Past position to give us ideas on what we've gained as far as experience or something else in the past that will help us with this situation. What has happened in the past that will help us as we move forward with what we're trying to accomplish? We're looking back at the past in relation to this question in some way that it will help us."

Same with Present and Future, but I'll leave you to explore the video yourself for those.

You're still going to wind me up if you use PPF for every question. 😉 But I can see now how it could be useful for some questions.

YouTube: Vincent Pitisci - Genius of the Tarot: Breaking Open the Mystery

I had never seen or heard of Vincent Pitisci until Beverly of Tarot Connections shared this video today. Curious, I decided to watch it. Boy, am I glad I did.

I like this guy! 

I like his approach to Tarot. I like how he puts his ideas across. I love his sense of humour!

We're not in complete agreement on every aspect of divination, but he comes across as being very open to the diversity within the profession.

It's a fairly long video - 1 hr 13 min - and it starts off a bit slow, but once he hits his stride it's well worth your time.

The Greenwood Tarot is being reprinted! (limited edition)

Have you dreamed of having a Greenwood Tarot in your collection, but fainted away at the prices asked for them online? Apparently, there are counterfeits out there as well that still sell for mega-bucks. 😕

Well, in a few months you'll have a chance to get a genuine, authorised, certificated, limited edition copy from Mark Ryan himself. Be sure to go to the video on YouTube and sign up to the mailing list.

Happy New Year! 👍

PS. For those of you aware of Chesca's part in this, here's what we've been told so far -
"Mark will be doing a short vid explaining how her royalties will be set aside for her, or her estate."
So we'll just have to wait and see.

Lucky Lynx (YouTube) - What Do You Do When You See Disaster in Someone's Future?

This was a timely video for me.

I had someone request a reading recently, and their question was "Is now the best time?". The subject was very sensitive, and one I wasn't about to proffer a flat yes or no on. I told them I would look at what the cards had to say about Now vs. Later and let them decide which way they wanted to go.

"It is not your job... to determine the outcome of their life or their choices. You can simply show them the patterns that you are seeing in a particular oracle and what the oracle tells them, and then it's up to them to make the decision."

Tom Benjamin (YouTube) - For beginners, 3 cards are better than 1

Tom Benjamin produces excellent YouTube videos on a range of cartomantic subjects.

Here he talks about something I've always believed myself - it's better/ easier for beginners to practice with three cards than just one. And he offers a very effective method for validating a reading. How do I know it's effective? I tried it. And the results were so good I'll be using this technique in future.

    

The Frustrated Fortune Teller

Tarot challenges.
Instagram, YouTube, Facebook…

Every time a new one comes along I get all excited and think, “Yay, another reason to play with my lovely cards. Let’s do this!”

And about three days in I’m like, “Judy, how many times? 🙄 You know you don’t get on with these challenges.”

The problem is, I don’t like reading cards without a reason.

Prompts or no prompts, it amounts to the same thing. I’m either pulling cards just to see what shows up, or I’m tackling prompts that most of the time I’m not invested in. And if I were, I wouldn’t necessarily want to be sharing the results with all and sundry.

This is why I don’t do daily draws either. They’re just too vague. There’s no “Need” involved. (Check out Balthazar's video - NEED is The Fuel for The Engine of Divination)

And yes, this does extend to my weekly Colour Focus readings. I work through my discomfort by reminding myself that I’m doing these readings for others; that my intention is to get a message meant for someone out there.

Here I am, surrounded by enough cards to choke a small herd of horses, and I’ve got no one to read for and only rarely do I have anything I want to read on for myself. It’s nuts!

And so I gravitate towards the challenges because mucking about with my cards is better than not using them at all, right? Mmm, not so much. It just ends up feeling empty and slightly exhibitionist.

I really need to find a way to read for other people.

My recent freebie offer was as much a toe-dipping exercise as it was a way of finding out if anyone’s listening.

The problem with free readings is that very often people are attracted more to the “free” than the “reading”. They don’t really have a need either. They’re just taking advantage of getting something for nothing. Who wouldn’t?

So I’d like to charge a small fee. If someone’s willing to part with a couple of quid, they’re more likely to have a real question they’d appreciate an answer to.

Of course, all this would have to be online, via email or snail mail - Hello! 👋 Dyed-in-the-wool introvert here, with strong reclusive tendencies.

That said, I’ve been kicking this idea around for about a year and still I have no idea where to start. I suppose the motivation for this post was to get my thoughts down in writing to see if that might get the ball rolling.

Card reading is fun. Having loads of different decks at my disposal is fun! I’m not about to stop working with them any time soon. But I know I could be doing something useful and it seems such a waste to just be mucking about.

In lieu of a Colour Focus this week - Balthazar! 😉

I'm "away from my desk" this week, and I didn't want to try to squeeze in a Colour Focus reading before I went, so instead, here's another gem from the incomparable Balthazar of Balthazar's Conjure.

I say "another" because he got a lot of airtime on my old blog. And I imagine you'll continue to see quite a bit of him here, too.

I scheduled this post to go live while I'm away, so fingers-crossed a) it's actually happened and b) the formatting is right, 'coz I don't have access to a computer to fix it if it isn't. 😝