Fire

Trust no one. This card is exhausting to look at. At least the familiar traditonal image. 9 is the last single number, and like all 9’s, the completion of a cycle when the 10 will bring us back to 1 (1+0) . A man stands alert and ready for battle, his long staff tightly gripped with both hands, his other 8 clubs planted firmly in the ground behind him, guarding them with what is left of his life as this doesn’t appear be his first battle as we can see from his wounded and bandaged bloody head. This man (or woman) is more than a bit of a badass, and he or she has in fact come a long way on a hard road.

This is the suit of fire (Leo/Aries/Sagittarius) and this poor fighter is burning up a lot of energy living in defense mode. He’s wary and protective of how far he has come and what he’s achieved. He’s successful, but can’t see himself that way. Someone who grew up poor or had a tough childhood, now has success and is chronically afraid of losing it, or someone taking it from them. This is not entirely in his head, this is his experience. It’s a troubled card, for sure, but we have to admire this person’s perseverance and resolve.

The Morgan-Greer card has a lot of fire: reds, yellows, sun-parched mountains in the distance.The soldier here does not look injured, but proud, and holds his staff almost casually over his shoulder like a baseball bat.

It’s Spring and *they’re* wanting me to use a baseball analogy which is very funny and actually not bad, so I will.

It’s tied at the end of the 9th inning, and the game is going to go over into extra innings. Let’s say it’s the World Series. Players are all tired, but tense and alert. Maybe the pitcher sprained something back in the 6th but he’s gotta power through. So, things are close, it’s on the line, and nobody on the field is trusting anybody else on the field and there’s weird finger signals and touching caps and wink wink and at the end of the day all those innings are going to belong to whoever wins the game. The final round is the only one that’s gonna matter. So they’re running on sheer will and adrenalin but someone will make that last play that will win the whole World Series in that last inning. Hopefully it’s our guy, who looks like he’s done most of the heavy lifting. But if he drops his guard for one second and somebody steals home, well…

It’s happened to him before, and he’s not letting it happen again.

17 April 18: The Chariot / 8 of Swords

Help is on the way. That is the only thing I’d written after drawing these cards awhile ago this morning, but then realized…

I had no coffee.

What do I do? I’ve already drawn the cards and have already started writing and NOW what do I do? Oh no I’ll never be able to finish this now because all I’ll be thinking about is if I can wring another cup out of the grounds that are left in the pot. Should I go get it now, or should I wait? I can’t wait. Crap. it’ll take forever if I go out now.

See? That Eight of Swords is a card of imprisonment. The image on the card is that of a woman, blindfolded, surrounded by what looks like a ‘jail’ of 8 swords stuck in the ground all around her, like prison bars. But they’re not. She can’t see, or doesn’t want to see, that she is free to move, run, leave, and come and go as she pleases.

The Chariot is forward movement, taking control. The driver of the Chariot holds the reins firmly, bringing the two horses who seem to threaten to run off in different directions together in sync to pull the ornate vehicle. This is making an effort, making a move, a journey, an actual escape. Determination. Perseverance.

This is help on the way – or you’re finally determined to ‘break out’ of your own self-imposed ‘prison’.

What’s the big deal? Jump in the car and go get coffee already.

So I did, came back, here I am.

Break your own rules once in awhile.

PS: This could be emergency vehicles and rescue, even a dog team, out to find those stranded in snow or weather.

Help is on the way.

16 April 18: Seven of Wands/Clubs/Fire

Drop your guard, or not? This an active card, and Wands/Rods/Clubs being of the fire suit (Aries, Sagittarius, Leo) are rarin’ to go, no doubt, given the green light by their very own New Moon in Aries.

7 being the uneven number that it is, the man on this card, positioned with his staff held firmly across his chest and ready to defend himself and his own 7 sprouting, new-ly leaf’d branches, is smart enough to know that whatever he has accomplished can easily be taken away from him, so he is forever defending himself, his work, and his point of view.

This was my idea!

Well, fight for it then. Stand up for yourself.

If that idea or plan was really, really yours, and truly important to you on a cellular level, and you really, really believe in it, then you will have no problem fighting for it. Don’t let other bully-people take credit for what you do. Stand up for your work. This man isn’t defending his money (coins), he’s defending his ideas, which are divinely inspired. Or is it his ego at stake? Both.

Nobody ever got anywhere without having to defend, or stand up for, their way of life, beliefs, and identity. But this is not a card of war or conflict, this is a card of proudly standing by your very choices in life.

You may have to do that today and you’re on top, for sure, just make sure you really believe in what you’re fighting so hard to maintain.

It’s Monday. Put forth that 7-day plan and stick to it.

15 April 18: Judgment

The Awakening. I could make myself crazy looking back at the archives on previous readings of this card, but it wouldn’t necessarily mean anything today, in this particular space and time. Cosmic, yes? Yes. Today is Beautiful Sunday, influenced by Neptune, who is the Big Daddy of water signs Pisces, Scorpio, and Cancer. Dreamy and of the heart.

I’m no astrologer, but I know Mercury is now direct, meaning we can stop treading water and going over and revisiting and revising whatever and maybe we’ll stop misplacing things and appliances will stop frying. All systems go. Also, a brand new moon in Aries today, and she’s wanting action.

The Resurrection is the familiar Tarot image of Judgment. An angel emerges from the clouds to blow a golden horn like a flying snakecharmer raising the dead from their graves. Men, women and children all rise from their opened coffins, arms outstretched. This End of the World thing is not exclusive to Christianity or the Bible, the idea is consistent in many pre-Christian cultures.

Let’s take a breath and look at the Salvador Dali card.

In the accompanying book describing the cards of Dali’s deck, ‘Judgment’ is described as ‘a choice between good and evil’ and ‘men freed from the shadows of the world’. His illustration is much more complicated than that.

I’ve noticed that when Dali’s figures appear as line drawings, outlines of figures, as on this card, he means ‘other people’. I think. On this card, there is only one recognizable figure rising up out of a gold coffin surrounded by other figures whose faces are obscured by butterflies, or their butterflies ‘can’t fly’ due to the weight of the religious robes we can see on their bodies: one is in a red robe, the other in a robe trimmed in gold. There is an angel blowing a golden horn, but he’s blowing it directly at the only figure who seems to hear it – or who the angel is choosing to hear it. The angel is only aiming that horn at one person – a dreamy bearded hipster who looks an awful lot like Jesus. It seems the richly-robed butterfly heads – Jesus has a butterfly on his head, too, but it’s black, not blue, the color of their dreams – aren’t listening, they don’t hear the horn.

On either side of this scene are the loosely painted, sketchy outlines of two faces, turned inward, as if judging.

But the Awakened is not listening to the faceless hordes, only to the horn, who is trying to breathe life into his dead butterfly.

Salvador, you truly exhaust me.

So ‘The Awakening’ is really the essence of this card today it seems.

Spring and all.

This card can also mean feeling a calling of some kind – so whatever you feel you are called to do – from the deepest place within – all systems are go.

14 April 18: The Fool

Go with the flow. The Fool you are familiar with as the Joker in a regular pack of playing cards, so that’s a good place to start to understand this important character of the Tarot. The Fool’s number is absolute Zero, that is O, that is Nothing, because that’s where he’s always starting from. He don’t care.

The Joker was the Court Jester, the in-house stand-up comedian whose job it was to amuse the King, Queen, Court, and the Royal Kids. He was so valuable and so reliable in his ability to seize the moment and create joy and laughter on the spot that the Jester was the only one who could get away with mocking the King without getting his head chopped off.

Today is Saturday which is under the planet Uranus, the eccentric planet of innovation and sudden surprises. Uranus is also the linked with The Fool, so who knows who this wacky guy or girl or gender-fluid person is, but they’re fun to hang out with, because they’re open to anything. Unless you have to be home by 11:00. The Fool carries no clock.

He wanders with his dog, who always reminds me of Sancho Panza, Don Quixote’s loyal Page. In the traditional decks the baby-faced, ageless Fool is shown unknowingly about to step off a cliff. He is so rapt looking up and around and skipping along he ignores the ground beneath his feet. His dog is trying to warn him. He may be a Fool, but he’s smart enough to have a good dog.

He carries a white rose, symbolizing purity of spirit and a feminine receptivity: show me what you got, world. He also carries a hobo’s staff with a small cloth sack tied up at the end, which in the Morgan-Greer deck I just have to point out look like a new pair of balls. I call ’em as I see ’em. This loco stands in front of the King and makes jokes about his bad breath? *Balls.

He left the rule books behind, this fresh-faced Fool. He’s down for taking a risk, and he doesn’t care what anybody else thinks. He’s following his foolish heart, and, just starting out at Zero, knows nothing yet of fear or self-consciousness, and therefore anything is possible.

“To appear mad is the secret of wise men” – Aeschylus

*”His beggars wallet, the color of flesh, is his last earthly possession” – from The Tarot: Art, Mysticism, and Divination by Sylvie Simon.

13 April 18: Page of Cups, Ace of Coins

Contemplating the right path. The Page of Cups aka ‘Emo Kid’ has been written about quite a bit in the archives, but today I’m comparing our traditional dreamy, spacey little emotional Page to the much lighter, happier Page of Salvador Dali’s deck.

The Page is a young, fragile, gender fluid sort of soul possibly not of robust physical constitution. He’s all kinds of water: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces. Emotionally an adolescent, this page is pushed and pulled by the tides of his emotions and probably of those around him or her as well. He contemplates a fish that rises up to deliver a message from the golden goblet set before him: am I dreaming this? Celtic lore recognizes the fish as a symbol of wisdom and prophecy, the tarot depicts this little blue dream-fish as representing the subconscious. This poetic page turns inward, preferring to live in his own world.

Dali’s Page is also overcome with emotion, but rather than the quiet, introverted Page of the Morgan-Greer card, Dali’s young Page stands in a grand pose, arms outstretched, one shoulder draped in a rose velvet cape, the other holding high the same golden goblet, but instead of a freaky little talking fish (telepathically of course), perched on the edge of Dali’s cup is white bird who seems to be singing to this joyful Page, who seems to be singing himself, as if repeating the song brought down to him by the bird. A strange red-eyed creature (anger/sadness/angst?) hovers in space around the Page, who does not notice it, so elated is he, so overcome with his joy. He feels too much! He must sing! Interesting.

The familiar Ace of Pentacles – – the beginning, the seed of the suit of Coins or Pentacles (of the earth: Virgo, Taurus, Capricorn) is the card of prosperity. Money. The familiar Morgan-Greer card illustrates the Great Hand in the Sky, breaking through the clouds to offer us this golden disc, this Ace, this chance, this opportunity. Gift. Ring. Offer. Proposal. We stand on a path that winds down the middle of a beautiful garden through an archway out to the ocean and beyond. An offer of a new beginning of work we enjoy, and which will bring us security and peace. Is this the right thing for me? Analysis paralysis. Wake up, honey. It is definitely the right thing for you.

Dali’s Ace is very masculine, almost violent, straight and to the point. At the base of the card is what looks like a mature oak tree. A hand extends a large gold Pentacle from which more branches sprout. I always use an acorn for an analogy when reading Aces, and apparently Dali does as well. However, the most striking image is the rather disturbing red mess through which the hand extends the coin: this card actually looks like a violent, human, physical birth. Makes me queasy. The birth of a great work of literature or art can be pretty bloody, as well, or so I’ve heard.

These 2 Pages make an interesting, almost bi-polar combination side by side. They are both overcome with emotion, one melancholy, one maniacally joyful. Both make the point.

So we have a few stories we could tell here. Pages bring news, so we could be hearing about a pregnancy but it may not be an easy one. Best to stay happy, like Dali’s page, and stay in the joy, not the worry. Stay still (calm water).

This is a brilliant card for growers, and he may be contemplating going into the cannabis industry. Hemp. Excellent. Herbals, healing topicals. Dali’s oak tree could have been a nice bush of kush.

Save the farmers and get us out of debt, kid!

More often than not this Page is inspired and whether taken entirely seriously or not, possibly because of his or her young age or from just having a general demeanor of a ‘space cadet’ has a vision, and if nurtured, could really bring something great to the world.

Do not overmedicate this child, do you hear me? I always notice the pinned pupils of the kid on the Morgan-Greer card, and, well, he is talking to a fish. But he’s in the upright position here, just in touch with his or her muse. Daydreaming again…don’t dumb them down to fit into this ‘life model’ that isn’t really working for a whole lot of people.

An artist, poet, psychic, singer. Dreams are gifts from the collective consciousness of the artists, visionaries, writers and creators before us. We are simply here to continue the work.

Making them real is alchemy..ask Dali. Or Nikola Tesla. Or Joe Meek.

12 April 18: Ace of Swords, reversed

Stormy weather. To say the least. I don’t want to give this mighty Ace any more power than it has already – which is a hell of a lot – so I’ll just assume it’s a comment on this morning’s desert weather. The weirdly colored sky is a weak grayish-yellowish tint I can only describe as jaundice, and the wind is crashing in from all directions. It’s very unsettled and uncomfortable. Howling and groaning. Don’t like this sky. Don’t like this wind.

The Ace of Swords is of the extreme power and energy of the Air (Gemini, Aquarius, Libra). This double-edged sword appears upright in the Tarot 3 times: also on the Queen of Swords who holds her sword upright with clarity and confidence, able to analyze both sides of the situation, and Justice herself who uses her sword to cut through the bullshit to the truth to bring resolution. This card is about the power of the logical mind. Intelligence. Reason. It is a card of conquest and domination.

Reversed, this is plain tyranny. This is tension, mental imbalance and stress. Somebody isn’t in their right mind and not thinking clearly. This can lead to ‘cutting’ words and arguments. This is not a good atmosphere at all, this is losing control of one’s temper and the resulting self-destruction.

This isn’t good, but it can’t last forever. Perhaps your usual drive and determination have temporarily deserted you, or you’re not thinking straight for some reason. Step back until you’re sure. You may be acting unreasonably or have had a pretty harsh setback of some kind which may have had something to do with a legal or tax situation. As much as these things can affect us emotionally, this card reminds us that the solutions are always about chopping up the problems into pieces and taking logical steps to resolve them.

One of the keywords for this card reversed is ‘debacle’. What’s it gonna be today?

Watch those crazy ass mean tweets, it’s like sending little knives through the air…