Eight of Wands: A Kick Up The Bum!

(If I knew how to turn this image upside down I would have. Can anyone help me with this on Blogger?

Sometimes when you are reading the cards they turn up upside down. There are some Tarot teachers who ascribe a different meaning to the card when it does. Personally, I've never paid much attention to upside down cards but it is certainly interesting to contemplate the possibilities.

If the 8 of Wands means you are about to see progress for your efforts when it's upright maybe when it's upside down it means it's time for you to put in a lot of effort. It's a kick up the bum in other words. You need to shoot those wands (your skills and talents) up into the sky, put them out into the world, if you want to see progress.

What do you think?

Eight of Wands: Christmas for Grown Ups!

I love getting the Eight of Wands but it doesn't happen often. This card means things are going to happen for you quickly. Look at the imagery. Eight wands are flying down to earth. Buds blossom from the wood. The land is green and fertile primed for new growth.

Once you get into your 30s and 40s life becomes pretty dull and routine. Not that this is a bad thing, I love my dull routine. But it's good to have something change every once in a while. Keeps you on your toes. And with the Eight of Wands it's change that you have actually been working towards. The sky suddenly opens up in an area of your life where things have felt stalled. It's like receiving a gift. Like Christmas for grown ups.

I'm working towards publishing novels. That is the Eight of Wands change I am seeking in my life. What about you? What would you like to grow?

Everyday and Lifelessons Tarot

I've never liked the phrases 'Minor Arcana' and 'Major Arcana' which are used to refer to the two types of card you find in Tarot. These terms are meaningless to a modern audience. As a writer I believe strongly that it is important for words to conjure up the things of which they speak. So I've been raking my brain to come up with more contemporary titles.

The Minor Arcana consists of cards that deal with day-to-day situations and don't have so much weight so I've decided to dub it Everyday Tarot.

The Major Arcana was harder to sum up and I'm not sure I'm happy with what I've come up with: Life Lessons Tarot. And should lifelessons be one word or two? These are the heavy cards that encapsulate a major life experience.

What would you call the Minor and Major Arcana if you could rename them?

The Holy Book - Volume 3

And now we come to the scary part. The cards that will shake, rattle and roll your world. The last 7 cards of Tarot's Holy Book are the most intense to live through. But if you can manage these energies in a positive way you get to hit the jackpot: You get The World!

The Devil: Living in denial

The Tower: Reaching breaking point

The Star: Finding sanctuary

The Moon: Revealing hidden depths

The Sun: Being fully yourself

Judgement: Being called into action

The World: Being at peace

Most people are scared of The Devil but it's The Tower that can really crush you IMHO. What do you think?

Hanging Around with The Hanged Man

The Hanged Man doesn’t look comfortable does he? And yet even though he is twisted up in knots he doesn’t seem too bothered by the strange position he finds himself in. There is no struggle, more like resignation. If anything, he looks like he is away with the pixies, meditating maybe. (Might be all that blood rushing to his head!)

There is a myth associated with The Hanged Man. It is the story of Odin. Odin was a North European god who hung himself on a tree in a sacrificial ritual which was meant to revitalize him. As he hung about he noticed some stones with magical writing lying beneath him. With a great deal of effort he managed to grab one and was immediately released from the tree.

What are the themes here?

Being pushed outside your comfort zone

Making sacrifices

Resignation

Reflection

Waiting for a sign

The Hanged Man is that niggling emotional state you can’t shake when you know something in your life has to change, you’re just not always sure what or how. But in your search to discover that something you will need to move out of your comfort zone and make some kind of sacrifice.

It is the card of preparing to move house or leave your partner, pregnancy and home renovations. When everything in your world can be literally turned upside down.

Can you relate?

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Fortune Telling Free Zone

I'm not big on fortune telling. By that I mean, reading the cards for other people. I'll do it if I have to, if you twist my arm, but I'd a million times rather help you learn to read the cards for yourself. The thing with Tarot is that the meanings of each card shift depending on the person and the situation they are referring to. That is why the 10-card Celtic Cross is a popular spread: the more cards, the clearer the message. But ultimately the best judge of what the cards are saying will always be YOU.

It's kind of like how dreams can have different meanings for different people. Dreaming of fabric means creativity for one person and represents mum for another. Only you can truly say what the dream has meant.

I do believe that there are people out there who are incredibly intuitive/psychic/call-it-what-you-will who are able to tell people things about themselves and their future. But I don't know that it's always appropriate to do so. Or helpful.

Fortune telling can be damaging.


You can spend years waiting for the man you're meant to have 3 kids and a big house with to materialise and in the meantime stop working for those things yourself. And then maybe they don't happen. Life can pass you by that way. I don't think you're meant to lie back and let Tarot do all the work.

I've never forgotten the well-known numerologist at a New Age expo who did my numbers and my now ex-husband's numbers and told me I was a bitch. I mean, sure, fair cop, I was young and had a lot to learn about relationships but (a) I don't think that advice was helpful and (b) I don't think that was a complete summary of my personality at that time. And it's hard to wash those words out of your psyche once they've been said by a so-called professional.

What about you? How helpful or not have you found Tarot card readings?

The Holy Book - Volume 2

The second volume of the Holy Book aka Major Arcana aka Mostus Importantus Cardsus follows the journey of a human soul into adulthood. The cards are as follows:

Strength - Developing confidence

The Hermit - Seeking guidance

The Wheel of Fortune - Experiencing ups and downs

Justice - Weighing your options

The Hanged Man - Being pushed outside your comfort zone / Making sacrifices

Death - Moving on

Temperance - Finding balance

Often one experience leads to another. Lack of confidence can lead you to seek guidance. Experiencing ups and downs in the workplace or at home can lead you to weigh your options. After weighing up your options, you might decide to pursue a new job/partner/home leading to you being pushed outside your comfort zone and eventually moving on. Then you have to make adjustments to your life to accommodate the changes you have made e.g. Leave earlier for work. Find another way to keep in contact with friends from your old workplace. Redecorate.

The knee bones connected to the thigh bone. Even in Tarot. (And you thought it wouldn't make any sense, lol!)

The card I get most often out of this lot is The Hanged Man. My whole life has been a lesson in patience. Hopefully in my forties I'm getting there. What's the card that means most to you?