Why The Devil Card Is Your Friend

There's a numerology trick you can do with your birthdate to work out which Tarot card rules you each year. I've found this formula very reliable and will share it with you one day (if you ask me I'll share it with you tomorrow.) Next year I'm going to be living under the influence of The Devil card and I'm nervous about that.

Last time this card ruled my year I met a guy who broke my heart and was utterly miserable. But here's the thing, eventually I was forced to acknowledge that it was my choice not to be in that relationship. He did things that didn't sit well with me. This caused me to reluctantly break up with him the first time and criticise him so that he broke up with me the second time. There were more times than that but I won't go on. Pathetic isn't it. That's who you are in The Devil card. Are you listening Rihanna?

I am the queen of what I call 'Relationship Interruptus'. In other words, my relationships have been very short-lived. But that particular experience taught me that I'm responsible for this situation. That it has been my choice. Because I'd rather write than have a partner.

I also got my weight under control for the first time in my life during that year. Because I was so miserable I undertook a strict diet that changed my body chemistry. And that brought me a great deal of satisfaction. The Devil card contains great power if you can tap into it. That's his gift. This is how The Devil is your friend. As well as the fact that he acts as a massive warning warning danger danger alert card to prevent you from making terrible mistakes. And we all need one of those, don't we?

As for next year, well, I have very strong poverty consciousness so I'm guessing I'm going to be hit where it will hurt most, in the wallet. I'm planning renovations in April-May and am worried this is going to chain me to a debt burden I'm not currently equipped to manage. The Devil card would suggest this is indeed the case. I'd be much better off waiting until the following year when I'm under the influence of The Tower card to do my renovations. The Tower represents breaking down old structures, loll. But the issue will be whether I can wait. My house is falling apart and is uncomfortable to live in and I feel under pressure from my daughter to make it nicer for her too. The Devil often involves social pressure. He says you should never let others make choices for you but when it's your children it's hard to say no.

People are scared of The Devil card for good reason. It's hard to face up to your weaknesses. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it or not. (But if any of my friends are reading this post no doubt you'll remind me and thanks for that.)  The Devil card needs to look good and scary or you might not pay attention to him.

How do you feel about The Devil card?

Jobs For The Boys (I Mean Kings)

This is an equal opportunity blog so it seems only fair to do to the boys what was done to the girls yesterday, keeping tongue firmly in cheek as we ask: What kind of man does each King card represent? What kind of job might he have?

King of Wands: A man who wants to be his own boss or live on the wildside. The small business man. The self-employed. The entrepreneur. The media magnate. The high-rise window-washer. The wildlife warrior. The fireman. The emergency services worker. The primary school teacher. The demolitions expert. The film director.

King of Swords: A man who cuts through the crap. The butt kicker. The CEO. The lawyer. The accountant. The judge. The justice of the peace. The salary man. The human rights activist. The humanitarian. The writer. The philosopher. The journalist. The blogger. The academic. The army officer. The diplomat. The linguist. The researcher. The scientist. The detective. The computer programmer.

King of Cups: A man who acts from the heart. The team player. The tortured artiste. The stay-at-home dad. The doctor. The over-stretched social worker. The musician. The pub owner (and the alcoholic). The priest. The anti-hunting protestor. The childcare worker. The communist. The vet. The actor.

King of Pentacles: A man who respects traditions. The business man. The tradie working with his hands. The hard working employee. The board member. The president of the local Rotary club. The parliamentarian. The bishop. The historian. The TV newsreader. The sugar daddy. The suit and tie. The Republican.

Any other suggestions?

Yo Girl, Which Queen Are You?

Court cards are complicated. I'm talking page, knight, queen and king. They seem to have a lot of different meanings which I'm still coming to grips with. One of the things they can definitely represent is people. People you know or you yourself. I thought it would be fun to take a tongue-in-cheek look at the Queen cards and guess what kind of woman they would be in real life. Keep in mind that Queens represent the epitome of womanhood for each suit. They're not girls they're mature women in their prime.

The Queen of Wands: The ultimate multi-tasker. She's the working mum at her ferocious best juggling lots of different balls in the air. Her heart lies wherever her children can be found. Happy to be at home or away. Sporty. Might play tennis once a week to catch up with friends and keep fit. Killing two birds with one stone is her speciality.

The Queen of Swords: Ms Career Woman. Focused like a heat seeking missile on the task at hand. Able to shrug off distractions with a single shrug of her padded Armani suited shoulders. She's the one you want arguing your case in court. A stickler for keeping on schedule. Her office is her stronghold. Kids go to creche and eat dinner in front of the television (yes, my hand is up for this last one, guilty as charged your honour.)

The Queen of Cups: Your basic hippie-hearted Earth mother who lets her kids run around barefoot in winter and stay up until they fall asleep on the couch. She probably also talks to them like their adults, lol. Always running late for appointments. Artistic but never makes any money out of it. She builds castles in the air. Loves animals.

The Queen of Pentacles: She's the one running the PFA, volunteering for school canteen duty and tut tutting over those mothers who let their offspring run wild at cafes and restaurants (See Queen of Cups above). Bakes a damn fine muffin for afternoon tea and always has dinner ready when hubby comes home. Probably expects everyone to eat at the table to boot. Her spick and span house is her castle.

Of course there's more to it than that but I'm feeling flippant today. So girls, which queen are you?

Three Of Wands: Go For It!

 

I want to focus on the Three of Wands today but I've included a photo of the Two of Wands because the two cards are very similar in some ways and I want to look at that.

In the Three of Wands a man stands looking out at the horizon holding onto a wand with two more at his back. As I said yesterday, wands represent skills, talents or enterprizes you embark on. The number three stands for growth. Like in the Two of Wands the man is holding a wand while contemplating the horizon as if searching for inspiration. You feel like he's still weighing his options. But here his horizons, the possibilities, are far wider.

The difference this time round is that he has some runs on the board. There are more wands at his back. And look where he's standing: On the ground not atop some airy-fairy castle. His tattered and torn garments also indicate that he's been around the block.

And notice how you can't see his left arm. This suggests he's considering leaving behind the wand on that side. Whatever it might represent.

Receiving this card in a reading means that you are facing a situation where you have the opportunity to grab something new. But in doing so you may have to leave something behind, something you're good at. Maybe a particular job or a whole career or just the way you make the bed. Not always an easy thing to do. Especially when you've experienced success in that area of your life. Habits are hard to break and the familiar feels safe. But wands ask you to be brave. (I folded a mean hospital corner on my bedsheets as a kid but heck when fitted sheets and doonas came along it seemed crazy not to go with the fluff and run school of bed-making. I've never looked back.)

This card says go for it. Your ship is literally coming in, several of them in fact. Lol.

Can you think of any examples of a Three of Wands situation you have recently faced in your life?

2 Be Or Not 2 Be (Me)!

This is the Two Of Wands. I get this card a lot although it's not one I've spent a great deal of time thinking about. The meaning's obvious isn't it? The man in the card is facing some kind of choice.

Number two Tarot cards deal with duality. There are always two things that need to be balanced or judged or juggled. While wands represent skills and talents or enterprises you embark upon. The man is holding a globe in one hand and a wand in the other like he is weighing them against one another. He's already accomplished some things as evidenced by the other wand on his right side and by the fact that he is dressed well and standing on top of what-looks-like a castle. He stares out at the horizon as if seeking inspiration about his next move. The world spread at his feet. In the Tarot of Numbers I labelled this card 'Weighing Your Options.'

The Biddy Tarot website says that the globe represents that the world is his oyster. That the man can do anything he sets his mind to. And so that may be.

But I think there's a deeper level of meaning here. The man is not choosing between two skills. He's choosing between what the world or life demands of him and some part of himself that he'd like to develop. In one sense he is choosing whether or not to be true to himself, to express himself freely.

Now Tarot doesn't judge. It may be that there are times when the world comes first. That this card is telling you that you need to put other considerations before your own at the moment. But Tarot does recommend. Ultimately developing your skills and talents is something that is encouraged.

To be me or not to be me. Fully yourself in every situation. I've struggled with that. Have you?

The Rider-Waite Tarot Deck (Or Should That Be, Smith-Waite?)

There are a lot of different Tarot card decks you can choose to read from. Some people slerp around when it comes to Tarot and use lots of different decks whereas I'm strictly monogamous. I only use the Rider Waite which is the most popular of the lot in the English speaking world. (In Latin countries it's the Tarot de Marseille.)

The deck was drawn by a woman called Pamela Colman Smith under instruction from a man named A. E. Waite who was an academic and mystic. It was first published by the Rider Company in England in 1909. Rider-Waite, get it. Don't you love how the woman centrally involved in the production of these cards was ignored when it came to naming the deck? This is mostly the fault of the American toy manufacturer who has produced them for the last 40 odd years. Maybe we should start a movement to change the deck's name to Smith-Waite instead? I know that some Tarot writers refer to it as RWS for short. Either or.

I love how practical this deck is. Not airy fairy at all. I'm a practical girl living in a practical world (practical, material, whatever.) The images are very concrete. Makes them easy to read. There's lots of information too giving you plenty of food for thought. Plenty of clues to the message of each card. In the olden olden days when playing cards were used fortune tellers had to learn all the meanings by rote. Imagine that! Whereas the Smith-Waite deck hands everything to us on a platter.

It does have one major drawback however. One I hadn't noticed until I started this blog and people from around the world started liking my Facebook page. The people in Rider-Waite are very whitebread. Very English looking. That's not very inclusive is it? And to those who say I'm being too politically correct I say tosh and nonsense. Tarot reading is an intimate art. The cards speak to you in a personal way. So it's important that you feel they can represent you.

Luckily this deck came out of copyright this year (and hence this blog began, yay.) So now it's possible for someone to recast the images in other shapes, sizes and skin colors. What about a Fat Girl Smith-Waite? I'd like to see that. (Am I allowed to say that? Lol.)

What version would you like to see?

Tarot Trolls

I had my first Tarot troll yesterday. Somebody left a message on my Facebook page 'The Tarot Teaclub' saying I should repent because it says in the Bible that astrology et al are evil. I can't tell you the exact wording because it's been deleted. It was a hit and run.

I pointed out that if she'd read my posts she would know that I don't use Tarot cards in that way. In fact I actively discourage fortune telling. It can lock you into a particular future. If you believe something will happen you can make it happen. Beliefs are pretty powerful things. As I've said before Tarot cards for me are very much An Agony Aunt In A Box. A bit of counsel to help me keep my head together.

And I'm not anti-Christian. Far be it from me to boo hoo any religion. Anyway, I think you can use Tarot cards and be a Christian at the same time. Tarot is big enough for that. (Now there's a revelation.)

But you know it was kinda nice that someone said something. People have been joining the Facebook page and signing up for the emails from my blog but no one's been leaving any comments. I'm assuming that's because most people don't know much about Tarot cards but I could be wrong about that. Maybe I sound completely crazy? Anyone need to set me straight?

I used The Devil card to illustrate this post because one of its meanings is wanting to live in the dark. Look at the people in that card. They're not looking for a light switch are they? And when someone preaches AT me rather than talks TO me than they aren't looking for light to be thrown on a subject are they?

No doubt there will be many more Tarot trolls to come. And all I can be is tolerant and compassionate. Because that's what Tarot teaches me to be with the Judgement card, the penultimate one of the deck. But more on that another day.

How do you deal with trolls?