Prints

I’ve been asked a lot about larger prints and I finally got it set up. 12 x 18 and 24 x 36 prints, posters, canvas prints and t-shirts. Kindly hosted by Proton Factory.

http://mary-eltarot.protonfactory.com

Devil R, 5 of Wands R, King of Cups

 

 

 

 

 

Card 1 – XV The Devil, reversed.  Separation.

Card 2 – 5 of Wands, reversed.  Perseverance.

Card 3 – King of Cups

The 5 of Wands is back!  And the Devil reversed, both powers of 5.

This Devil is actually my problem card, not because it’s The Devil but because after all this time the card has begun to split and when I shuffle it sometimes a card from the other direction gets stuck in it and I have to stop and pull it apart.  Isn’t that appropriate??

I must admit that this morning I’ve been losing a bit of nerve, thinking, I have all these plans but can I really do them?  Blah blah blah.   Choosing fear!

I found it interesting that the King of Cups is almost the opposite of what I think of as the Devil, he is the master of his own emotions and subconscious, not a victim of it at all, so I think here is a caution to choose this, be conscious of this, rather than succumbing to fear and discouragement in the 5 of Wands R.

 

6 of Disks R, Chariot R, 2 of Swords

 

 

 

 

 

 

Card 1 – 6 of Disks, reversed.  Perfection.

Card 2 – VII The Chariot, reversed.  Free Will.

Card 3 – 2 of Swords.  Conflict.

Another interesting spread.  I’ve mentioned that one of the reasons I do this every day is to keep refining the DMs for the cards, to see how they work together in practice, etc.  The DM I had for the 6 of Disks was “Caring” .  I know what I was getting at when I used that, it was the group of 6s with Forgiveness, Guidance, Passion and then Caring.  All aspects of VI The Lovers and of Tipareth, Love, Beauty, Perfection.

Caring just falls flat for me though.  It doesn’t capture the cards image  or original intent – this was supposed to be Gabriel, the angel who transmits the word of God to mankind, and it’s in the suit of disks because I see the created world as the word of God, the body of God, etc.  Caring?  No.

So seeing it in the context of a reading I knew for sure I had to change it and I changed it to Perfection, which is one of the names of Tipareth.  It isn’t creation itself but an ideal, a Garden of Eden.  You could also see it as a Christ like idea, where everything must flow through here to become created.  So, perfection.  And I could say that on one hand perfection is unobtainable and on the other hand, perfection is all that there is.   (Is that the conflict that exists re: the 2 of Swords?)

Anyway, I think that is the perfect ending for the 6s, the 4 cards of Love, that which draws us together and forward.  Perfection.

Now for me, today, it is reversed.  Does that mean perfection is unobtainable to me?  I would say no, but its the state of mind which needs to change.  And the Chariot reversed, that is a delay in motion.  Delay in motion, delay in perfection, delay in free will.  NAH.  Maybe this is tarot’s way (my subconscious via tarot) to tell me to quit my whining!  There is no such thing as imperfection and what appears to be no motion is perfect.  The conflict is in my mind – 2 of Swords.

I am going to go change some of my notes on the 6 of Disks now.

 

Queen of Swords R, 2 of Cups R, Empress R

 

 

 

 

 

 

Card 1 – Queen of Swords, reversed.  Conservator.

Card 2 – 2 of Cups, reversed.  Relationship.

Card 3 – III Empress, reversed.  Creation.

The first thing I find really striking about this set is that they are all looking the same direction in the same way.  And that direction is one I would associate with moving forward.  Right, positive, yang.

ALSO, I have all of the elements of the Chariot here.  I have the 2 horses.  I have the ravens (if we use the Odinic symbolism) we have the Charioteer.  Who, btw is Creation.

Mind (QS), Heart (2C) and Soul (III) all working together to go forward.

All I can say is, I GET IT!  I finally get it!!

Now, I can go through and read this set of cards in many different ways, and have, and they are all true:)  All layers of this reality.  But the BIG idea here is the forward motion.

 

 

5 of Wands, World R, 3 of Cups

 

 

 

 

 

 

Card 1 – 5 of Wands.  Perseverance.

Card 2 – XXI World, reversed.  Success.

Card 3 – 3 of Cups.  Solidarity.

I am so not surprised to see the 5 of Wands back here today and upright!  A few things that have been bubbling around below the surface of my consciousness have become pretty clear this morning and I’ve been thinking and planning and figuring out where I need to go and what I need to do,   Now, I feel like I’m not struggling, now I have something to move towards, fight for.  My energy knows where to go, the 5 of Wands.

I read the World reversed as saying not to disregard the plan the universe has for me, my place in it, because there is a place.

The 3 of Cups is what happens once I right my direction, it’s a sympathetic current.  I will be in harmony with the movement of the universe rather than struggling against it.  I have a plan!

Perseverance (directing my energy correctly)  will bring success and solidarity with the universe.

 

5 of Wands R, Chariot, Justice

 

 

 

 

 

 

Card 1 – 5 of Wands, reversed.  Perseverance.

Card 2 – VII The Chariot.  Free Will.

Card 3 – VIII Justice.  Balance.

I like this.  The DM I have for the reversed 5 of Wands is:

“R- Bitterness, negativity, succumbing to opposition.”  Bah!!  Sometimes I don’t like my own DMs.  I am constantly revising them or adding notes (which is one of the reasons I do a reading every day – research and I am my own test subject).  I don’t like DMs that are not empowering, even though yes bad things happen, yes we give up, we give up hope, we screw up, all kinds of fuckery goes on, but you can just see that or you can say I have this energy, what do I do with it?  What is the best way to channel it into the life I want and to become the person I want to be?  So, I thing because of that, and because I know myself, and because of the context, I don’t buy the idea that I am succumbing to the negativity 😛

What I see here is that giving up the struggle will set me free, will allow motion (remember the jello?) will allow Justice, which is exactly what I describe above, being able to create what you want within the chaos of what is.

Of course I don’t know how to do that.  I guess that’s the trick! Something I’ll think about today.

Again I am struggling with something inside (another possible DM for this card reversed!). My own roadblocks as opposed to external ones.  BTW, the 5s end and resolve with the 5 of Disks which is inner peace, heaven in your heart.

When I can no longer struggle against myself I will begin to move forward and I will be responsible for creating the life and self I want.

Page Swords R, 4 of Disks R, Strength

 

 

 

 

 

 

Card 1 – Page of Swords, reversed.  Aspire.

Card 2 – 4 of Disks, reversed.  Stability.

Card 3 – XI Strength.  Fortitude.

It’s been rough going!  Just a lot of tedious work and it feels like any progress or forward motion is through jello.  I think that’s why the first 2 cards are reversed.  The Page of Swords I think of as aspiration and enthusiastic pursuit of knowledge and also as needing to rise to the occasion.

The 4 of Disks is one that usually tells me that I am on the right road that leads to the end.  On the right path, doing the right thing.   But that one is reversed too!  Reversed it can mean instability or feeling like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.

Being reversed, I don’t want to say that the ideas of the cards aren’t there at all, rather I would say that they are just difficult or slow going right now.

The Strength is what it takes to get through.  Common theme for me right now.  All in all pretty good, just slow and tedious.

I aspire to a place of stability and with fortitude I will get there.

8 of Disks, 3 of Swords, Queen of Disks

 

 

 

 

 

 

Card 1 – 8 of Disks

Card 2 – 3 of Swords

Card 3 – Queen of Disks

When I first saw this I couldn’t help but see what my main job is today, which is get the kids ready for the first day of school tomorrow.  In particular Rex, who will be going to his first day of middle school!!!!!

I think I am way more nervous than him!  He is still a little kid going into the big world!  Like the lamb in the 8 of Disks, but nowhere near as dramatic I’m sure!  It’s a gateway into bigger and better things and I know my time with the little Rex is almost over, pretty soon he will be turning into the big Rex (and that cute awkward stage in-between).

I don’t feel heartbroken which is a traditional DM for the 3 of Swords, rather  I feel like I’m savoring all the happy little moments because I know they won’t be around forever.

The Queen of Disks is , well I always think of the rose garden behind her, she is gardening, growing, making a path, taking care of things, nurturing and loving, and all of her work and tears make diamonds.  My kids are my 3 beautiful diamonds and tomorrow is a let go a little bit more day.

I could go on but I’ll leave it at that.

 

Tower, Knight of Cups, King of Wands

 

 

 

 

 

 

Card 1 – XVI The Tower, Destruction

Card 2 – Knight of Cups, Hero/Idealist

Card 3 – King of Wands, Provider

Wow, interesting spread!  This one would usually freak me out a bit especially since I have big plans out with the kids today.  It’s high time I get over my fear (.) of this card The Tower.  I have destruction as the keyword for this card but I’m thinking about changing it to Fear.  Because that lies behind the destruction I think.

Then these other two cards are almost the opposite! Or maybe they are the opposing forces of Fear, the antidote; idealism, purity of heart, the Knight of Cups, and the illuminating selfless good energy of the King of Wands, like the Sun.  Dispel fear by being pure of heart, doing the right thing and illuminating whatever is dark and unknown, even denial.

Destruction, idealism, provider.

I think today I will let go of fear by being aware of what I am doing and doing what is right.

 

Knight of Swords reversed, Page of Swords, 8 of Disks

 

 

 

 

 

 

I see there’s some wind action going on here.  And Arthur is moving by the outer banks today:)

Card 1 – Knight of Swords reversed, Intellectual

Card 2 – Page of Swords, Aspire

Card 3 – 8 of Disks reversed, Present Moment

The first thing I noticed with this is the strong red and golds in all 3 cards which makes me think along the lines of flesh and soul.  It also gives me a feeling of trepidation.

One of the DMs I have for the reversed Knight of Swords is overthinking things, creating problems where none exist.  I can see that.  I think that is one of my minds tricks to distract me from working, to deflect from what’s important.  Then again, I might be overthinking overthinking! Sometimes things need to be thought about!

Aspire, someone who is seeking to gain knowledge.  That’s why I’m overthinking, I’m trying to figure it out, though maybe it’s not very effective.

A clue in what I should be paying attention to is the present moment, the 8 of Disks, BUT its reversed so I am probably trapped in the past or letting the past color my thinking.

 

Today I am going to aspire to keep my thoughts on the present moment.