Tarot Working, The Chariot

The Chariot.

I had chariot music in my head for much of the week. “Swing low, sweet chariot”, both the gospel version and the Parliament version (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEfIkuTtzQ4).

I did my formal scrying session earlier in the week than I normally do. The session started with some hiccups. I propped up my card and settled myself to get to work. I began to call on the Chariot and the card falls over. I set it back up and begin again, calling as I have for the past cards, but there is nothing happening. So I decide to raise my voice loudly and call again and it was like a switch flipped on. I needed to command. The background of the card seemed to swirl with energy and the charioteer took a pleased expression on his face. His nose turns yellow. I call him to be an ally with me and he smiles.

I ask him, “what lessons can you teach me?” In response a monstrous mouth, a dragon’s mouth, open at his belly but it passes quickly. He points to a horizontal bar on the chariot “ready the field”. Then I see rays beaming down onto him from above, “receive your blessings”.

I ask, “what are the names of your horses?” He says “Endurance [the horse on the left] and Escape [the horse on the right]” Escape looks directly at me with an appraising look, weighing me.

I ask, “what does your banner represent?” He says, “I travel the night sky.” I ask, “are you the Sun?” and he says “no, I am on the other side of the Fixed Stars” and I see him as the driving force behind the Premium Mobile. I see an image of an asteroid, a great stone hurling through space, with the charioteer standing on top and the two horses appear to be men steering the asteroid seated in the front. It reminds me of the captain and the helmsmen of a television spaceship.

I ask, “what’s the deal with your epaulets?” He says, “they are Dour and Hopeful, Love and Fear, the two motivations.”

I ask, “how can I use your energy in my life?” In response the card becomes obscure except for his face which seems to come forward from the card, “clarity” and then “breaking out of darkness, illumination from heaven” and then “knowing true motivations.”

Then the conversation kind of lulls and we just sort of sit there looking at each other so I close the session calling on the Chariot to be at peace and to be a presence in my life.

The Wolfcoin

 

Did I ever tell you about my Wolfcoin? It's one of my divination tools for yes/no questions. I consecrated it long ago. I carry it with me. Each morning I ask it "will you answer my questions truthfully today?" If it says no, I put it back in my bag until the next morning. If it says yes, I'll ask it questions throughout the day.

 

 

 

 

                                       

Tarot Working, The Lovers

The Lovers

I’ll admit up front that I didn’t give the Lovers the attention they deserved. That’s not to say that I did nothing with them or that they weren’t responsive, but I feel like I just scratched the surface. One reason I feel like I didn’t get to dig as deeply as I had hoped is because I seemed to be spending more time with my family and wasn’t able to be alone for much of the week. Could this be some of the influence of the Lovers? Perhaps.

Last Friday I put down the Hierophant and picked up the Lovers with the usual small ceremony. Then somehow I became distracted and didn’t do any work with them until Wednesday. Valentine’s Day was in there and my partner had time off from work so there were things happening.

In my informal work I received impressions of reunion and partnership, the Hand of Providence stirring hearts in accordance with Divine Will, and the incredible force of those impassioned hearts. I also received suggestions that there were connections here to the story of Demeter and Persephone and their mysteries.

On Thursday morning, the last day, I got up early and tried a more formal skrying session with the card. I sat with my candle and card and called to the Lovers. Soon there seemed to be a bright light pervading the room, diminishing the light from the candle and from the bulb in the ceiling. This was the indication of the spirit of the card.

I asked “What are the lessons you can teach me?”  In response my attention was drawn to the tip of the cherub’s arrow and I was told “weighing of possibilities”. The figure on the right seemed to have gold at her wrist and at her ears- “value”. Then all four figures glow with energy and the cherub’s sun resembles a skull.

I ask “How can I use your energy in my life?” The central figure looks sadly to the left and I’m told “empathy” and then “ease of passage”. I’m not sure what to make of ease of passage. Then it appears as if the three figures are talking to each other, specifically the figure on the right is telling an amusing story, but I can’t hear what is being said. They all laugh and I can see that they are all connected to each other by their happiness.

I ask “what is your message to me?” In response the cherub and sun become a large hand reaching down toward the Lovers. It is the Divine Will, the Hand of God.

After this I can hear my family stirring and waking up elsewhere in the house. Soon I’ll not have the luxury of solitary time. I thank the Lovers, tell them to be at peace, and end the session.

I think there is much more to this card than what I was able to access. I can feel it, there is a great mystery here. I find it interesting that the keyword I usually use for this card in readings is “choice” but I didn’t feel that at all during the week. I will definitely be digging into this one more once the cycle is done.

Tarot Working, The Hierophant

So far the Hierophant has not turned out to be what I expected. I’m not done working with him certainly but at the moment I’m confused.

I tried to start the week normally with putting down the Emperor and picking up the Hierophant but due to some missteps on my part I still had the Emperor popping up well into Friday. At any rate, I had some informal input from the Hierophant over the weekend. We talked about my practice and my need to take ownership of some things. He gave me some pointers on modifying my method of prayer. So far things were moving as I expected.

Then, yesterday, I sat down to do a more formal scrying session with the card.

As usual I set up a candle and my notebook and pen with the card propped up in front of me. I called to the Hierophant saying “come to me, speak to me, share with me your wisdom, show me your forms.” Soon the hair on the back of my neck stood on end and I developed a flutter in the eyelid of my left eye. I took these as signs the Hierophant was with me.

I asked “what is your message to me?”
He appears to inspect something in his hand and he says “examine details closely.” Then he looks directly at me and he is cross eyed! He rests his chin in his hand and he starts giggling. I was quite taken aback. This is not the behavior I had expected.  He is acting more foolishly than the Fool did. I decide to keep going and see where this takes us. I ask, “are you not solemn?” He nods vigorously with a blank and vacant look on his face. Then he does a weird kind of inverting, imploding kind of thing in which his face seems to swirl back into itself, concentrate, and then shoot as energy out of his eyes. I ask “how can I ascend to the next level?” He shrugs and giggles again.  I’m starting to get disappointed. I’m not sure what to make of this Hierophant I’ve called. He doesn’t seem to take any of this seriously.
I ask “who are your two acolytes?” He tells me they are Soul and Spirit. Then the two acolytes grasp the hem of the Hierophant’s robe and pull it open. Behind is revealed a landscape at night with a path that runs to the horizon. It reminds me of the Moon card but I know it is a different landscape. Ok, this is progress. A little more mystery and a lot less giggling.
I ask “how can I use your energy in my life?” Before he can answer a large fly starts buzzing around the room, distracting us both. Then he points to his mantle and says “authority”. This strikes me as a little odd given his irreverent behavior.
I ask him to be a presence in my life. I ask him “what are the lessons you can teach me?” He gets an intense look in his eyes and tells me “strategy to strike at your enemies" [this too strikes me as odd], "the uses of madness, knowledge of hidden spirits”. At this I see the face of a spirit resolve just behind him composed of his hair and details from his chair. Then the Hierophant starts blessing me- bless you, bless you, bless you- as if I sneezed several times. He says it in a rather sarcastic way. It is not solemn, it is not holy, it is not reverent. I see a doorway open behind the Hierophant. The spirit in his hair looks worried. I see a worm, like a grub, curled up in his beard.
“That!” he says emphatically, “is the reason I’m so crazy".
He smiles at the spirit and the spirit smiles back at him. Then, not looking in my direction, the Hierophant waves me away, still smiling at the spirit. I thank him for his time and tell him to be at peace as a license to depart and end the session.
I don’t know what to make of it. I’m confused. I will definitely need to do another scrying session before Friday.

Tarot Working, The Emperor

The Emperor

So I seem to have developed a pattern with this working. For the majority of the week I’ll be somewhat informal, calling for the spirit of the card as I go through my day. Then, at some point, I do a more formal scrying session, usually close to the end of the week. I had expected that in this way I would encounter examples of each of the archetypes as I was out in the world. For better or worse this hasn’t happened in the way I expected.  

With the Fool and the Magician communication was immediate during the informal phase. They each spoke to me on Friday morning. The Priestess waited for me to come to her. The Empress and the Emperor were both vast in a way that made calling almost seem silly, they were always there and everywhere. The Empress made the world seems shinier and more beautiful. The Emperor was pervasive, in the very structure of the Universe. 

His words to me were filled with authority and I was always sure when I got a message from him. He called me to examine my discipline, he called out some of my weaknesses- particularly my self-indulgence. He suggested I needed to strengthen my will. 

He showed me right angles. 

He showed me walls and the breaches though them. 

He taught me about establishment of place.

He told me about the rewards of patience and avoiding haste.

With his scepter he measures the circumference of the universe.

I asked him what his connection is to Lucifer. He tells me that he is every Emperor as his face becomes a scrambled mask. 

I poured heart energy into him as I did with the Priestess, but he kept it in his scepter and looked at me critically. 

I had a hard time putting the Emperor down. He kept coming up into Friday.

Tarot Working, The Empress

I am finding that my experiences with the cards, so far, have been different with each one. I don’t know why I should be surprised by this. I guess I was under the impression that there would be more of a consistency to the experiences. After 4 weeks it is becoming apparent that each of them will interact with me differently. Which is how I introduce my experience with the Empress.

The Empress.

The Empress is hard for me to characterize. She didn’t come to me in the same way as the other previous three cards. There was very little direct contact. But from Friday morning after the lay down/pick up ceremony the world took on a singular beauty, the weather became unseasonably warm this week where I am, and I was the recipient of way more flirty attention from members of both sexes.  I also have renewed energy for a few projects that had drifted toward the back burner. It is really tempting to attribute these phenomena to a Venusian correspondence with the Empress but I think I’ll hold back just slightly to say that the Empress has these connotations that Venus seems to also have. I want to take the tarot on its own merits without trying to force it into other models, like astrology.

On a related, yet slightly off topic note, my magical practice in general has really felt more robust since the turn of the year with this week being quite accelerated.

By Wednesday I was feeling like I was getting slack because I hadn’t had a direct conversation with the Empress. I decided to get up early on Thursday morning, the last day, to try a scrying session before heading off to work. I lit the candle lantern and I sat with the Empress.

After a short time of calling I had an impression of a fountain and a basin of refreshing water behind her. And I saw her raise her robe slightly and her foot is a cow’s hoof. I ask her, “how can I use your energy in my life”. In response she appears to move as if settling a white mantle across her shoulders and two jets of white energy extend from the sides of her head resembling horns.

I ask, “what does your shield indicate?”

“Growth of the nation.”

Her head then changes to resemble an octopus with its tentacles on her chest and shoulders. Then it changes to a young woman with deer antlers. She opens her arms to me invitingly, like an adult to a child.

I ask, “what is your message to me?” In response she laughs and gestures toward the sky. I can’t tell if she is being dismissive or if she is indicating the sky.

I ask “what does your staff indicate?” She responds, “the ability to create.”

Then her image changes to a great monument, still in her form but large and stone. A pair of women’s breasts appear behind her as if a larger woman were standing behind the monument. Then her image splits into two of her and she tells me “I can go where I wish yet seem not to move.” Then the monument changes into a naga shape, a snake with a woman’s head, then turns back to the Empress on her throne.

I ask, “what are the lessons you can teach me?” She smiles with an excited expression on her face, stirs as if getting comfortable, but then says nothing.

I ask, “do you have any children?” She is quiet for a long time then says, “countless.” And as I get ready to ask another question I am suddenly hit with a strong need to use the restroom. With that the session ended.

The thing I found the most striking about my work with the Empress is how much influence she appeared to have on me outside of the context of the tarot card. I felt her in my entire world.

Tarot Working, The Priestess

My report on working with the Priestess.

As with the Fool and the Magician, I began the week by ceremonially putting down the Magician and picking up the Priestess. But unlike the Fool and the Magician, she waited for me to contact her first.

The first time I called her was relatively informal. From that call I received a very brief image of a nun in her room high in a tower. It is night and the room is lit with candles which gives everything a warm, toasty, golden brown color. Her habit was unusually wide and voluminous around her face. She gazed out the window into the darkness. All around her books filled the room on shelves and in stacks. I begin to wonder if this tower is the same as the Tower (XVI) but the vision ends before I pursue that line of thinking.

On Tuesday I had an opportunity to do a more formal concentrated meditation/scrying with the Priestess. I lit a candle and called to her calling her “Your Grace” and “Knower of All Things”. Soon the image on the card changed and I saw her bright pink heart beating in her chest, glowing with its own light. I could see her ribs and then heart behind them in the darkness of the interior of her body. She was holding the essence in the core of herself protecting it and keeping it alive.

I ask, “how can I use your energy in my life?” She raises her book and says, “knowledge”.

She appears to be trying to back away from me and recede into her veils.

I ask, “what are the lessons you can teach me?” At this her face appears to age rapidly and becomes a skull. The skull turns purple, it looks up and screams at heaven. Then it turns back to a woman and she chuckles, amused. Then her face slides between several people as we continue to talk together; women old and young, men with and without beards.

I ask, “how may I learn your secrets?” She holds her book open and says “Just look, it’s all out in the open. The tower extends as far underground as it does above ground.  Youth and age are the same. The flights of bids tells the weather.” Then, vehemently, she says “It’s all in the book!” At this my candle pops, punctuating her emphasis.

I ask her to be a constant presence in my life, to share her secrets with me, and to be my ally. Her eyes glow white and her face turns old and withered. Then it becomes a younger woman again and she looks away in sadness. I pour heart energy into her. Her eyes widen and she smiles. I tell her “our hearts are connected” and she smiles again.

I ask her to help me find the knowledge I need to meet my challenges. Then I give the license to depart and wrap up the session.

There were no other significant occurrences through the rest of the week to note.