Reading Reversed

Reversals used to be the bane of my tarot existence. Just their positioning seemed foreboding, letting me know that something was “wrong” either with me or the person I was inquiring about. Fortunately The Complete Book of Tarot Reversals by Mary K Greer really helped change all that in my personal readings; from her examples I have found a couple ways of looking at them in a not so foreboding context.

One of the best exercises in creative will that I’ve discovered during my daily draws is to take a reversed card and utilize it’s upright energies as a way of “rectifying” the situation. If I receive an 8 of wands, for example, and it’s alerting me to the slowing down of financial opportunities, I might start applying for a second job or being more proactive at work to increase my energies of abundance. One thing Greer mentions in her book is examining the energy of the preceding card in the suit and attempting to harness the lessons of that  card.  Remembering the sequential energies of the tarot work wonderfully in “rectifying” reversals.

This doesn’t necessarily always work depending on the position of the card in a particular spread.  A court card in the position of “outside influence” may be something you’re not fully capable of altering,  but another card can be drawn in an “advice”  position to see how you should handle that particular influence.

Now that I have a better handle on reversals, they don’t see so daunting and in fact can be rather pleasurable as a sign of growth and change.

Dignified Response

If there’s one thing I’m really trying to get the hang of it’s implementing the use of astrological and elemental dignities in my readings. Reversals work great at adding extra depth and I do fully intend to continue using them once I’ve mastered at least one system- but I feel as if there is yet more that I can add to my understanding of the tarot and how the cards relate to one another.

So far I’ve gotten the elemental aspects down for the pips, it’s the major arcana that is throwing me for a bit of a loop. Fortunately, I’ve just recently purchased and began reading a book called Tarot Decoded by Elizabeth Hazel that looks as if it will help me greatly in tagging the majors with not only their elements but their zodiac equivalents as well.

So here for your laughing and viewing pleasure, I’m going to include my first attempt at implementing elemental dignities in a 3 card spread, while asking about something kind of simple;

How are the American people as a whole responding to President Obama’s Economic Stimulus plan?

I constructed a spread especially for this question as I wanted a more concise answer:

Current Situation [1], Thoughts [2], Emotions [3]

Judging by the first position it appears as if the American people are needing to be nurtured and assured of their present and future. Now more and more people are turning inward and to their families for strength during such trying times. Queens are Water of Water, so this implies to me a very strong emotional outpouring from the American people- everyone is feeling something.

With the next position it appears as if people are not sure whether Obama has made the best decisions. Some may think he is spending too much and are worried about his ability to lead during this financial crisis. Kings are Fire of Earth- coupled with the Water of Water Queen, as Obama continues to make these kind of powerful broad sweeping moves, people will continue to clutch to those around them, hoping to ride out the waves. Earth and Water are “friendly” to each other-but perhaps this only amplifies the feelings of the people whom are dependent on this stimulus for help.

And finally the last card being the 9 of wands points to the American people feeling as if they need to “hunker down” and remain firm. This isn’t the time to make major decisions and it may be better to just ride out the storm (There goes that water reference again) and wait for better times. Fire and Earth are neutral to each other which almost makes me think that regardless of what Obama would have done, people would be feeling and thinking this way.

Now if you’ve been watching the news you’re probably wondering why I even needed to do a reading on this, the cards pretty much said what we already know. Never the less, I think this was a great exercise in attempting to use elemental dignities and stay tuned for more of my experiments and please feel free to comment or let me know how I can improve.

Mercury and The Magician

Symbol of Mercury in Astrology

“Then she bore a child who was a shrewd and coaxing schemer,

a cattle-rustling robber, and a bringer of dreams, a watcher by night and a gate keeper,

soon destined to show forth glorious deeds among the immortal gods.”- Homeric Hymns to Hermes

Shrewd? Gate-keeper?  Messenger who brings forth tidings from the gods to man? While Mercury began his life as a god-child of Zeus, playing pranks and bringing joy and sorrow to man and deity alike, in Astrology he plays a similar role of trickster and deviant yet bringer of messages from afar and much expected (or unexpected) news. Quick and unpredictable like the words that spring forth from the lips- Mercury is considered the ruler of communication, the intellect, reason, logic, and perception. A little craftiness never hurts either and when Mercury goes retrograde WATCH OUT! Only the gods know what will happen.

Neither masculine nor feminine, Mercury remains fairly neutral in its influences which it would have to considering it’s inherent desire to keep one foot in the seen and unseen realms. It’s not surprise then that Mercury is associated with The Magician in the tarot and by understanding Mercury I am also able to understand more fully, The Magician’s role in the journey of life.

It is with the folly and joy of The Fool that we move along the road. We have our tools slung over our shoulders, though we don’t necessarily know how to use them and we are clumsy, a little inept, some might even say downright ignorant. But as we travel, we grow and learn in our communications. Mercury begins to bless us, we become more quickwitted and a few even become smooth talkers and charmers, realizing that the power of words can let them into people’s lives so they can take what they need and run.

Mercury’s role in The Magician’s profession is no small coincidence. As Hermes brought information from a higher source down to man, so does our Magician bring forth revelations, both good and bad, to all who are willing to listen. They ground the knowledge from the higher-ups (not necessarily divine, it could be the boss, the professor, or the editor of the newspaper) to those outside of the know. The consummate journalist, not so much of news, but of their achievements in life.

But The Magician can have a dark side as well, lacking the intellect, ability or will- he may use his tools improperly causing him to receive poor or false results. He may become a “prankster”, tricking people into buying his magical balms and salves that do nothing more then cure the dry skin on one’s elbows.  With great power comes great responsibility and like our dead god Hermes, sometimes someone else has to the pay the price for that power and not the magician himself.

In situational aspects I can almost see the magician as offering praise for one’s talents or for exposing one to be…well…not that talented at all. The Magician upright can be the brilliant grad-student preparing for their last presentation but reversed, the slacking partner who is hoping they can skate by on the other’s merits. Upright we may be viewing the author who writes to educate and offers free lectures to help spread what they have learned, while in the reversed we have the smarmy charlatan who, after plagerizing another text quite poorly, charges an arm and leg just to be in their presence.

Reversed, the Magician could also be that little voice that says “Try Harder! You can do it” or “Watch out! This isn’t where you want to go!” No need to trick yourself or any others.

There is a little of The Magician in all of us, no matter where in the tableux we currently sit. The lesson of the Magician, to me, lies in implementing that which I have learned in the best way possible for me and everyone involved.  To focus on the balance and ethics of the endeavor while not ignoring that success and mastery come from continued study.  The Mercurial energies of the card also strikes, to me, as something that will come quickly and must be nabbed and embraced for it can leave just as quickly—and leave unpredictable results in its wake.

It’s a good thing the Magician not only has his tools (intellect, reason, logic, and perception) but knows how to use them.

Tarot Is Like The Weather

One of my favorite past times, living south of the Mason Dixie line, is to watch the snow reports during the winter. I love the excitement the newcasters will have in their voices; “Be Prepared! We’re going to see 8-12 inches of accumulation!” and then the next morning you wake up, your mouth set on that extended cup of coffee, your feet snugly in your slippers preparing to stay in them all day and it’s sunny and bright with nary a flake of snow in sight. Something changed during the night while you slumbered, pushing the snow to the North or maybe the clouds dumped all they had two cities over and there was nothing left for you.

Tarot, to me, is sometimes a lot like predicting the weather. You see the patterns, the way things have normally worked. You see where the querent is going and where they have come from, but just when you think you have it all figured out and you have something of a viable outcome, there’s a swift change and nothing comes out as you’ve seen. Many say this is just free will in action.  A person receiving the tarot reading in and of itself may begin setting things in motion to alter the “possible outcome” that was revealed to them.

To this effect things said in a reading are rarely ever set in stone, especially when they pertain to “the future” and “predictions.”

One of the most common requests I receive as a reader is to see if a person has love or a new job coming into their future. Barring the passive phrasing (which I believe more or less puts the responsibility on the cards and the universe to bring forth this lover vs. the querent) I’ll generally give them advice framed with the qualifiers “If you continue on your current path…” not as much to save my own ass but to open the door to progressive dialogue with the client. I want them to ask “Well what if I do something else?” or “What should I do to change that?” and that’s when you move away from weather like predictive readings to readings that can explore the depths of someone’s existence and bring them out of a shell they may have built around themselves.

Don’t think I’m saying that predictions using the cards never come true, because they can and do fairly frequently but forecasting the future is like forecasting the next big blizzard in Charlotte and I don’t like putting people through that kind of potential disappointment.