Deck: (Top) The Victorian Romantic Tarot; (Bottom) The Bohemian Gothic Tarot

I read a post on Tarot Dame’s Blog featuring a New Year Spread last week. I was planning doing a 3 card reading using the past, present and future positions, and this spread is a fun take on it:

New Year Spread

(Left)What I should leave behind me when the new year arrives?
(Center)What I should take with me in the new year?
(Right)What I have to look forward to in the coming year?

My first observation was that I drew three Major Arcana cards. This implies that each of the answers involves a significant event or stage. Valuable and possibly life-changing events are in the works for 2010. Most of us feel this way when we start the year and we tend to focus on the immediate. Sometimes it’s wise to take a step back and observe where we where, where we are, and where we are going.  more...

Cat ‘N Owl has an interesting writing prompt “Picking your tarot card focus for 2010” that can kick start the new year and help you focus one Tarot card for the entire year. Aside from journaling and generally reflecting on it, you can take it one step further by meditating with it. If you let your imagination roam free and lose yourself in the imagery, you will learn something new.

Grab a deck and remove all of the Major cards from it. Shuffle the Majors only and focus on the question: What do I need to be focusing on this year?

I drew The Hierophant from The Victorian Romantic Tarot. Since I am also using The Bohemian Gothic Tarot to offer a shadow interpretation, I pulled the Hierophant from that deck so that I could view them together.  more...

Tarot Card of the Day – December 28, 2009

Deck: Morgan-Greer Tarot

The Moon is a card that seems to cause confusion at times due to the mysterious scene being depicted in most Tarot decks. Many, including the Morgan Greer, show no humans in the card at all. The Moon card calls out for us to to get in touch with our animal instincts, the ones that may be more primal and less restrained. It conveys a message of mystery, illusion as opposed to reality.  more...

Tarot Card of the Day – December 24, 2009

Deck: The Victorian Romantic Tarot

I decided to draw from my Victorian Romantic Gold last night. The deck has a wintery feel to it and I am quite drawn to the artwork and the imagery in the cards. I shuffled, my cat Eno by my side, and out came The Hanged Man. And, what a revelation this is.

The Hanged Man is a card that calls attention to the deep rewards of intentional sacrifice. We all feel the need to seek something new, different, essential, spiritual and to achieve a goal. In this card, we see, a person dangling upside down suspended by a gold rope. The action is intentional. The rope is tied to a stone bridge, a metaphor for strength and getting from point A to point B. He hangs from the middle of the archway. His clothing can be symbolic of the attributes of the card: red denoting action, desire, passion and urge; blue for unconscious mental activity and emotions; gold for a supreme state or victory,which is also the color of the rope. In the background, we see a barren cliff surrounded by a fertile forest. This journey is solitary, but much reward can be gained from taking it.  more...

Tarot Card of the Day – November 11, 2009: Judgement

Deck: Universal Waite Tarot

Question: How will I approach my first Tarot class?

Today I start a four-week long Tarot class at a local new age store. How fitting is Judgement as my daily draw and focus card? Very. This was one of the few times that I actually asked a question before pulling my card of the day. I went with my Universal Tarot, which is the deck I will be using in the class. I have been flirting with other decks since I have discovered a fascination with collecting them, but I want to focus with one learning tool right now. Although, I am sure that I won’t be able to resist occasional draws from other decks.  more...

Tarot Card of the Day – November 4, 2009: Courage

Deck: The Fairy Tale Tarot

Courage in the Fairy Tale Tarot is based on the story “Little One Inch“.  Based on the typical Rider-Waite-Smith meanings (RWS), Courage is equivalent to Strength.

What is it like to face our fears? Do we feel bold? Do we feel cowardly? When I view this card, I feel a sense of bravery and fearlessness, much like I did with yesterday’s draw, the Princess of Swords. The difference between the two is that The Princess of Swords is part of the Minor Arcana and the course of events are affected by will, whereas the Courage card is part of the Major Arcana and represents a specific point of growth along the Tarot journey.  more...

Tarot Card of the Day – November 2, 2009: The Moon

Deck: The Fairy Tale Tarot

The Moon in the Fairy Tale Tarot is based on the story, “Sleeping Beauty“.

Sleeping Beauty is sound asleep on her bed, her unruly gold locks surrounding her head. Her gown and bed sheets are white, denoting innocence and purity and accented with gold, symbolic of inner strength. A black cat snuggles by her feet. In Folklore, black cats have always been associated with mystery and the unknown. Above her head is a picture with a castle surrounded by a meadow and and water off the coast. The castle represents home and comfort, the water indicates the flow of unconscious thoughts and the meadow denotes growth and the environment. There is also a large ice-capped mountain terrain in the background, symbolic of high spiritual goals.  more...

Tarot Card of the Day – October 28, 2009: Queen of Swords

Deck: The Victorian Romantic Tarot

Element: Air
Associations: Thought processes; conflict

The swords have been my suit selection this week; I have drawn the Queen of Swords from two different decks in two consecutive days, technically one day apart since I didn’t do a draw yesterday. I received my The Victorian Romantic Tarot on Monday night and wanted to spend time observing and connecting with it, so I wanted to hold off a day. It turns out that the Queen of Swords wanted to make her presence known in this deck as well. When Tarot repeats itself, it’s a signal to pay attention to, especially if it involves the same card.  more...

One of my favorite Tarot blogs, Tarot Elements has a great in-depth review of Carol Herzer’s hand painted The Illuminated Tarot deck Review by contributor Valerie Sylvester.

The cards are extremely striking and literally glow with color. Artist Carol Herzer hand painted the cards which follow the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) designs, in 1988-89. Made special to order, she then re-paints over her creations using variations of glitter or iridescent paints. Her web site has all of the details, including size and hand painted color options, as well as the story behind the creation of the deck and others.

As a beginner, these look like they will take learning to a different level. Each deck is truly one of a kind…

Read more via Tarot Elements

Read a review of The Illuminated Tarot via Aeclectic Tarot

This is my initial interpretation of The World card.

Tarot Deck: Universal Waite Tarot

At first glance, The World is reminiscent of the Wheel of Fortune. In the Wheel of Fortune is key X (10), midway through the Tarot journey, the seated angel, winged lion winged bull and winged angel were all reading, symbolic of learning. In The World, the same four astrological quadrants in that card, have now fully developed. They represent the four quadrants of astrology, elemental properties and Tarot suits:

Eagle (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) :: Water :: Cups
Lion (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) :: :: Fire :: Wands
Bull (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) :: Earth :: Pentacles
Angel (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) :: Air :: Swords

The eagle, lion, bull and angel appear from the clouds. The cloud formation is more defined than it was in the Wheel of Fortune and reminds me of the Aces in each Tarot suit, which show a hand holding the object that represents the corresponding suit.  more...